I don't care if it's "too early." I put up the Christmas tree this afternoon... [View all]

In our family, this kind of became part of the holiday tradition during the pandemic and the era of Trumpian nonsense. Get everything put up, decorated and lit even before Thanksgiving. Enjoy the festive atmosphere just a little bit longer, in part as a means of getting our minds off politics. To that end, the tree (a remarkably attractive artificial Martha Stewart tree that cost what now feels like a bizarrely low price of $59 on a Black Friday sale thirteen years ago at Home Depot) went up today. By this weekend, the lights will be strung on the house. Ho ho ho!