A Note from NAL publisher Doug Draper
How I sometimes wish I could go back to my early childhood when Christmas seemed so magic and my brother and I used to sneak out of bed hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus, Rudolph and company casting a shadow across a full moon on the ‘night before.’
Our Christmas frog. Have a froggy Christmas.
Of course, our staying up like that made it a bit hard on our mother and father who had to outlast us to put the presents under the tree and do whatever they did with the milk and cookies we left out for the jolly old guy. But it was nice and it sure beats going out for a few last things on the day before Christmas and putting up with ugliness of people playing chicken in shopping mall parking lots for a spot to leave their car and trying to shove in before another at the cash registers.
A few of my experiences on this day before Christmas included going in to a convenience store simply to get a few books of matches to light candles and watching the cashier shake her head disgustingly at the Christmas music playing over the inter com. I said something like; ‘I guess you must be getting tired of hearing Christmas music,’ at which point she said; ‘I’m sick of Christmas altogether.’ At that point a guy behind me in line said; ‘I’ll say. I’d rather have one of my toes cut off than go through another Christmas.’
Isn’t that nice?
I went on to a shopping mall in Niagara, Ontario (because I don’t think they would be this callous on the Buffalo side of the border) where they don’t allow the Salvation Army people with the donation bowls to ring those little sleigh bells anymore because, according to one of the Salvation Army volunteers I talked to, a shopper or two complained in the past that the ringing of bells was interfering with their shopping experience. Maybe it was just making that shopper and others feel all the more guilty about passing by the donation bowl without putting in a loonie or two.
In the same shopping mall, I passed a lady who looked like she weighed at least three hundred pounds wearing a sweater that said; ‘Christmas calories don’t count.’ Suffice to say, I just wanted to get out of there, go home and enjoy some Bing Crosby Christmas music in front of a nice fire.
So many of my American friends, whom my wife and daughter and I enjoy spending American Thanksgiving with on Cape Cod every year, say they enjoy Thanksgiving more than Christmas because Thanksgiving is more simply about getting together around a nice dinner with loved ones, and does not have all of the stress and attendant gift-buying, commercialism bullshit attached to it. I, for one, understand what they mean.
Having said that, try your best to have a peaceful holiday season and thank you for being a reader and supporter of Niagara At Large.
(Feel free to share your views below.)
Niagara At Large 
Best Wishes to you, your family and all your readers ! 🙂 🙂 !
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You could be right about thankgiving,that time of year was closer to the time of year Jesus was actually born, scholars say he was born in autumn and not at the time of the winter solstice, the christmas tree predates the common era by at least 2000 years the Assyrians used to decorate a tree around the winter solstice, the northern tribes of Europe and the druids used mistleto and holly in their winter ceremonies, so the tree became associated ,with the christian religion. Santa Claus was based on a real event that happened in what is now Turkey, a priest used to drop coins down the chimneys of the homes of poor families,.so a tradition was born, the tradition of giving to the needy. so enjoy, enjoy, we all need a break from our day to day toll of making a living. Seasons Greetings to everyone.
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Doug
We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous — fulfilling — New Year! Thanks for all the time and energy you put into Niagara At Large. Looking forward to more ahead.
Christmas is what one makes of it. Whether you’re a person of faith or not, Christmas can be a wonder-filled time of year or a drudge. At our house, we choose the former and have had one of the best Christmases ever with family and friends! Perhaps there is the key: spend time with people that care and whom you love. Leave the grinches outside in the cold where they belong. Warmth is where the heart is if it is in the right place.
Ah, family, friends, warm home, cheerful lights, great music, glass of wine, remembering the reason for the season — Christmas!
Personally, I love it!
Wishing you peace througout the year!
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