It’s the most wonderful time of the year. That is what they say, right? Yesterday, the Christmas cards started piling in. It’s a shame, really, that we all don’t find excuses to communicate more often. Still, it’s heartwarming to receive them, and probably more so because of the Christmas season.

A few couples including my grandparents (Howard and Judy Dessinger), David and Caroline Shorter, and Russ and Christy Hemati have gone a step further by writing a Christmas letter. I love the Christmas letter. A year-end summary tells me what I’ve missed, and reminds me why even great distances cannot keep me from caring.

In light of the heartwarming effect Christmas letters have on me, I am inspired to write my own. Most of our friends and family don’t spend much time on the Internet, much less reading blogs like this. In order to keep in touch with most of the people we love, emails and/or conventional letters are still more successful.

So this year, we will send out our first family Christmas letter. It’s exciting to begin traditions, especially if you can recognize them as such from the beginning. It is a husband’s privilege to feel he has contributed to the formation of traditions within his family.

I am grateful, and pleased to know that many years from now, we will have a tradition in place which will be treasured for years to come by friends, family, and our children.

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The holiday shopping season is on. Black Friday was a productive day for retailers this year. The day after Thanksgiving is dubbed Black Friday because it is traditionally known as the day of the year that most businesses make it into the black (profit). How ridiculous is that? Store owners actually work for 46 weeks of the year before ever getting out of the red. If that's not a reason to find a different vocation, I don't know what is. This year's Cyber Monday is expected to be the most significant ever.

Cyber Monday is the first Monday after Thanksgiving when internet retailers do their best to woo businessmen and women into purchasing big ticket items with special discounts and sales. Cyber Monday has been a disappointment to Internet retailers until now. The online shopping industry has matured to the degree that a good portion of Americans are now comfortable buying most anything online. It took years to build this sense of stability in the general public, but repetition has finally paid off.

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It's November 12th, 2006. Thanksgiving Day is right around the corner, and Christmas is right on its heels. It is the happiest time of year and the time of greatest suffering. Holidays are like Jedi Knights: they are intensely powerful, whether for the good or the dark side. Indifference implies callousness. Unless, of course, you come from a third-world country with no familial holidays. I love this time of year. I have never been the guy most geared toward family. I rejected family as a teenager (go figure) and refused to identify myself with "those people." A successful holiday used to mean a bottle of liquor, a mixed cd, and a trip to the movie theater... alone. I still wonder what the holiday means to my family as we get together. Do they care if the conversation is just idle nonsense, or do they really have things they want to know and say? If so, why do they never bridge the gap between us and share their feelings? I guess I live in a very private family on some levels. We get along, and we are very kind to each other (I was the last one to participate there), yet we know very little about each other on so many levels. Despite the unknowns, holidays are still a chance to appreciate those you love, despit the fact that you may not be able to explain why you love them or what you get out of it. Even with so many unanswered questions about the mysteries of familial bonds, it's nice to know you can always come home to people who know who you were before you got hurt and started faking it. It's nice to be accepted. I realize that this does not speak to everyone, and many would rebuke me for generalizing everyone into a quasi-successful family role. I know that there are far too many out there who don't have anyone to turn to. I know that there are many who would rather die than come home. I know that there are some who can't remember if home even exists. If you fit into one of those categories, I do not apologize for my generalizations. I do appreciate your patience with me as I express different memories, for I can only communicate what is my own. I hope and pray each one of you finds a new family rising out of the ashes which are your memories. I pray that God will surround you with people who possess the god-given capacity to know you, love you, and appreciate you, so that you will live a life worth living. I pray that you will each know what it means to sit around a table with those you love and share moments of joy and satisfaction. Happy Holidays.

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Those of us who grew up in a conservative religious background know what I'm talking about when I say that Halloween has caused a fair share of confusion. Everything involving magic or witches or werewolves was evil (look for another post to come on magic). Everything that wasn't obviously biblical was condemned. Some of us didn't even listen to secular music until we gained some level of teenage independence.

