Tag: holidays

It’s That Time of Year

It’s that strange time of year. The week between Christmas and New Year’s is when time seems to stand still. The week is still the same length, seven days, but the time gets lost in some kind of black hole in the time space continuum.

The hustle and bustle of Christmas is over and very much seems distant as everybody takes a deep breath and moves on. Oh the remnants of Christmas are still strewn about. There’s still gifts under the tree and tags still on some clothing. Gift bags and boxes are in that state of flux, halfway between thrown out or being kept for future use. And of course the tree and decorations are still very much part of the decor, although they’ve been up for so long that there’s almost a permanence to them. The decorations start to become forgotten after Christmas as people forget to turn on the tree and outdoor lights.

Of course contemplating when to take down the tree and decorations means having that yearly internal discussion about whether this is the year to scale back and perhaps toss out some of the decorations. But that would also mean doing a thorough cleaning and sorting of the storage area in the basement and really who wants to do that.

When the holidays fall during the middle of the week it becomes even more difficult to keep track of time. The whole week feels like a weekend and the weekend feels like nothing which is rather remarkable considering how important weekends can be.

You can tell how happy people are to be done with Christmas by how quickly everybody moves on. People take off on vacations this week to warmer climates or just to get away from their over decorated house.

Plans for the New Year are bandied about, lists are made and resolutions are considered. The resolve to make the next year better is very powerful this week when really it’s simply a flip of the calendar and really any change can happen at anytime. If flipping a calendar results in any meaningful change then perhaps it’s a change that won’t last but the new year certainly brings fresh attitudes and hope.


I spent a few minutes looking back at this past year. I don’t typically like to look back as my mind contemplates the negatives far more than the positives. I tend to get bogged down by the would’ve, could’ve and should’ve. But I do like to re-read a few old blog posts from this year and review the books I’ve read this year ( did I really read that many baseball books ?) Looking back can be beneficial, everybody grows and changes and suffers. Being able to move forward without being burdened or paralyzed by the past is difficult but so rewarding and important.

It’s with that hope that we look forward to each New Year’s Eve and so with balls dropping, party hats askew, and a song sung only on this day we glance forward…so go ahead and make resolutions, call old friends, book that vacation……I’ll be rearranging the basement and contemplating tossing out a few decorations ( but probably not )

Peace and Love,

John




So I Went to the Mall

I stood looking out the front window. Another delivery truck had pulled into the driveway. It was yet another Amazon truck dropping off its latest package. It just so happened to be the second Amazon truck that day and as I watched the driver place the package on the porch and take the necessary picture I briefly pondered the scope of a delivery network that can send different drivers to the same house on the same day.
Had they optimized their delivery system to fulfill a customer’s request within hours or was it simply an error in sorting and loading to the appropriate route. Although there are much smarter people than me designing networks and writing algorithms, I still tend to believe human error and simple mistakes are the most common answer why things happen. And because I still had a few gifts to buy and I actually still enjoy going out shopping I headed to our local mall.

I had recently seen a video while scrolling of a mall back in the 80’s. It was during the holiday season and the mall was packed with people. Decorations were everywhere and the line for Santa was never ending. Old favorite stores like Banana Republic, The Gap and WaldenBooks flashed by. Even though the video was short there was an excitement and buzz that was unrecognizable to today’s shopping experience. The caption of the video simply stated that today’s kids would never experience the excitement of a mall at Christmas.

Perhaps that’s true or maybe it’s just simply a bit of nostalgia for people of my generation to think back on. My mother fondly recalls taking a bus to downtown Detroit with her mother and spending an entire day shopping at Hudson’s department store. That too was an entirely different time and I’m sure she lamented the idea that malls had replaced department stores as I lament that online shopping has replaced malls.

The death of the mall began long ago and there are plenty of malls being repurposed for other uses most notably for housing or a combination of businesses and housing. Our mall while still open is a shadow of what it used to be. It had a nice run during the 80’s & 90’s. Everybody shopped there and although we knew it was smaller than other malls it still offered a wide variety of shopping and food choices.

But new trends emerge and habits change and the shopping mall belongs in a different time and place. As I walked around I noticed more elderly people walking for exercise than people actually shopping. The decorations were still hung and music played over the speakers but as I walked by Santa I noticed there was no line….he was talking to a lady dressed as Mrs. Claus, perhaps they were making plans for dinner or talking of favorite cookies.
My shopping experience was quick, the line at the checkout was short, and as I headed back out to the parking lot I couldn’t help but wonder what would become of our mall and would it even be here next Christmas.

As I pulled onto our road darkness was beginning to descend as winters grip took hold. An Amazon truck was headed towards me still out delivering. The ease and comfort of home delivery was just a few clicks away and an army of drivers was seemingly always ready.
Perhaps I’ll turn into that person that constantly talks of the old days of how things used to be…. I hope not, I realize things change and malls had their time and it was glorious for a while but the market speaks loudly and the shopping experience is not going back.
I headed inside to wrap the gifts I had bought, now there was something I really dread doing….wrapping….if Amazon had a wrapping service I’d probably take advantage of it.
It’s probably only a matter of time.

Peace and Love,

John