Boxing Day

Happy Boxing Day. Hoping you all had a happy and healthy Christmas (even those who don't observe Christmas). Which brings us to today -- Boxing Day, that obscure, ill-defined, British, post-Christmas enigma. From what I can deduce, Boxing Day seems to be a form of Holiday grace period for those who either failed to deliver Christmas gifts on time, or worse, find themselves caught short when that unexpected acquaintance or relative shows up bearing a gift for you. Is it me, or is this becoming a better-known phenomenon here in the U.S.?
I think Boxing Day should be so-called because it's the day everyone throws away all those boxes that only twenty-four hours before had graced the floors (decorated in festive papers and bows) beneath fast-withering conifers across the land. Now those annual symbols of peace, goodwill and kindness are little more than landfill -- the circle is complete.
In spite of the hassle the Holidays invariably impart upon the populace, it still wins out in popularity as western-style, Judaeo-Christian Holiday's go.
Surprisingly, I find myself enjoying New Year's Eve a lot more than I used to. No longer does it seem to be the forced, final, pitiful gasp of peace, joy goodwill and other Christmas season revelry that I once took it for. For sure, it does herald a return to work, or school, and the beginning of what is sure to be a long cold stretch of glacial-like winter months. But the great part about New Year's Eve is that no one expects anything from you, except possibly a bottle of cheap bubbly, which you probably saved from the office Holiday party anyway. What better use? Now all that's left is for you to show up at the party. Unless, of course, you're hosting, in which case you deserve extra-credit. That comes in the form of at least several unopened bottles of cheap bubbly that you can keep on hand for next year's post-Christmas festivities.
So put on the gloves and go out and make this the best Boxing Day ever!

More to come,
Terrab