The Most Wonderful Time of the Year in the Most Awful of Years - Daniel Maher

    Now that Thanksgiving 2020 has passed, it's time for all of us to set our eyes on Christmas. The most wonderful time of the year is needed now more than ever before. As the season comes to form, Christmas lights and music and all, I just hope Christmas can stay as normal as possible this year. After not being able to travel for Thanksgiving or see any family, hopefully Christmas can cap off a terrible year on a somewhat positive note. So I think it's important to take the time to step back and reflect back on what makes this season so special.

   The first signs of Christmas always come when one day, you're riding in the car with your family and turn on the radio, only to realize the music has flipped to Christmas, despite it still being two weeks before Thanksgiving. Now, more than ever, I think that music means a lot more to people. With all the struggles and adversity 2020 has brought, realizing the time of joy and peace is upon us just takes a burden off of everyone's chest. Then, the lights begin to appear. These festive and beautiful decor scream Christmas like not much else can. Being able to drive around at night with my family and look at all the lights and interesting, creative ways people help celebrate the season always brings a smile to my face. Not to mention the colorful inflatables and fun scenes that can be portrayed by them in a person's front lawn. 

   Then, usually the first day after Thanksgiving for my family, we pick up the tree. Ah, who doesn't like spending half an hour at a farm as your parents argue over why this tree is bad and how this one is too pointy and so on. Once the tree is picked and standing in your house, the most enjoyable part comes, and that is being able to decorate. This is usually when my OCD kicks in because the separation between each of the ornaments and the amount of space between the lights isn't exact and ruins the whole tree, as I spend the next ten minutes of my life getting it to be as perfect as can be. But, when the star is up, the reef is on the door, and the lights are hanging, it finally starts to really feel like Christmas. 

   As the season begins to kick into full gear and you flip on your TV hoping to catch a quick movie, you see Elf, because for some reason people genuinely enjoy this movie, but that's just my opinion. Being able to watch old classics such as Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman, as well as some of the funnier classics such as Home Alone and Christmas Vacation, really brings the season together, as I sit with my family on the coach drinking hot chocolate and watching a movie.

   But, it is still 2020. For the most part, Christmas should feel pretty normal, but unlike Thanksgiving, I really do hope we have the opportunity to spend the season with family. A COVID Christmas does not seem very fun. But, in the most terrible of years, hopefully Christmas can come through as being one of the most wonderful of seasons. After all, 2021 would be only 6 days away.