Nothing Gold

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay. -Robert Frost

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Location: Arlington, Virginia, United States

I am a white American middle class suburban housewife trying desperately to tell herself that that is not who she is. One time I was a glowing young ruffian. Oh my God it was a million years ago.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Christmas?

I would like to start by saying that I don't have a problem with secular Christmas festivities. I love Santa and always put up a tree. Sometimes, however, it just goes too far. Tonight on tv I saw Santa crooning some song in front of lots of glitter, while the Rockettes danced behind him in skimpy outfits and high heels and I couldn't help but think, "Come on, what does this have to do with Christmas?"

11 Comments:

Blogger WMS said...

here here... of course if we weren't so consumerist, I think we would stop all the buying and speeding around and maybe spend some time thanking Jesus he was willing to be born in the straw of a shitty, smelly barn. Maybe we should visit a barnyard and sing "God rest ye marry Gentlemen" in the stench. That's closer to where the wisemen (probably Zoroastrian astrologers) found him.... well, actually, they found him 2 years later after their long journey toward the star... they weren't even in the barnyard... scratch that whole nativity scene!

9:27 AM  
Blogger kate said...

Yeah, I was going to ask, were Santa and the Rockettes selling something? Well, there ya go!
Where was it, I read recently -- some European country? Austria, perhaps? -- where they're going to stop letting the kids sit on Santa's lap because they're afraid of the pedophilia possibilities.
Very sad.

11:46 AM  
Blogger Maggie said...

Actually, I don't think they were selling anything directly, just something like opening the season in Times Square. I guess it's some kind of tacky tradition. Although, they may have had a corporate sponsor. Do you consider Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to be selling something?

10:37 PM  
Blogger [REDACTED] said...

I'll take the opposing viewpoint. To me, Christmas is a time of great joy and celebration. Can you imagine a cooler and more joyful celebration than Santa singing, backed by half-naked dancers? I can't.

11:12 AM  
Blogger Sonja Andrews said...

Schuyler has obviously been imbibing too much German beer ... ;-)

8:34 PM  
Blogger Maggie said...

I was kind of hoping that someone would stand up for the opposing position, but more along the lines of "come on, lighten up, it's all in good fun and it's a tradition." which happens to be how I sometimes feel, just not in this especially tacky case.

12:17 AM  
Blogger [REDACTED] said...

No, Sonja, it wasn't the beer (at least when I wrote the comment) it was just that I was so excited to be done with the conference and have two whole days to hang out with a good friend in Munich. I got a little carried away.

2:19 AM  
Blogger Sonja Andrews said...

Dang ... you forgot to take in the winky face! I was kidding. Altho I find the Rockettes fascinating juxtaposing them on Christmas is sort of revolting. But then I find most of our Christmas "traditions" vaguely revolting these days. I hope you had fun with your friends in Munich, and I'm sure I'll hear about it 3rd hand from Ross when he gets back this afternoon.

1:04 PM  
Blogger kate said...

Hey Maggie -- how was your trip, woman?
I wish I could've gone. But then again, I wish I could do a lot of things. (waaaah)

2:22 PM  
Blogger Maggie said...

The trip was a bit of a whirlwind. Traveling alone with a toddler is hard! I really would have enjoyed having you along, but maybe it's better for you that you couldn't come:)

3:01 PM  
Blogger kate said...

Nonsense! Shared pain is sooo much better. Attempting to parent Lizzy alone for awhile taught me that.

4:57 PM  

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