Skip to main content

What Christmas is All About

Ok, I must be getting older. No Norelco commercials this Christmas season, strangely enough, I miss them. Have you noticed how fast time flies as you get up in years? Wasn’t it just a moment ago that we were seated around our Thanksgiving table enjoying family, friends, and the feast Lori so lovingly prepares for us each year; it sure seems like it. Or was that last year? It's obvious I've totally lost track of time. It's already Christmas Eve and Yes, “Christmas - is - just around the corner.” Admit it, growing up you heard that phrase all the time - well, I did anyway.

Those commercials, along with the Coca-Cola Santa, always graced the television airwaves at Christmas time, not anymore. Now Santa is trying to sell you a luxury sports car.

 As a youngster I was convinced - just around the corner - meant Main Street; Marshall’s Hardware - Santa Land. My brothers and I would make the short trip to town to see all the holiday decorations and toys we wanted Santa to bring. There was no Christmas tree lot that I can remember in Cuba. We had one of those fake aluminum trees, no needles, no sap, and no mess. Waiting for Christmas, seemed like an eternity. Today, just around the corner means; in the blink of an eye, the holidays will have come and gone.

 The toys have morphed somehow, instead of a Red Rider Daisy BB gun, now its electronic gadgets, jewelry, tools, clothes, iTunes gift cards, iPads, Smartphones, and home repair items. Whatever happened to those commercials with Santa cruising down the snow-filled slopes on his triple-head Norelco electric shaver? YouTube - of course.

Come to think of it, how would Charles Schulz have written A Charlie Brown Christmas today? “I suggest we try those searchlights (Google), Charlie Brown,” would have led Charlie Brown and Linus to The Home Depot tree lot with its woven wire fence, trees wrapped in netting and the sweet smell of freshly cut trunks as trees are trimmed for customers. I haven’t seen a “Great big shiny aluminum Christmas tree” - in years, have you?

It’s hard to believe that the program first aired when I was nine years old - Christmas 1965. It’s still one of my favorite holiday programs and I make it a point to watch it every year. Indeed, today, Linus would have launched the Home Depot app on his smartphone to check price and availability between the large home centers before leaving the auditorium. And, walk to the tree lot - are you kidding - he would have texted his mother to bring the SUV; even though the nearest home center is less than three blocks from most people's houses.

 Things have changed a lot over the years but the commercialism that Schultz and others portrayed still exists today more than ever. Now the statement, “Christmas is just around the corner.” is accompanied by “Have you finished your Christmas shopping?” – No, have you?

Yes, Christmas - is - just around the corner; if you still think it’s about shopping till you’re broke, think again. Please take some time this holiday season and listen to Linus’s melodic voice as he recites from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2 verses 8 through 14 from the Authorized King James Version:

 "Lights please."

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill towards men.”

 . . . “That’s what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown.”
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular of All Time

The Language of Home: Building a Sanctuary

This episode is  for anyone trying to find their footing in a new place—whether it’s a new city, a new job, or a new country. The light in Florence, Italy, has a way of making everything feel like a Renaissance painting—the golden hue on the stone, the steady rhythm of the Arno River, and the feeling that you are walking through a history much larger than yourself. I was there to give a presentation to a class of Gemology students. I was prepared to discuss color grading and refractive indices, but not to be outed as a language tutor . Feeling very much like a guest in a storied land, a hand shot up enthusiastically. "You’re the guy on the podcasts," the young woman said, her eyes bright with recognition. "You’re the one teaching us English." I laughed nervously. If you know my flat Midwestern accent, you know the irony here. I am hardly an Oxford professor. But later, as I wandered the cobblestone streets beneath the shadow of the Duomo, the humor faded into a powe...
Post a Comment
Read more

Practiced Hands: The 50-Year Warranty

What Doc Burch Taught Me About Staying Active. We talk a lot about "life hacks" these days, but most of them don’t have a very long shelf life. Usually, they’re forgotten by the next app update. But back in 1972, I received a piece of advice that came with a 50-year warranty. It’s the reason I’m still on my bike today, still chasing a golf ball around Carlsbad, and still—mostly—in one piece. The Kick That Changed Everything It started with a literal kick in the pants. A kid at school in Cuba, Illinois, was joking around and caught me just right. By the next morning, my lower back was screaming. My mom didn’t reach for the Tylenol; she reached for her car keys. "Let’s go see Doc Burch," she said. "He’ll fix you right up." Harry E. Burch, D.C., was a fixture in Lewistown. He’d graduated from Palmer College in ’59 and had been our family’s go-to for years. He was a man of practiced hands and steady eyes. After a quick exam and an X-ray, the mood in the room s...
Post a Comment
Read more

On the Fly–Taking Flight

In this special 500th episode,  On the Fly  is moving to a new home. Here’s why—and what’s staying the same. For a very long time (since April 2012),  On the Fly  has lived on  Blogger . Blogger has been a reliable host—dependable, quiet, and never complaining when I arrived late with another half-baked idea, a guitar riff, or a story that needed a little air. It faithfully archived my thoughts, my music, and more than a decade of curiosity. But the internet has changed. It’s louder now. Flashier. More insistent. Every thought is nudged to perform. Every sentence wants to be optimized, monetized, or interrupted by something that really wants your attention right this second. I’ve been craving the opposite. So today, On the Fly is moving to Substack . If you’ve been with me for a while, you know my quiet obsession: the A rt of Seeing . I’m interested in the moments we rush past—the Aversion Trap, the discipline hidden inside a guitarist’s daily practice, t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chasing 70

In this episode,  Chasing 70: A Respectful Negotiation with Gravity They say golf is a game of misses. If that’s true, my first round of the year at Rancho Carlsbad was a masterclass in missing efficiently . After a four-month hiatus—during which my golf clubs quietly evolved into a self-sustaining garage ecosystem—Lori and I returned to our local par-three proving ground. Rancho Carlsbad is a par-54, just 1,983 yards long. That sounds forgiving until it exposes every weakness you’ve been politely ignoring during the off-season. I finished with a 78. In most contexts, 78 is respectable. On a par-54, it means I spent a fair amount of time “getting my steps in.” But here’s the real motivation: I turn 70 this August. As a core principle of my Great Un-Working Lifestyle, I’m putting it in writing: I want to shoot my age by my birthday. The Bald-Headed Man Course Around here, we have a nickname for Rancho Carlsbad. We call it the Bald-Headed Man Course. First, because there are no woods...
Post a Comment
Read more