Easin' into the Season

The Holiday Season is upon us. Thanksgiving is barely out of the way, and the shops have transitioned from Black Friday sales right into Christmas sales. The local radio stations have been playing carols for about the same length of time. Neighborhood lighting competitions are well underway. Its a typical December here in the good ol' USA.

I'm not really put off by it all, for two reasons. First, it's been this way for decades. Second, I ignore the hype and stay home. There will be a Christmas dinner with the brothers' families at some point. Pam and I may take a drive around town one evening to see the lights. Whatever we do, it will be low key.

It's not that we don't enjoy the Holidays. We do, and we enjoy traditional get-togethers with our families. We miss our kids and grandkids and would love to celebrate with them. The thing is, we have special priorities this year. 2025 will be our last full year here in Texas. We've resisted the call back home to Wyoming far too long.

It hasn't been a deliberate resistance. Life has taken interesting turns since we made the decision to leave. Rather than bore you with the details, I'll just say that there have been unavoidable delays. Financial and physical complications. We're not deterred. We're simply behind schedule, and that's okay.

Winter isn't the best time of year for a 700-mile move, especially when it involves driving a few mountain passes. There are also our dogs to consider and everything that being on the road in cold weather means for them. Lastly, this is not the ideal time of year to be looking for a place to rent up there until we find a permanent home.

So, although we're anxious, we're also adults and aware that we need to think practically. We'll stick with the roof over our heads here while we prepare. In the meantime, we'll observe the Holidays, without a lot of pressure. Things will fall into place, in their own time. We have each other, and we have faith.

So, we'll take the Holiday fun as it comes. We'll focus on moving forward. And we won't forget to spread a little Peace on Earth whenever and wherever we can. Isn't that what it's all about?

Now, I've read a few stories by authors I follow here about the possibility of leaving Vocal or dropping the plus from their membership. If I'm being honest, I've occasionally had similar thoughts. Interestingly enough, it was just brought to my attention by someone I follow that I've done pretty well here, in terms of financial reward. While that's true enough, I've worked hard to produce the writing that's earned those rewards.

That's the way this platform works. The rewards are there, if you put in the work. In a way, putting in the work is part of the reward, since Vocal's a great place to showcase your best and learn from the rest, with the bonus of feedback from a community that's chock full of talent. I fully intend to “keep on keepin' on” and make that little investment to help support the platform.

I'll continue to support my friends here, too, and hopefully make some new ones. That's just as important to me, because I wouldn't have accomplished much here without the community.

So, am I saying that going forward is business as usual for me? Nope! I'm hoping to shake things up a bit and do better. I plan to grow. I hope some of you will come along for the ride. And I hope those of us who observe it, will have the best hype-free Holiday Season ever. I hope those with different traditions will at least enjoy the show!

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Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it, please do me a favor and click on the heart. Comments are always appreciated, of course! Happy Holidays!