Well, it’s that time of year again. It’s the time when we have to decide when to make the shift from Fall to full-on-Christmas. It’s when we take down all the rusty colors of Autumn and replace them with the splendor of Christmas. The unofficial demarkation for small businesses is Halloween. As Halloween is this Sunday, I have been planning to make the shift beginning next week, but fear being the first shop owner to go full on Red and Green. I don’t want to be accused of rushing the season, but of course, I do want to rush the season. It’s my favorite time of year.
I love Christmas. People start thinking about other people, and I hear customers ask each other, “Would Susie like this? Or would Kevin look good in this?” Of course I also hear, “I’m supposed to be shopping for other people, so why do I always gravitate towards things for myself?” I just like it that they are in search for gifts for others, and also it’s no crime to find things for yourself while you are scouring the shops for things for other people. That’s the time of year when most people spend more time shopping than for the rest of the year. So why not pick up a few things for yourself!
My storage closet is crammed with boxes full of items I have bought all year long and have long since forgotten what they contain, so opening boxes is like a little Christmas for me, full of surprises. It’s so much fun to open the cartons and see the wonderful handmade ornaments, the warm gloves, hats, and scarves, and the yak wool blankets and shawls I have stockpiled. I wish I had a bigger shop to display these treasures in, but cozy little Chifferobe will have to do.
It’s a wonderful distraction from the weirdness of the weather and the effects of Global Warming that have spared us in Black Mountain, but have caused nightmares in much of the world. In the latest New York Magazine there is an article about the many people who are suffering from a specific depression spurred by the climate crisis. Therapists are struggling with how to treat people who can’t shake the very real climate situation. They can’t say, “Just get over it,” or “It’s just in your head,” because it is not.
The best way I find to avoid fixating on climate change is to totally immerse myself it whatever else I am doing. The holidays are are perfect whirlwind in which to allow myself to be swept away. So glad that we are in the midst of holiday time now.!
