Trares
Visions of sugar plums danced in his head.
We weren’t even to Thanksgiving yet, and Anthony is already literally dreaming about Christmas.
As we were getting ready for school the last day before the holiday break, he shared his very vivid dream with me. He set the stage — it was Christmas morning, and he had come downstairs to discover what Santa Claus had left him.
Creeping down the steps, he managed the catch St. Nick in the process of leaving presents.
“Good thing that was a dream,” I said. “If Santa catches you up late sneaking around to find gifts, it’s all coal for you.”
Anthony gave me a withering stare, then continued on.
Apparently, he got all of the things that were on his list — a good omen, he thought. The only drawback was that just as his dream-self was about to dig into his stocking, he woke up.
“I didn’t even get to see what I got!” he said with exasperation.
The Christmas dream was just the latest indication that we’ve arrived fully into the holiday season. If there was any doubt earlier, even with “All I Want for Christmas” on the radio and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” on the TV, there is none now.
We spent last Saturday hauling the indoor decorations out of the garage to set up around the house. Out came the light-up trees, the animatronic dancing snowmen and the gingerbread man-garland. We put up the big artificial tree for the front window (we’ll get the live tree for the kitchen this weekend) and went through boxes of ornaments to put on our favorites.
Anthony has amassed a collection of decorations of his favorite cartoon characters over the years: Peter Pan, Mickey Mouse, Charlie Brown, Baby Yoda. This year, I bought him a “The Nightmare Before Christmas” version, commemorating what he decided was now one of his favorite Halloween AND Christmas movies.
All of them had to go in a very particular place, which Anthony worked out in his head.
The following day, we took a trip to the Carmel Christkindlmarkt, a tourist attraction north of Indianapolis meant to replicate a German holiday market. We had hot chocolate, bought authentic European candies and listen to Christmas carols played by alphorn players.
Just like Anthony, the rest of us are all ready for the holiday season. A late Thanksgiving and busy travel schedules compress what is the best month of the year, making it imperative to fit everything we can whenever we can do it.
In the past, I’ve had Thanksgiving as my firm barrier between seasons. That has eased in recent years, and this year, I’m fine decking the halls already.
I’m thankful I have people I love to take that sleigh ride with me.
Ryan Trares is a senior reporter and columnist for the Daily Journal. Send comments to editorial@therepublic.com.
