The Season for Joy In Washington D.C.

The fire place is all lit up, and all gather around with a hot cup of chocolate full of tiny little marshmallows in hand. The smell of the Christmas pine tree decked with colorful candy canes, red & gold baubles, and tiny ornaments wrapped in tinsels, and lights wafts in the air. The children are anxiously waiting for the first snowfall of the year when they can stick their tongue out to catch a snowflake on the tip of their tongues. And finally when the snow does arrive on a very cold night, your eyes are in for a treat the next morning. You wake up to look out your window to find the tress, and grass covered in a thick blanket of snow. The children hurry downstairs to turn on the news to hear the announcement “Schools CLOSED!” With joy they run to grab their jackets, mittens, hats, and pull on their boots to go jump into the snow to make snow angels in the fresh pile of snow, throw a snow ball fight or two, and to see who can build the bigger snow man. Finally December has come around again with its holidays and it’s once again time to wave another year so long, farewell, adieu 2012!

The sun has begun to set earlier, and nevertheless despite December being the month of the cold season it has come to be known as the “season of joy.” And indeed it is a time of joy in Washington D.C. with celebrations everywhere what with Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa around the corner. Hanukkah brings on eight days of joy as it is celebrated for eight days (this year Hanukkah starts on December 8th according to the Hebrew Calendar) where a candle is lit for each night for 8 days whereas Kwanzaa starts from December 26 to Jan 1.

Christmas celebrations fall on the 25 of every year of course, and the children make sure that they place the cookies and the milk for the good old St. Nicholas to eat as he flies down the chimney on the eve of Christmas to place the presents underneath the tree while all are asleep.

When you walk into the malls there are red and green colors all over and reminder for the children that Santa Claus is coming so they better not be naughty if they want to get onto Santa’s Nice List.

Children line up to see Santa Claus so that they can hop on his lap and let him know what it is that they want for Christmas, while parents rush around in a hurry to buy presents. On occasions when I take a stroll down the sidewalk during the evening time to the nearest Starbucks joint to order my usual grande peppermint mocha with two shots of espresso or to the nearest Barnes & Nobles bookstore the trees along the sidewalks decked in golden lights puts a smile on my face.

At home, it’s a time when families as they get together to see relatives whom they have not seen for a long while or since the last get together. Everyone spends their time in the kitchen, baking cakes, making gingerbread houses, baking sugar cookies shaped as a Christmas tree, or a Menorah and drinking eggnog. The smell of cinnamon buns and peppermint fill the kitchen as children run around laughing merrily grabbing the cookies off the tray even though they are told not to touch them as they are still hot! Stories of The Grinch and Mr. Scrooge are told, and Christmas carolers come about singing carols.

In Washington D.C December has always seemed to be a time when everyone is reminded that giving is more important than receiving bringing families together to celebrate another year’s end and another year’s beginning. People spent their time volunteering at the homeless

shelter, hospitals, and visiting the old age homes in order to do their duty of spreading the joy of the season. Though some would say that the holidays is simply a rip off where Hallmark makes bank, for others especially the children, it is a time where problems can be forgotten for a moment’s time and even the adults become children as they reminisce about their childhood. And soon after the rush and bustle of the holidays come to an end worldwide everyone prepares to sent the year off into history, welcoming the New Year 2013, crossing fingers and hoping that the coming year will be better than the last.

So as 2012 finally comes to an end, it is once again time to make a list of resolutions as to what you will achieve in the year 2013. So remember to make the best of the year 2013 and have a Happy Holiday and a Happy New Years to all! And children remember you better not cry, you better not pout because Santa Claus is coming to town.

Denisha Sahadevan