I've bought my wife a lot of silly crap in my day, but of all the items I've procured for her, rarely has one been greeted with such rapturous appreciation as the Yule log DVD I picked up for her about two weeks ago at Gracious Home. Fellow New Yorkers will doubtlessly remember WPIX (Channel 11) airing the Yule log every year; ultimately an hour & a half or so of footage of a burning log in a fireplace, scored by Christmas carols. Sure, it sounds corny, but for city-dwellers who didn't have fireplaces in their homes (i.e. most of us), it at least provided a pleasant illusion. Peggy saw an ad for a DVD that replicated the same illusion and mentioned how that would be fun to have. I didn't take her seriously at first, but on one blustery walk home down 6th Avenue two weeks back, I happened to pass a Gracious Home. Nine bucks later, the DVD was mine.
As goofy as it sounds, it really is kinda nice. Mercifully swapping the shrill carols in favor of authentic hearth sounds (popping sparks, crackling flame, etc.), watching the DVD is strangely soothing. The warmth is missing, of course (along with the inevitable grumbling and physical maintenance that goes along with tending an actual fire), but Peg's been playing it pretty solidly every night for the last week. If your apartment is as spatially compromised as ours, I heartily recommend picking one up. If you can manage to suspend your cynicism (not always an easy feat for me), you'll be surprised.
On a more serious note, a very close member of the Flaming Pablum family was involved in a car accident this past Wednesday, and we very nearly lost them. As such, they're going to be spending the holiday in the hospital. The whole experience has been scary and heartbreaking, but has strangely leant Christmas a new resonance for me. In this spirit, I strongly encourage you to reach out to the ones you care about today and tell them how very much you love them. You simply never know when you're going to lose the opportunity to do so. Do it today.
Merry Christmas.
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