December 14th

"Once Upon a Season"

By

Stretch

I remember seeing a comedian (I can't remember who) performing a routine in which he assumed the persona of a Russian immigrant to the U.S. He talked about his first trip to the grocery store and his amazement to see that fruit was available out of season. As he described his reaction, amazement gave way to a hint of sadness as he described having spring and autumn on the same plate.

This observation stuck with me, because it seemed profound, but I did not really understand it until tonight. Having just got the kids in bed, my wife and I turned on the television to find that "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" was airing tonight. My wife grimaced and said she wished she had known, so that the kids could have stayed up to watch it.

I immediately observed that we could simply get the DVD for them to watch anytime and she said, "Yeah, but what made it cool growing up was the fact that it only came on once a year."

She was absolutely right.