The View from a Drawbridge

Tag: holidays

  • The Tintinnabulation of the Bells

    I find bell choirs comforting.

  • A Wish for Us All

    The darkness won’t last forever!

  • The Side Effects of Spreading Joy

    My recipe for getting out of a dark place is to shine a light.

  • What a Difference a Person Can Make

    You never know when someone will take your outstretched hand.

  • Christmas Lights

    Colored lights at night are absolutely gorgeous.

  • For All the Unsung Bridgetenders

    For the first time in many, many years, I will not be ringing in the new year all alone at work. This is not because after 16 years as a bridgetender I’ve earned a certain level of seniority. No. It’s simply because this time around, the holiday just happened to fall on my regular day…

  • Keeping Christmas

    In A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Scrooge utters a line that I’ll never forget: “Keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine.” As detestable as Scrooge may be at first, that sentiment has always made sense to me. Christmas should never be forced upon anyone. Part of the reason…

  • Why I Say Happy Holidays

    I like chestnuts at this time of year, but this particular chestnut is getting old. I’m referring to the annual debate about whether to say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. Here’s why I think the answer is clear. When I say Happy Holidays, I am wishing you a Merry Christmas. I’m also wishing your neighbor…

  • Out There for the Holidays

    The holidays can be painfully lonely for those of us who are single. At a time when joy is almost mandatory, it makes you feel that much worse when you can’t quite get there. Bah, humbug. In years past, I’ve tried my best to pretend that the holidays weren’t happening. For example, it’s my New…

  • Grieving through the Holidays

    If you’ve lost someone you love, the holidays can be a particularly painful time. All those memories. All those traditions. All those people, still alive, who insist that you to carry on all those traditions. How can you be expected to decorate a tree when every ornament reminds you of the person you’ve lost? And…