Pedley's Ponderings

It appears that most houses I drive by already have Christmas decorations up. These festive visuals don’t help my holiday vertigo, as they only work to confuse me further. We haven’t even had Thanksgiving...right?

Another glance at the calendar confirms my hunch for the 80th time. I can’t keep anything straight this year – 2024 is flying by and will soon be gone. It doesn’t help that some stores have had Christmas decorations up since before Halloween. I am easily confused.

We had an early Thanksgiving last weekend, which was my favorite type of Thanksgiving because I only had to make one dish. We’re hosting a small gathering on Thursday where I’ll have to make most of the food. I often pine for the days when I’d show up, eat, drink and sleep. “The glory days,” or so they say.

Thanksgiving used to be one of my favorite holidays. I suppose it’s still Top 3, but the sands of time have soured my attitude a bit. So it goes.

The worst part about Thanksgiving is what comes after. I’m by no means “a Christmas guy,” and to me the season just means more work. My wife is already harping at me about getting decorations out and helping put them up, including exterior lights. I despise the work and am not looking forward to completing it. The phrase “grin and bear it” will certainly be put to the test.

She mentioned getting a real tree this year, which made me scoff. We have two fake ones and I can’t stomach forking over money for something we’ll throw away after a month. Our tree stand also went out on junk day, and I’m definitely not buying another one of those.

I’m told I need to get into the Christmas spirit so my children have good holiday memories. As long as I don’t ruin Santa for them and have presents under the tree on Dec. 25, I think I’m doing just fine. Apparently, though, that’s just not enough. I need to scale a ladder, wreck my back and adorn my gutters with lights in the hope they’ll work once hung. I can’t muster the motivation because the only reward for doing it is having to take them down a month later.

Yes, the “bah humbug” is strong in me. The spirit of the season is always erased by chores for no reason. I suppose I’ll do them, though, because I always do...sometimes, anyway.

In the meantime, I have a turkey to cook and potatoes to mash. All the while the calendar continues to fly like a rocket. Christmas is less than a month away, and I’m already dreading buying gifts on Dec. 23.

Merry Thanksgiving and Happy Christmas, people.

Nick Pedley is the news editor and ad manager of The Hartley Sentinel-The Everly/Royal News.