Category: Holidays

Coming and Going

Nice when they come,
Nice when they go.
— Holiday Road

Bashō no yōna, after Christmas 2023

What a wonderful feelin’
Watching the ones we love …
Why can’t it remain,

Ray Charles, That Spirit of Christmas

1983

Funniest Christmas movie ever — Christmas Vacation, starring Chevy Chase as a beleaguered father who wants an old-fashioned Griswold Family Christmas. Beverley D’Angelo is the dutiful wife. Then family shows up, and Cousin Eddy in the RV with his family and Snots, the dog. Lindsay Buckingham’s “Holiday Road” doesn’t appear in the movie, but it readily comes to mind.

“Christmas Vacation” replaces it. Even better is Ray Charles singing “That Spirit of Christmas” asking,

“Why can’t it remain.
All through the year,
Each day the same?”

Evening Snow At Kanbara Along the Tokaido Road, by Utagawa Hiroshige

Fa-La-La-La-La

Costco,
Saturday, December 9, 2023

“Saturday, you must be crazy to shop at Costco.” The text message reads. The store is packed, the lines are long, not everyone, but someone becomes impatient.

Two weeks before Christmas, Bashō no yōna is shopping at the local Costco. Standing patiently in line waiting for a piece of Cheddar cheese, he hears a father and mother with four young children in tow berating the bespectacled septuagenarian who is sweetly smiling but having a hard time cutting the cheese.

Needless to say, Bashō no yōna says,

‘Tis the season
For short tempers,
“Fa–la–la–la–la, la–la–la–la!”

Bashō no yōna, Holiday Season, 2023
Costco Hotdogs, fa-la-la-la-la

Did Bashō no yōna get his hot dog and drink for $1.50?

You bet ya, loaded with relish and mustard, but no onions. Is it cost cutting at Costco?

A hot dog with relish and mustard,
What, no onions!
— Cost cutting at Costco

Bashō no yōna, anytime of the year

Rain

It rained last night in Dallas. A hard rain with thunder and lightning, the kind of rain that makes my two dogs crawl underneath the covers, curl up, and hide. Today is no different. One might say it is raining cats and dogs or buckets, but that makes no sense to the dogs who are sadly staring out the window wondering.

It’s Thanksgiving, happy Thanksgiving, a good day to stay at home and cook, then to gather with friends and family, say a prayer and eat.

A rainy day in November

Dogs at the window

A hang-dog look

Our thoughts turn to what to do when it is raining so hard all one can say is, “Oh my God!”

It rained all night, it rained all day. It rained, then stopped, and rained again. It rained like someone pounding at my door. The windows rattled, as did I. It rained so much, I screamed, Enough!

Is it Her fault that She chose Thanksgiving as the day for us to stay home and ponder life’s mysteries.

Rain, rain, don’t go away

Stay awhile

While I wonder

Wonder about what? Friendships rekindled.

A Thanksgiving Toast

There are good ships and wood ships

Ships that sail the seven seas

But the best ships are friendships