Christmas or "just" Holiday?

Sometimes this country's political correctness can drive one mad. At the moment there is a debate whether this is "holiday times" and not Christmas times, whether the trees we raise and decorate all over are "holiday trees" instead of Christmas trees, etc, etc.
Bill O'Reilly on the Fox News Channel, a person that normally has pretty skewed views on most about anything, and someone who never lets his guests make a point, last night he actually did something really good;
He vocally pushed for Christmas being put back into Christmas! Finally, someone that stands up for a good ol' tradition!

I am no religious freak, or not really religious at all (but I would like deem myself somewhat spiritual), and Christmas for me is not really a religious holiday, but it is a holiday of peace, joy, family, food, friends, winter and snow, and a time of the year when we get to relax and reflect over the time that has passed.

It has gone way too far when stores starts to change their displays from "Christmas Sale" to "Holiday sale", out of fear of alienating or offending people. I'm sorry, but if you can't stand "Christmas" a few weeks of the year, this is probably not the place for you.

I would not like to go to North Africa, to find out that they removed Ramadan, just out of fear that I'd be offended by all the events during that time. Nor would I like to go to China and find out they cancelled the Chinese New Year, just because it does not match up with "my" New Year.
We are all different in one way or another, just as countries are different. They have different history, background, ethnic composition, geography, weather, location, political system, or lack there of. All those things are what make this planet so amazing. We can travel and experience different things.

How horrible would it be if I traveled to country X, just to find it exactly like "here at home"? Same franchise driven restaurants, same cars, same traditions, and same political correctness. No, when I travel I want things to be different. That both makes traveling fascinating, as well as makes it educational. By traveling to different places, or should I say “places that are different”, we might actually learn something while we are away having fun.

Some places we travel to are deemed “dangerous” by the state department, and that keeps the mainstream American traveler out. Not a bad things, since too many Americans (or Europeans as well for that matter) in one place has a tendency to destroy and ruin the “”difference”, the reason why we traveled in the first place.
If you just want sunny skies and fair weather, go to Florida or Arizona. If you want sunny skies and an experience for life, go to Central America, South East Asia, the Caribbean, or some other “sunny” spot on the planet. But, do not expect it to be “like home”. That said, there are many fascinating places in the US as well, places that are far off the beaten path, and places that are really different.

One case that has captured the (fascination of) American media over the past six+ months is the case of the missing girl from Alabama, Natalie Holloway.
The fact that the girl is gone, missing, not found yet, or whatever we call it, is a horrible fact for the parents, the family, and her friends back in Alabama. But, she went to a different country on vacation, a country that is not the United States, a country that neither has the same rules, regulations, or traditions as the United States. Therefore, neither should we expect its judicial system to work as in the United States.
As much as I support the parents in their quest of finding their daughter, or worse, finding out what actually happened to her, I am totally against any type of boycott or other means of twisting the arms of the Arubans in order for them to “adopt” US’s standards or procedures for their police and judicial work.
It is a different country, let it remain that and let the girl be found. End of rant!


After a wet week, we have started to see some spots of sun up here in the Pacific Northwest. December is almost here and for once, there is actually snow in the mountains. Maybe we can look forward to A ski season worth the name this winter, instead of what we’ve had in the past, warm and sunny times with snow levels almost not even hitting the peaks of our majestic and wonderful mountains.

Well, that said, the sun’s out, and that’ll likely mean that it is time to attack the outside Christmas decorations. I am not sure if it is due to historically cheap energy, or some other reason, but in most parts of the United States, we homeowners spend a lot of time and take pride in decorating the outside of our houses with lights this time of year. Let’s call them Christmas lights, even though most of them are popping up just after Thanksgiving, and disappearing sometime in the early beginning of the New Year. That is too sad, since the lights are beautiful and they’d be even prettier with some snow in the background, snow we rarely see any of until we are into January down here in town.

Well, enough of this. Time to actually set up those damn lights….:-)

First posting

Well, so it has finally happened. I have not only decided to, but also actually gotten a spot in Cyber Universe to post some thoughts and pictures. This will not be a very active place holder, but hopefully someone, sometimes will find these "thinkings" interesting.