Written by TM
For those of us lucky enough to live in the northern part of the globe we will soon be seeing old man winter in full fury. The weather will turn gray and cloudy. The temperature will drop and the sunniest days will become the coldest days. A quick look outside of the window shows that today is a dreary day. The sun is nowhere in sight and rain is pouring down from the clouds above managing to form puddles among the still green grass. The thermometer shows that it is forty-four degrees. Here in Minnesota winter is a time to spend indoors unless the snow is falling and then we are forced out only because of the need to shovel the driveways and sidewalks. So for the next four months what are we to do? Sit on the couch and watch television all day long? That's a start.
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and NFL and College Football fanatics will be treated to a four-day monsoon of football action. To get it started off the Lions and Cowboys will play their annual Thanksgiving Day games. Friday will showcase the best of college football. Saturday will include some conference championship games in the NCAA and of course Sunday ends the weekend with more NFL action. Wives and mothers hate this weekend. It takes them twice as long to get their husbands or children to get things done, and they need to get them done twice as fast. Other notable events happening that weekend in the United States are the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the annual Skins game in golf. And guys don't forget that the Friday after Thanksgiving is one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Spend some quality time with your girlfriend or wife.
The week after Thanksgiving all attention turns to Christmas. Regular television programming takes a one-month hiatus in favor of Christmas classics like Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Christmas musical specials hit the air and usually there is a Wizard of Oz sighting. Yes, we know the Wizard of Oz isn't a Christmas movie but Christmas is the time it gets the most viewers because honestly, how many years in a row can you watch Rudolph save the day? If you're not one that loves Christmas classics or the witch of the West there is of course the world of sports you can turn to. The college basketball season starts heating up, as does the NBA season, and the college bowl season begins in mid-December. There is no hockey to speak of this year. Does anyone even care that it is gone?
Christmas Day comes along and you thank the Lord just for the fact that radio stations will no longer be playing Christmas songs twenty-four hours a day. If you were a good boy or girl this year you undoubtedly will receive gifts from the people you love, or from coworkers who pretend to love you. The secret Santa thing doesn't really make sense. If I'm going to spend money and buy a present for a coworker, I'm going to be sure that the coworker knows that I am the one that gave them the gift. Maybe it's the selfishness in me that is coming out. Christmas Day is a day to spend at Grandma's house eating ham and yams. For once all winter you should be able to carry on a conversation with relatives without the television involved. However, if you do need to turn on the tube, ABC always has a Christmas NBA game on in the afternoon. Lowest rated game of the year most likely, but they have one on anyway.
New Year's Eve and Day come along. That night you open up the bottle of champagne you've been saving all year and toast in the New Year hoping that the next will be far better than the last. You may make New Year's resolutions, but we all know those only last until January second. After playing cards, partying, and finishing up the last of the beer the adults go to bed. After doing the same thing the teenagers fall over dead drunk to wake up the next day with their first hangover of the year. New Year's Day begins with the Rose Bowl Parade and continues with twelve hours of non-stop football encompassing at least five different stations. The holidays are over and the long haul and cold months of winter are around the corner.
Besides the Super Bowl in late January and the return of the network television shows there is nothing really interesting happening in January or February. Not only is there not much on television during those months, but they are also the coldest and snowiest of the year. March Madness saves us from the deep freeze and it also helps when the lambs of March conquer the Lions. Now during January and February is the best time of the year to take a vacation. You can do as my parents do and go to Mexico and spend your days resting on the beach. You can head to New Zealand and check out where they filmed the Lord of the Rings and maybe even get the chance to be included in Peter Jackson's next award show speech. Or you can do what most of the world does and wade through the months spending eight hours a day at a job you hate and with coworkers who still won't tell who gave who gifts.
Yes, as I finish this, the weather outside is still dreary, gray, and rainy. The sun is slowly moving towards the western horizon. Snow is just a few weeks or days away. The snow blower is tuned and the shovels are ready. For those who don't feel the need to kill brain cells by staring at a television all winter long, there is of course books that you can read and a garage that probably needs to be cleaned out. You could help out around the house. Learn how to use a vacuum or broom. There are also relatives you can spend time with, friends to hang out with, and your mother never sees you enough. If all else fails, at the beginning of next year you can begin to work on your taxes. Just remember the sooner you file the sooner you get that one-dollar refund.
