Offset the Grinch

It's officially the week of Christmas, and it still doesn't really feel like Christmas yet. It feels closer than ever before, what with the candy canes, the snow, the egg nog and gingerbread men - but it doesn't feel all holly jolly as it used to. I'm wondering if it ever did in the last few years, or if it was just my imagination. Steve and I went to Disneyland yesterday - so much fun. We saw the parade, got coffee and watched the chefs make candy canes at the Candy Palace - but we were so anxious over all the crowds that the Grinch in us crept up more than once. Ah, so aggravating. But I'll tell ya, there was no grander sight than the Christmas tree in Town Square - the star at the top of it, the presents below, all the while balls of silver and ... red and green. The planters were a sea of red poinsettias, and made for really good photos. What took me by surprise was what they did to it's a small world! - at 10:15pm all the lights in the Fantasyland area went off, and there were various holiday songs being played while a Christmas scene/Christmas theme was cast alongside the facade of it's a small world holiday!... and it was simply, absolutely fabulous. The thing is that I've been going to Disneyland since I was about 3 or 4, so I know the place like the back of my hand. But sometimes I go there and am pleasantly surprised. The aforementioned was a good example of that. A better example of that was the 50th anniversary of Disneyland's opening, and also the recent addition of Toy Story Mania at California Adventure. Absolutely stunning!

I suppose all that said leads into how important I think we should feel some sort of wonderment in whatever it is that we do. I don't know if it's entirely possible. All the time, ain't gonna happen - but it would be nice to embrace the wide-eyedness as long as it's still allowed to exist within us. I've felt a lot older than intended this year. Time to backpedal a few emotional decades.

I'm offering this simple phrase
To kids from 1 to 92
Although it's been said many times, many ways:
Merry Christmas to you