Aphorisms for December

• 90% of what a child asks for is immediately grantable. 9% requires pixie dust. 1% will break your heart.
• No matter the month it comes, no one is ready for the first snow except the squirrels.
• It's easy to find presents for people you don't expect to see this year.
• The longest night of the year comes when you realize you don't need extra folding chairs for dinner anymore.
• Even if you've never read Dickens, Christmas comes with ghosts.
• The present you miss most from childhood will be one you gave, not one you got.

A couple quick asides: I haven't forgotten about my promise to post "Reflections...", but I had forgotten how (ahem) rough a piece it was. A few more passes with the WD-40 and it should be ready to go up.

I have a Christmas poem soaking, too, and I even like it (which is always an even-money bet). But its hook is part Dickens, part WSOP. I'm waiting to see if I get an idea my mother will like before going with that one.

Am I the only person whose dead relatives are showing up everywhere the pen lands this month?