For those of us lucky enough to live in the northern part of the globe we will soon be seeing old man winter in full fury. The weather will turn gray and cloudy. The temperature will drop and the sunniest days will become the coldest days. A quick look outside of the window shows that today is a dreary day. The sun is nowhere in sight and rain is pouring down from the clouds above managing to form puddles among the still green grass. The thermometer shows that it is forty-four degrees. Here in Minnesota winter is a time to spend indoors unless the snow is falling and then we are forced out only because of the need to shovel the driveways and sidewalks. So for the next four months what are we to do? Sit on the couch and watch television all day long? That's a start.
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and NFL and College Football fanatics will be treated to a four-day monsoon of football action. To get it started off the Lions and Cowboys will play their annual Thanksgiving Day games. Friday will showcase the best of college football. Saturday will include some conference championship games in the NCAA and of course Sunday ends the weekend with more NFL action. Wives and mothers hate this weekend. It takes them twice as long to get their husbands or children to get things done, and they need to get them done twice as fast. Other notable events happening that weekend in the United States are the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the annual Skins game in golf. And guys don't forget that the Friday after Thanksgiving is one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Spend some quality time with your girlfriend or wife.
The week after Thanksgiving all attention turns to Christmas. Regular television programming takes a one-month hiatus in favor of Christmas classics like Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Christmas musical specials hit the air and usually there is a Wizard of Oz sighting. Yes, we know the Wizard of Oz isn't a Christmas movie but Christmas is the time it gets the most viewers because honestly, how many years in a row can you watch Rudolph save the day? If you're not one that loves Christmas classics or the witch of the West there is of course the world of sports you can turn to. The college basketball season starts heating up, as does the NBA season, and the college bowl season begins in mid-December. There is no hockey to speak of this year. Does anyone even care that it is gone?
Christmas Day comes along and you thank the Lord just for the fact that radio stations will no longer be playing Christmas songs twenty-four hours a day. If you were a good boy or girl this year you undoubtedly will receive gifts from the people you love, or from coworkers who pretend to love you. The secret Santa thing doesn't really make sense. If I'm going to spend money and buy a present for a coworker, I'm going to be sure that the coworker knows that I am the one that gave them the gift. Maybe it's the selfishness in me that is coming out. Christmas Day is a day to spend at Grandma's house eating ham and yams. For once all winter you should be able to carry on a conversation with relatives without the television involved. However, if you do need to turn on the tube, ABC always has a Christmas NBA game on in the afternoon. Lowest rated game of the year most likely, but they have one on anyway.
New Year's Eve and Day come along. That night you open up the bottle of champagne you've been saving all year and toast in the New Year hoping that the next will be far better than the last. You may make New Year's resolutions, but we all know those only last until January second. After playing cards, partying, and finishing up the last of the beer the adults go to bed. After doing the same thing the teenagers fall over dead drunk to wake up the next day with their first hangover of the year. New Year's Day begins with the Rose Bowl Parade and continues with twelve hours of non-stop football encompassing at least five different stations. The holidays are over and the long haul and cold months of winter are around the corner.
Besides the Super Bowl in late January and the return of the network television shows there is nothing really interesting happening in January or February. Not only is there not much on television during those months, but they are also the coldest and snowiest of the year. March Madness saves us from the deep freeze and it also helps when the lambs of March conquer the Lions. Now during January and February is the best time of the year to take a vacation. You can do as my parents do and go to Mexico and spend your days resting on the beach. You can head to New Zealand and check out where they filmed the Lord of the Rings and maybe even get the chance to be included in Peter Jackson's next award show speech. Or you can do what most of the world does and wade through the months spending eight hours a day at a job you hate and with coworkers who still won't tell who gave who gifts.
Yes, as I finish this, the weather outside is still dreary, gray, and rainy. The sun is slowly moving towards the western horizon. Snow is just a few weeks or days away. The snow blower is tuned and the shovels are ready. For those who don't feel the need to kill brain cells by staring at a television all winter long, there is of course books that you can read and a garage that probably needs to be cleaned out. You could help out around the house. Learn how to use a vacuum or broom. There are also relatives you can spend time with, friends to hang out with, and your mother never sees you enough. If all else fails, at the beginning of next year you can begin to work on your taxes. Just remember the sooner you file the sooner you get that one-dollar refund.
