This is my favorite time of year: the months that end in “ber.” My favorite month of all is December (because of Christmas), but I also love the autumn months that lead up to that. These days I’m in rapture because I made it through another summer, soon the hot weather will end and now all my favorite months lie ahead of us!
Yes, it sounds odd to some people that an atheist would love Christmas so much, but so it is. I guess I can love Christmas because I don’t have a problem with religion or Jesus or any of it. Even though I don’t believe in a god, that doesn’t mean I think no one should. I call it the milk rationale. If I drink milk, I get a stomach ache, but just because milk doesn’t work for me, doesn’t mean I try to talk others out of drinking it. Believing in a god causes me more damage than good, so I leave it alone, but if it works for you, that’s great.
I don’t think the American Christmas has much to do with religion anyway. It originally had its roots in merchandising. The United States didn’t actually recognize December 25th as a holiday until the 1800s and when it did, it was centered on products and commerce. And so it has been ever since, but Christmas is commercialism with magic to it, and a damn good party, so I dive into it every year.
Because I love Christmas so much, it’s always a let down when December ends and we have to return to the non-ber months, but my consolation is that at least I still have January and February. I like January and February because I’m a cold weather person and I relish every snowfall, every gray day and every dip in temperature below 40 F (4 C). I like being able to pull out my big, down jacket, which I call my “tundra coat,” and bundle up in scarves and gloves. Cold weather is my kind of weather.
Unfortunately, Chicago is still caught in the throes of summer today. It’s 89 F out there (32 C) and I’m not happy with it. I’m holed up in my apartment with the air conditioner on, wearing little clothing, drinking lots of water with ice and hoping it cools off by Wednesday, which is the next day I absolutely have to leave my home. But that’s okay. Let the sun sizzle. No matter what the temperature is, it’s still September and Christmas is on the way!
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