Baby, It's Cold Outside

Why it's 11:30 at night and I felt the urge to check the mail or to be still awake I have no idea.

Yeah, I do. It's freezing outside. Not literally. It's only in the low 40's but it feels much colder. Doesn't help that I'm wearing shorts. There's nothing better than walking out in the cold and going into near hypothermia only to walk back into a warm house and crawl under a thick blanket.

Our office had its Christmas party today. I mentioned previously that we drew Secret Santa names for this week. I wish I had a chance to apologize for any unrecognized misdeed on my part. For our grand finale (which had a $10 maximimum), I got a bottle of Jovan "The Heat" cologne and after shave. And I have no doubt there was some change involved.

Hey, Chris, guess what you're gonna find under your tree Christmas morning?

On this day, the 16th, I'm finally starting to feel in the Christmas mood. Had I had the foresight to actually purchase any presents, maybe I'd be wrapping them this weekend.

And I'm reminded of the true spirit of Christmas - the traditions. Mine may be just a little bit different than yours, though.

When I was younger and living in Wimberley, the community used to dislay a tree on the town square. Until it became more of a hazard than a symbol.

Each year, an older brother of my brother's friends would, for a annual drunken tradition, set fire to said Christmas tree. It wasn't the Yuletide until the volunteer fire department was called out to extinguish the flaming tree.

Years later when I was in high school, some kids thought they were too cool for school because they placed empty beer cans as ornaments on the tree. "Whoohoo, look at me! I can drink beer and litter the streets." Not nearly cool as "Hide the women and children! I've got gallon of gasoline and a book of matches."

So while you're gazing at your Christmas tree and singing carols around the fire, I'll long for the days when the Chrismas tree was actually on fire. And the chief, whose name is Carroll, engaged in his annual tradition.