Countdown

November 7, 2019

She’ll be singing Christmas carols when she gets home this afternoon. The internet radio will be set to 24-hour Christmas music. How do I know this? 1) We got our first real snowfall of the season; it may melt off by tomorrow, but tonight the ground is white. 2) I’ve been married to her for nearly fifty years. There is no time of year she loves quite as much as Christmas. When I was younger, the season didn’t start till after Thanksgiving; today Christmasy stuff is on the shelves before Halloween, and though the Christian calendar says it’s still Ordinary Time or Kingdomtide, and the four weeks leading up to Christmas is Advent (Liturgical purists blanche at the thought of singing Christmas carols before December 25), in Linda’s mind, early snow spells C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S! 

Linda’s genes apparently have worked their way into our littlest grandchild. Last Sunday night when I brought her home from church, this little voice in the back seat said, “Beepa, do you know it’s only 52 days till Christmas?” I didn’t, but I do now.

Admittedly, I’m somewhat of a curmudgeon. I don’t scream and holler at sports events, and am pretty reserved in worship (I have been known to raise my hands in praise, however), but I take great pleasure in my wife’s delight in this time of year. Her joy overflows, and being her husband, I am most often the recipient of it. Before long, decorations will start to sprout around the house. I’ll know we are seriously in the season when her carolers start to inhabit every flat surface in the place, but until then, it’ll begin quietly, softly sneaking up on me. Even if a bit premature, I’m looking forward to it. Her eyes dance, and her heart is a bit lighter. Mine is, too, because most of her gifts are already bought, awaiting colorful paper and a spot under the tree. No, it’s not quite time, but in the Bailey household, the countdown has begun.