Closing the Books

It was one of my favorite moments of the Christmas season-- the last day of school before Christmas vacation.  It was that time at the end of the school day when you closed your books for the last time, threw them in your locker, and walked away from that soul crushing atmosphere for almost two weeks.  I loved it.  Of course, I would miss my school friends-- a little.  I don't know if you were the same way, but I had school friends, and I had neighborhood friends.  Christmas would be spent with friends on the block, not friends on the cell block we called a school.  As I got older, and we all started driving, the gap disappeared.  One of my high school friends recently reminded me of some of our Christmas break adventures.  It's a story for another time-- maybe.  I think the statute of limitations has run out.

When I got to college, Christmas break would be met with a little sadness.  Yes, it was nice to get another semester under your belt, and take one step closer to graduation.  On the other hand, the dorms cleared out, and some close friends would be gone for a month.  No email.  No Skype.  No texts.  This was in the pre-computer days, so the radio station needed actual bodies.  We townies kept it on the air until the new semester started.  No complaints.  As I have said many times, this is the life we have chosen.  I always enjoyed being behind the microphone, playing some good rock, and it was great to have something to do during Christmas break.  The campus was dead.  It still had its charm.

Today's entry is sort of that "closing the book" thing.  It's slowing down for the holidays.  This space will soon be devoted to the Top Ten Photographs of 2017, with a couple of new twists for the year.

By the way, I've noticed the "closing the books" ritual seems to be in high gear very early this year.  People seem to be in a huge hurry to clear their desks, calendars and to-do lists-- and get on with the holiday season.  December is almost a lost month.

A Christmas photo would be appropriate today.  I took this one in Jessup last week, before the snow, and it really doesn't do justice to the scene on Church Street.  It's red and green from the bottom of the hill to the top.