Oh, the weather outside is… still frustratingly unseasonable. (Yeah, Christmas songs just don’t work well in Texas.) I’m so glad I had that week in Hawaii to get away from this blustery 75-degree weather. Although supposedly a cold front is on the way. (Or supposebly… Does anyone watch Friends? Remember that episode where Joey was convinced that it was “supposebly” and not “supposedly”? As in, “supposebly there are people who think comfortability is a real word.” But I SUPPOSE it’s just as much of a word as "supposebly.")
Anyway, I’m excited because we’re starting to get some plans finalized to travel up to Chicago right before Christmas. I’m very much looking forward to that – not only will I most certainly have a chance to wear my oft-neglected purple wool winter coat, but I’ll also have the chance to see Chicago at Christmas. I love big cities at Christmastime – I used to love going into New York just to see all the lights and decorations. (Although I have to admit the first time I saw the tree in Rockefeller Center it was a bit of a letdown. It just seems bigger on TV… in person, it’s not quite as impressive for some reason.) And oh yeah – Eric is in Chicago, so I’ll get to see him, too. (You’d better be taking us to Ghirardelli, Eric… I don’t CARE if it’s 20 below zero – I want a hot fudge sundae… I’ll shiver my way through it… it’ll be worth it.)
So today I’m planning on unearthing all my Christmas decorations from wherever they’re buried in the spare closet. I already set up my fake, makes-me-feel-like-a-Christmas-sell-out tree (some day I’ll have a real tree again…) but I haven’t decorated it yet. So right now it’s just a big green plastic cat chew toy. (Hey, I’ve TRIED to keep her away from it, but the crazy cat actually seems to ENJOY ingesting inedible substances.) I can’t even remember what kind of ornaments I have… didn’t I MAKE some last year? Yeah, I think I actually wrote a post about that, didn’t I? :)
Somewhere within the myriad of holiday commercials on television yesterday, I saw one for a toy train set – not a little one, but one large enough for a child to ride on. It comes with a kitchen-table-sized circle of train tracks, so kids can ride their trains around in circles in the middle of the house. And at the end of the commercial, the announcer says, “make your child’s dream come true!” Apparently most children’s fondest dreams consist of riding trains around until they get dizzy. To be honest, I can’t remember what sorts of “dreams” I had when I was two or three years old, but I suppose riding around on a train in my house WOULD have been pretty cool…
But that ad made me think about how different things are once you’re a “grown up.” How great would it be to know your “dream” was something as simple as a toy train? Nowadays, my dreams tend to point more toward less tangible acquisitions – like happiness and contentment and love. But perhaps when you’re three years old, if you know – as all children should – that you are loved, then all you need to be happy and content is one really great toy. At least temporarily. Because it’s funny how the “toys,” whether children’s toys or adult toys – like cars and TVs and jewelry – always eventually lose their ability to charm. In the end, the “toys” are nothing more than things, yet the dreams of happiness and contentment remain. Do you suppose human beings will ever truly believe the “money can’t buy happiness” adage?
Well, it can’t buy happiness, but it can definitely buy a hot fudge sundae at Ghirardelli…
1 comment:
Money cannot buy happiness. But it might pay the rent... ;)
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