I’m not really blue, just thinking back on the holiday.  I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas.  Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas yourself American culture tends to sweep everyone into it regardless.

I celebrated the day with Pamela’s grandchildren and family in Virginia.  It is wonderful to see a Christmas morning through the eyes of a child.  It got me to thinking what a wonderful era this is for Christmas.  No, not what has been going on for the last year but how it has developed into what we celebrate two millennia on now.

In the year 600, 1200 or 1800 Christmas would have been much different.  They had far fewer great music options we have today.  From Louis Prima to Frank Sinatra to John Lennon and so many more.  In the year 600 they could not have filled an iPod Nano with their meager seasonal offerings and now I need a cloud to hold it all.  They had no mylar in 1200.  How did they survive without mylar for fake icicles and shiny baubles?  And shopping would have been so much more difficult without Amazon.  I mean in 1800 the only Amazon they had was a far away jungle that white folks decided they had “discovered” even though there had been residents there all along (but none were named Bezos).  Yep, we sure are lucky to be alive in 2017 and looking forward to 2018!

As always you can find more at http://www.walterthinnes.com and on Twitter @walterthinnes

TOMORROW: Review of the book Hillbilly Elegy