Christmas at Rumpole Mansion

It's starting to be that time of year. For those of us who have lived in Texas and Oklahoma our whole lives and think that this weather is really freaking cold, it smells like Christmas. For me, this means being in the mood to drink hot chocolate, take pictures in the frost while stomping around in bright galoshes, and philosophizing about unimportant matters like snowflakes and reindeer.

Today I heard something really amazing. I was reading at Starbucks waiting for Sean to get out of class, and these two girls next to me were talking about their Christmas plans (after having exhausted their Fall Break plans). One of the girls told a story about how she knew a man whose wife divorced and left him with six children. This girl's family decided that instead of giving each other Christmas presents, they would "give" Christmas to this other family. She said, "Once we did Christmas for somebody else like that, I couldn't imagine doing Christmas for myself."
Here is somebody who really understands what Christmas is. I wish I could be that selfless and give freely to others instead of finding myself wishing to receive things I don't really need.

On a completely unrelated note, I finished Ivanhoe today. I wish we could have read it for Brit Lit sometime. I have a feeling that there is so much in that novel that I don't even notice. Also, I wish I could know if Walter Scott was trying to jab at his own political and social happenings of the day and how his novel related to his life. And what does it really mean that the King of the Norman conquerors tried so desperately to save the life, and even respect the life, of the Saxon who was trying to overthrow his government? And did the characters in the book really think the jester was stupid, or did they just let him pretend to be stupid so they could keep him around for his sage commentary?

Quote of the Day:
Books are not moral or immoral. Books are well written or poorly written. That is all.
--Oscar Wilde