The Season's Upon Us!

A Charlie Brown Christmas
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Enough blood and gore, for now. It struck me that I was forgetting something. I mean, it's December, innit? For those of us of the Christian persuasion, it's Christmas time.

Now I have always loved this time of year, since I was a wee sma' laddie growing up in the hills of Vermont. A lovely place back then, people had jobs, the town was thriving, and things looked awfully nice in hindsight and in truth.

Okay, pour moi, things were really good. I grew up in a typical 1950s middle class home, Dad had a job, Mom took care of the house and the kids. We were comfortable. Looking back I know my parents worked their butts off. But we kids didn't worry about the world, we just had to be kids.

I had a full set of grandparents, I didn't know when I was young that my maternal grandfather wasn't actually a blood relative, he was my grandmother's second husband. But damn, he was an awesome grandpa. In my world I had a Mom and a Dad, two grandfathers and two grandmothers. (Yes, there were uncles and aunts and cousins but they fell just outside the intimate inner circle. Well, except maybe my Uncle Charlie, one of my Dad's older brothers. He and my Dad shared a special bond which sort of flowed over to Uncle Charlie and my two brothers and I.)

Life was good. Looking back, I realize that it was incredibly good, growing up where I did and when I did.

I have a few favorite TV shows from those days (a couple were later on) which still show up nearly every year. I may watch them, I may not (some of these shows are over fifty years old and I've probably watched them forty times, so I nearly have them memorized) but watching them or simply hearing about them always brings back fond memories.

Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order. (Okay, A Charlie Brown Christmas and Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer are my two absolute favorites. I watch those, I get misty-eyed from fond memories of Christmases past. So the first two pictures are my favorites, perhaps 1 and 1a, it's a close tie.)

Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer
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Ah Rudolf, one of the first shows I remember watching as a kid, this and A Charlie Brown Christmas. I remember a lot when I watch these, all of those memories are good, if not perfect.

A Christmas Carol
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This version of A Christmas Carol is superb. I've seen others, this one inspired me to actually buy the book. (Which I discovered the George C. Scott version of A Christmas Carol followed nearly to the letter.) A great cast for a great story. Well filmed and well acted.

A Christmas Story
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I consider A Christmas Story  to almost be a near perfect reconstruction of my Christmases as a kid. Although Dad never won a "major award," the background settings and the way everyone is dressed remind me of being a young kid growing up in New England.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas
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There are a couple of versions of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, this one reminded me of the book when I first saw it. The Nuke and Tuttle took us all out to see a newer version at the movie theater a couple of years ago. I was hesitant at first, remembering the version I grew up with, but this one, simply titled The Grinch, was very good indeed. (This was back in 2018.)

I truly enjoyed it, which told me that I wasn't as much of a curmudgeon as I thought I was.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
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Last, and certainly not least, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation makes me roar with laughter every time I see it. Yeah, I had to use the photo of Cousin Eddie emptying the septic tank of his motor home, funniest thing ever captured on film. (At least top five.)

So, I hope your holiday season goes well and you find peace and comfort with loved ones (I include friends in that category).

What are your favorites?

Now in keeping with long standing Chant du Départ tradition, here's the video I put out every year. Yes, the season IS upon us. It IS that time of year. (The video is the thing I was forgetting, which I alluded to earlier.)

Be well.