This time of year even the littlest things seem festive. It’s like the whole world shines and sparkles. When I was a kid, I held this time in awe. As Christmas got closer, the excitement got greater, almost breathtaking. I seldom knew what I was getting. I’d guess and maybe nail a couple, but I loved the surprises the most, the times when the paper was torn enough to see the present underneath, a present I didn’t expect but loved right away. I try to do that for my sisters: find something they would never expect, a perfect surprise worth a yelp. I think I’ve got one for Moe this year, one she’ll never guess. Sheila is getting a gift drawn from a memory we both have. She’ll know right away and laugh. I love finding just the right presents.

Winter comes and goes. One day is in the 50’s and then for the next couple it’s in the 30’s . The nights always feel cold. The dogs help keep me warm, but they hog too much of the bed and sometimes the blankets. Their lives are leisurely.

Last night was cold, and it is still cold though the morning is sunny and pretty. My friends and neighbors have dropped by with goodies. A former student and her husband brought gingerbread and peppermint tea and an evening of memories. With my paper yesterday was a loaf of pumpkin bread. A bag of goodies was dropped off by a friend who was also a former student. I dove straight into that bag last night. My neighbor’s basket which she dropped off even remembered the kitties. One of my uke friends gave our little group of three a great gift, Covid Home Tests. Right now, I’m being ambidextrous: eating a cookie in hand while typing how happy and thrilled by all these thoughtful gifts.

My coffee maker didn’t work this morning. I hit the magic button and no red light. I moaned in anguish. I played with the button, the cord from the coffee maker and the cord in the outlet, all the repair tools at my disposal. One of them worked. I now have freshly brewed coffee, but I wonder if this is a warning.

I like to wrap presents. I try to alternate among different colors and patterns of paper. I have toppers for presents, small things like ornaments or cookies. We don’t use ribbons, not since some of the cats ate them. Most of the cats got old or moved on, but my sister now has kittens, rambunctious kittens, so no ribbons still.

I love Christmas music. When I was a kid, I don’t remember learning the words to the carols, but all of a sudden, I knew them. I think Up on the Housetop was the first one I remember knowing. We sang it enough in school, the first grade I think, that we learned the words. It was a song always sung with what’d I’d now call gusto. We also had spontaneous rhythmic hand movements. I sing it the same way now.

My car radio is on a station playing only Christmas carols. I always, or pretty much always, sing along. At lights, I sometimes notice other singers in the cars beside me. Sometimes we’re singing the same song. When I’m baking and working in the kitchen, I play the carols on TV and sing along with them too. I love the house ready for company, candlelit with soft carols playing. The house has a warm feeling in the flickering light.

I totally understand what Scrooge meant when he said, “I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. I am as giddy as a drunken man.” Christmas makes us all of those.