“Christmastime” and “Christmas” mean different things to those along the spectrum of Devout Christian to Devout Consumer. Somewhere in the middle of that spectrum tere must be a shared sense that a time of giving and receiving and merriment and joy and food and song is a good thing for everyone, even if a little fictionalized folklore is mixed in.
For example, tonight is the part of Christmastime when Santa Claus (or St. Nicholas) arrives for children who believe in him. For some of those children in rural communities, he’ll be expected to land his deer sled on the roof and come down the chimney; for those in apartment buildings, he’ll have a pass-key to the apartments of those children who believe.
Around here, it looks like we have only one combination of reindeer-supportable roof and a Santa-sized chimney, and it’s over 100 years old. See the image above of the WoodenBoat administration building. Other local house chimneys may seem to cynics to be too small for an old man who has a little round belly that shakes when he laughs like a bowlful of jelly. Don’t believe them.
(Brooklin, Maine)