I’m feeling the stress of Christmas. This is sad, because this time of year, regardless of one’s spiritual beliefs, seems to center around not feeling self-centered and stressful, yet here I am. In most ways I am little more than a time-keeper, insuring that packages are wrapped, packaged, and mailed off by this week sometime in time for everyone to receive their gifts? But the question is…If the gifts do not arrive by Christmas morning, is that a problem? Really, everyone in my family is older, stopped believing in Santa Claus decades ago, and for the most part doesn’t want or need anything anyway. It’s the holiday cheer we all need, and sometimes that gets pushed aside in favor of schedules, postage and handling, and issues of control and order.
It sounds like totalitarianism, or fascism, or something. So I’ll try to relax and think of warmer, sunnier climes, like Greece, or Croatia…
During my travels I take pictures of the hotel rooms in which I have slept. I’ll start posting some of them. The accompanying picture is of one of them, in Pula, Croatia, last spring–The Hotel Riviera.
Johnnyboy
