Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus

May I present to you, the reasons I love the Christmas season more than any other. Not even years and years of working in retail could dampen my love of this time of year.

1. Real Christmas trees and the hunt for the perfect one
2. Christmas music, even if I start listening before it’s probably socially acceptable
3. Dominick the donkey and the fun times Team International Delight has with him
4. Red cups and Christmas at Starbucks, which thereby tells me it’s ok to start celebrating (I know, I know, I am sucked into the most obvious commercial ploy to man)
5. Ghetto Christmas at Kim and mine’s apartment the last couple years… geez I’ll miss that tree that Kim swore would cause her seizures
6. Mandarin oranges
7. The smells of Christmas (nutmeg, clove, tree, cinnamon, etc)
8. My mom’s decorated house that I used to think was too much but now do the exact same thing
9. The occasional white Christmas that happen so rarely in Vancouver
10. Snow in Stanley Park while walking the seawall with an egg nogg latte and occasionally jumping in to piles of white stuff
11. It’s a Wonderful Life, which we watch every Christmas Eve
12. Velvet Christmas dresses and patent leather shoes that I used to get every Christmas to wear for our portraits
13. Christmas parties and the outfits to go along with them
14. Candy canes and the art of making them into Christmas shiv’s.
15. Santa hats
16. Wrapping presents
17. Christmas lights on the houses
18. Peaceful winter nights at home, where you’re all warm and bundled up watching old school Christmas cartoons
19. Christmas baking
20. Christmas eve with the family and bragging about the awesome turkey I made years ago
21. The kindness of people at this time of year
22. The feeling… the indescribable feeling that we get at Christmas that makes you feel as if everything is right with the world
23. Believing in Santa Claus


“Christmas — that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance — a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved.”

“What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.”