I don't agree with the blind avoidance and condemnation of all things non-biblical. Blind, unquestioned doctrine is what causes religious splintering and cults to grow. God gave us minds to use, not to waste. I cannot blanketly label some acts sin unless they are called such in Scripture. At the same time, I do not give myself free license to do all the hundreds and thousands of things not mentioned as sin in Scripture strictly because they are not listed. For one, technology is not what it once was, so there are infinitely more choices each person must face on a daily basis. Halloween is not one of those things I feel 100% concerned about.

Honestly, I don't celebrate it. I also don't have kids, which my best friend insists will completely transform my opinion of the holiday. Maybe. Or maybe he just means that it's hard to say no to one's children when all the other kids are dressing up in cool costumes and getting free candy. Even so, I doubt I will celebrate Halloween simply because of the fact that it is at least partly a celebration of horror, death, and fear. Honestly, I'm not a big holiday person. I hate the commercialism driving our society's famous celebrations.

Whoever chose the Valentine's Day colors has no sense of taste, and did not understand or care that the popularization of such a holiday would reduce gift giving to a shame-based obligation (i.e. only bad boyfriends/husbands don't give gifts on this day). Christmas is little better. Santa Claus is a famous figure because he instills gift-lust in all children, young and old. Persistent begging leads to parental resignation, thus equalling increased spending. Not only is the time of greatest annual greed, someone thought it was worth lying to children about the existence of this mythical character just to induce them to be good (i.e. capitalizing on poor parenting skills). Thanksgiving should be renamed Gluttons Day (or Dallas Cowboys Day). This holiday at least centers around giving thanks, so I must commend it for being the least self-centered (at least originally).

Then there's Halloween. All Saints Day (November 1st) is historically the day where Roman Catholics Episcopalians, and Lutherans used to honor all saints, whether known or unknown. The Irish, Scotts, Welsh, and others celebrated the eve of All Saints and called it Samhain, Calan Gaeaf, Allantide, or Hop-tu-Naa. This was a druidic celebration, thought to be a time of year when spirits could make contact with the physical world. Magic was also considered the most potent on this day. Those are the roots of Halloween.

True, you don't hear so much about these roots in our commercialized American Halloween celebrations. But you still see the influence. It is still the day where people celebrate misery, death, disfigurement, decay, horror, darkness and fear. Some dress up in nice pretty costumes or something more artistic, but it is, in a sense, the day of Horror film celebration. Do I condemn little children for wanting to wear cool costumes and get free candy? Not in the least. Do I consider it a waste of a holiday? Absolutely. I plan on creating family holidays for my children whereby they learn to appreciate and celebrate life. Costumes included.

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The first annual Shrub Day was a smashing, though a bit prolonged, success! Two and a half days of labor and deliberation wrought a beauty our little house never thought possible. Grinning from chimney to gables, our little house was delighted at its extreme makeover. For two years, my wife and I have lived in a house that looks much better on the inside.

The outside wasn't hideous, mind you. No, it was just plain, bare, and altogether uninteresting. I had not realized how uninteresting until I noticed how many neighbors were suddenly waving as they passed by. Apparently we were doing something to our yard which they highly approved of. I took the glass half full point of view and took it as a compliment to our choice of shrubs and plants. Rainy weather couldn't stop us!

We were green machines. We stared down severe thunderstorms without flinching a muscle or twitching an eyelid. We were fearless. We were courageous. We were fierce. We were really stinkin' tired. I mean TIRED!!! Have you ever taken an axe and tried to hack thick tree roots out of your way? Luckily, I only broke one shovel and cut two fingers throughout the process. Considering the conditions and strength of our opponent, those were acceptable casualties.

