Boxing Day drizzle – 
the inflatable snowman
keeps smiling
…………… by dagosan
A year ago, I reported that the inflatable snowman across the street from Mama G’s place in Gates, NY, was still smiling on a rainy December 26th. I’m not sure if it’s a sign of our rocky times, or just a result of 55-mph winds on Christmas Eve, but that same vinyl Snowman was rather tipsy — or maybe playing Peeping Tom — around sunset on Christmas Day:
Of course the big non-bio-degradable Snowman might have been trying to catch a glimpse Christmas morning of ABC’s Good Morning America and its segment featuring Bob Eckstein, author of ”The History of the Snowman [see our prior post], If you missed Bob on GMA, click here Science of a Snowman (Dec. 25, 2008) However, like the f/k/a Gang, Bob might not be too popular with inflatable snowpersons or their supporters. As we pointed out back in February, our friendly Snowman Expert told USA Weekend that:
“Every 8-foot-high blow-up snowman is a lost opportunity of a God-given gift we all have: artistic expression.”
The inflatable Frosty across the street is apparently sleeping in this afternoon, so I can’t describe his current state of uprightness. At a time when global warming might be reducing our opportunities to make art and fun from newly-fallen snow, I agree with Bob Eckstein’s assertion in today’s New York Daily News, that “As everything melts down, there’s no man like a snowman” (op/ed, December 26, 2008):
“We have all waited a long time for change. Change of leadership, change of seasons. And what we need to lift our spirits now is snow: cold, beautiful, malleable snow. We need joviality, an inexpensive treat that reminds us we don’t have to plug something in or stare at a screen to have fun. We only need the sky to open up and cloak our city with the fluffy stuff.
So, let us return to our roots. And begin the new year with a return to the basics. As never before, we need to make snowmen.”
winter fog
i stub my toe
on the snowman
………… by ed markowski
If you need a little post-Christmas inspiration today, the f/k/a Gang suggests reading the op/ed reminder in today’s New York Times, that “Boxing Day Is for Giving” — charitable giving (Judith Flanders, Dec. 26, 2008). Ms. Flanders gives us a history lesson:
“Boxing Day, usually thought of as Dec. 26, but technically the first weekday after Christmas, has a distinguished pedigree in Britain, and during this time of economic crisis, it is good to be reminded of it. It is on Boxing Day, after all, on the “feast of Stephen,” that “Good King Wenceslas” looked out and saw the snow, “deep and crisp and even.” The cold was notable not for its beauty, but for the hunger that it brought with it. The king calls for food, wine and “pine logs” not for his own feast, but that he and his page may “bear them thither” to give to the poor.”
She concludes with a suggestion that we make Boxing Day a national holiday in the USA — but, not just “another day in the round of shop-eat-family-family-family.
“Instead Boxing Day could return as a day of giving. Not necessarily cash — and not material to make uniforms — but rather one day a year to donate skills or effort, a day for sharing something of value in the larger community. . .
“What we really need to do is put down the punch bowl and pick up on what Punch magazine wrote more than 150 years ago: Don’t just keep the Christmas of the belly: keep you the Christmas of the heart. Give — give’.”
.. Boxing Day technically lasts the entire last week of the year. So, Prof. Yabut, dagosan and the rest of the Gang will first be catching a sugar-filled-tummy holiday season nap this afternoon, and then be putting Ms. Flanders’ Boxing Day advice into action. We hope that — unlike the family of Inflatables across the street — our charitable-sharitable feeling won’t be just a lot of hot air that is packed away the rest of the year. Happy Boxing Day to our readers!