Did you ever hear anyone say, “Let’s go out and paint the town…brown”? Or doing anything “by the light of the beige moon”? I didn’t think so.

We get brown news all the time: the bad economic news, the sad war news, the violent cultural news, it wears us down. I’ve touched on much of it on my blog many times.

Daily, we see before us words painted on paper, or iPad of pain, suffering, death; dark gray words, murky words, muddy words “death toll rose today to…” “crumbling infrastructure…” “Congress failed again to…” words that weigh on us morning and evening.

Those problems, those hues, don’t go away this time of year but America still finds itself able to let them fade as we rise from those tainted paints. And just for a time, just for a time, find love and comfort of friends and family and even strangers. Just for a time…America becomes aglow, from its heartland to its shores.

Yes, now is the time for a brighter verbal palette, pink words of prayer, gold words of thanks,

of goodness, happiness, sharing. “I’ll bake one for you.”, “Yes, our house at six.” Of kids and laughter, of bells and bows and tinsel and bright lights. Words of “Wow!” “Oh…my…God!”

 Yes, just for a time, we enjoy a breather from earthly ills. Sounds of music mixed with fresh, real, pine scent and warm cookies. This is the time for fun…joy…laughter…love! And a gaze at a fireplace through a glass of red.

You don’t have to be Christian or even religious to love Christmas. It’s there for ALL of us to feel, “good will toward all.”

I know you all have, right near you, the glow of Christmas, be it atop your house, on your street, at your town square or at the Gotham near you. Get out and enjoy every twinkling moment of it.

I happen to be blessed with having the world’s capital nearby, New York City. One year we hired a chauffeured van to take the whole gang of us to town and back. A great way to do it. I highly recommend it. The Big Apple’s towers, when decked in tinsel, is Everytown writ large.

 We are all here lightly, just for a time, like chalk drawings on a sidewalk before the rain. Enjoy those close to you. Enjoy, with new eyes, with new appreciation, the softest evanescent watercolors to grace your life.

Merry Christmas to ALL !

My Christmas Video to you all, New York City Decked in Tinsel:

Be well,
Leebythesea