Nah... It wasn't a battle. Well, it was in a way. But it was more like an adventure. I discovered Calloway's, a paradise of flowers, shrubs, trees, and vines. I wanted to buy everything - well, everything that suits my taste (i.e., not girly looking flowers or your traditional boring perennial greenery). I would have spent much more had my wife not been present and ready to smite me with a spade. Who knew that I, the guy who rarely even cares to go outside, would find a nursery to be so delightful? I will discuss some of our new plants when I have photos to post.

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It's been months since I have worked on location anywhere. Traffic has been a wonderful rediscovery this week. There's nothing like wasting $3.00 per gallon to drive twenty miles in order to work. I'm not complaining. Work is work. And Friday is the mark of reprieve. Regardless of whatever turmoil we have endured, Friday always saves the day. It is this special little day in which all is forgivable and hope is restored. Three evenings and two full days lie ahead, pregnant with possibility. What does the future hold? What will I do this weekend? I don't even ask myself these questions most of the time because the weekend is just an addendum to the rest of the week. Today is an exception, however; one which calls for unique action. I think today I will do my best to make my wife's desires a reality by helping her plant some flowers or shrubs in the front yard. She should get a treat for working so hard through adversity these past twelve months. I don't tell her often enough how much she has blessed me. Yes, today is definitely shrub day. That will be it's name.

I know it's Cinco de Mayo, but I'm creating a holiday for my family. From here on, Shrub Day will be the first official Dessinger holiday, and we will have fun working together to cultivate our garden or improve on our landscaping. Sounds cheesy to some, I'm sure. So what! I've been complaining about our national holidays for too long without action. Let this be the first, if not the most unusual, of my family's new holidays. We'll celebrate the beauty of God's creation and enjoy the work of our hands to shape something aesthetically pleasing. The term "Shrub Day" is, of course, subject to copyright and further legal action if copied... No, not really.

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Every now and then, I miss Denmark. Not the whole experience, but some of the people, the Albertslund kollegium, and downtown Copenhagen (Kobenhavn). These photos are of the main walking street in Copenhagen. It's called the "Stroget" in Danish. Good times on the Stroget. Many of my positive memories came from walking up and down Copenhagen. It was an adventure. Around every corner, a new discovery waited. Daytime was better than night, though. All the stores close around 6pm. The only places I saw open later were bars, discoteques, and Burger King, of all places. It was a morbid and lonely time to walk the streets at night... especially alone.

Another of my favorite memories was the Brondby futbol game. They played Parma, an Italian club. I've never felt such passion and ferver at a sporting event. I was on edge a few times at the stadium. It carried an atmosphere of lawlessness. Fights could break out at any minute and there wasn't sufficient crowd control or police nearby. It just felt like anything could happen. The ride home from the game was a treat. We took the train. Our cab was filled with drunk Danes, singing the "Bronby we love you!" song and jumping up and down until the entire cab teetered from end to end.

I did miss out on a wonderful fine arts opportunity because of that soccer game. I can't remember what was showing, but it must have been a musical or opera. I made my final decision based upon one criteria: to learn as much as possible about the Danish culture. That tipped the scales in favor of futbol. No contest. For anyone thinking of visiting Copenhagen, Arhus, Holstebro, Skagen, Odense, or Esbjerg, I absolutely recommend visiting in the summer or very early fall. The amount of daylight is incredible during that time of the year and the weather is as good as it gets for Denmark. Fall brings showers like no other.

It is true that Denmark has lovely Christmas traditions that last an entire month, but those don't do you any good unless you have friends or family there. All the feasting, dancing, food, and drink is shared between friends and sometimes neighbors. All things considered, take advantage of the weather, the light, and the only real cheerfulness you'll find in the country during the summer months.

I didn't have the most wonderful time in Copenhagen and Albertslund, but they are the only places in the world outside of the United States where I could visit and know where everything is. The only other place on earth like that would be Vieques - the tiny island beside Puerto Rico where Heather and I were married.

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