Some links may be affiliate links. I may earn money if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these links on this site.

Rob Knowlan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

National Fritters Day 2023

Behind the 2nd door of our Advent calendar this year, we find National Fritters Day. That’s a bit random, but a treat’s a treat. Right?

🛐 Christmas Is A Tonic For Our Souls 🕯️

Christmas is a tonic for our souls. It moves us to think of others rather than of ourselves. It directs our thoughts to giving. ~B. C. Forbes

Whether you observe a religious or secular Christmas, I think it’s beneficial either way.

Sure, that sounds scandalous because secular Christmas is seen as a soulless exercise in retailers milking the public, but it’s actually more than that.

Granted, it’s not as profound as the religious meaning. Even so, let me speak in defense of secular Christmas on its own merits.

There are tons of news bits and mini-documentaries available to cover the history of Christmas and pre-Christian ❄️ Winter Solstice ❄️ celebrations.

Between the Victorian rebranding of Christmas as a family-centered holiday and the publication of A Christmas Carol and A Visit From St Nicholas, Christmas suddenly turned from something that was generally ignored or even outlawed to something that everybody could enjoy.

💝 The heart of modern Christmas is generosity. 🎄

Sure, people can view it as a crass exercise in overspending for the benefit of greedy merchants.

Even so, taken at face value, the message of secular Christmas is that we show our affection for family and friends by indulging them in parties, feasts and gifts.

Obviously, that’s not sustainable as a way of life. For a single day of the year, though? We can all find our inner Santa.

The holiday season is the cultural culmination of a busy year. It’s time to kick back and enjoy the fruits of our labors.

What better way to do that than to share generously with our loved ones?

If you’re from a cooler, temperate climate with distinct seasons as they do in England or here in the Northern United States or Canada, winter is generally marked with frigid temperatures and inclement weather.

What do you do when it’s cold and snowy or, God-forbid, icy outside? You huddle up, crank up the heat and have some comfort food.

Back in the days when we were a primarily agrarian society, it was time to hole up and rest up for the next growing season.

We’re culturally and temperamentally geared toward this expectation of social hibernation. Long cold nights and no crops to tend? Stay home and have a party.

And what’s wrong with that? You’ve worked hard all year. It’s time to take a deep breath, a long rest and catch up with your favorite people.

This is the crux of secular Christmas. It may have gone out of control in the opinion of some, but that’s only temporary.

Whatever sociocultural baggage comes with the less desirable aspects of secular Christmas, it’s almost always a sign of the times. The core message of modern, secular Christmas is the same across the decades.

Live, love and give freely.

The credit card bills can wait until next year…

Christmas 🎄 Fritters

CHRISTMAS FRITTERS – Traditional Italian Recipe

I always loved apple fritters, but these look tasty. As much as baked goods are likely to inflate my A1C, it’s just something that has to happen at Christmastime.

Christmas simply isn’t Christmas without the cookies, plum pudding and all the lovely treats festooned in red and green.

I’m doing my best to spread it out and not harm myself, but I also need the holiday comfort goodies to facilitate my mental health.

It’s been a long, long year and I want some gosh darn Christmas cookies. End of story. I won’t eat my weight in baked goods as I might have in years past. That’s an improvement.

Hopefully, holiday frivolity with a modicum of moderation will be enough to keep my A1C under control. Fingers crossed…

Rest 😴 Mode

A holiday is an opportunity to journey within. It is also a chance to chill, to relax. It is when I switch on my rest mode. ~Prabhas

One of the reasons for my No Mondays In 4Q Policy is to facilitate the writing, editing and formatting of my annual Holiday Season Serial Romances.

Another reason is because I’m freaking 🥱 tired and the holiday season is a good excuse for kicking back and having a couple months’ worth of long weekends.

I’m tired, y’all!

So, since I was actually able to start Carol’s Christmas a bit early, I can take advantage of my long weekends to recover from some gnarly project drives. That’s a needed relief.

Hopefully, things at work will cool down enough for me to wrap up this year’s story, get all the episodes formatted for the site and to figure out how to format this year’s POD copy using Atticus and Book Brush.

It’s been a long freakin’ year and I just don’t have the energy to do much more than struggle to finish my to-do list and crash into bed.

Thank goodness, Kelly baked me some Christmas cookies so I’ve got something worth waking up for.

---

That’s it for a lovely Christmastime 🎄 Saturday. Hope you’re having a restful holiday season.