Sunday, January 03, 2010

A Week of Sundays

I know you saw this coming. I say it almost every year. The one thing I don't like about the holiday is it feels like a week of Sundays, and the "Sunday-iest" day of the year is New Years Day. You're never sure what's open or what's closed. Can you eat out? Maybe. Can you rent a movie? You can go to see a movie which is what we tend to do. Still, it's an odd no-man's land kind of day. Not to mention the atrophy that sets in, both cerebral and physical. Ever notice it's harder to do a crossword during the holiday? Today, I went for a swim, but on the way there I ran to catch a street car. Almost killed me. It's like I've been in hospital for a week, recovering from cake, liquor, and chocolate ingestion.

When we were kids, we often took down the Christmas tree on January 2nd (though one year I remember it coming down on New Years Day). This year our tree is getting a brief reprieve – the city tree-pickup is on Wednesday so there's no reason to take down the tree only for it to lie on the lawn for three days.

Another tradition that has me thinking this year is watching a World Juniors game. Tonight I watched Canada beat Switzerland 6-1 while at the same time the bodies of 5 Canadians killed in Afghanistan arrived in Toronto. As a Canadian hockey player took an emotional penalty I thought, "dumb move, kid" and it occurred to me that these players really are kids, aged between 17 and 19. Two of the soldiers recently killed were only 24 months older. When I was 21 the Berlin Wall opened up and we thought we were on the cusp of a new era of peace. The great enemy had collapsed, and the cold war had ended, right? Except it was really the start of this new more erratically violent time we find ourselves in. My biggest worries then were passing Calculus, paying rent and what best grit sandpaper to use on Bondo (auto body filler – don't ask).

I think I'm officially starting to sound like Andy Rooney. Excuse me, I have to go trim my eyebrows.

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