Put up the tree tonight. As I was putting the lights on the middle section, there this downy little feather was, a gift from Inigo the Nanday.
His favorite song that I used to coo to him was “Silent Night.”
Oh, my heart, I miss you so, sweet boy. But I know you’re here. Nanner King forever, forever my best friend.
I was going to show you my 2024 ornament tonight, but that little feather was the most precious gift I could have gotten this Christmas, so I think I’ll just leave it at that.
Well, friends, I have bad news. The state Christmas trees are lit with green lights this year. The color completely ruins the color in the artwork on the ornaments. Here is the Bureau of Indian Education tree.
The top hexagon shape in this ornament is light blue in real life—I think. But see how you can’t really tell what the colors are? So unfortunately, posting the state Christmas trees isn’t going to happen this year. Whoever decided on the green made a huge mistake. Dear Park Service: Don’t do that again, please.
So here is an arty photo of the top of the Virginia tree with the Washington Monument in the background.
Here is the National Christmas Tree, which looks like a giant Wolverine took a swipe out of it.
It came all the way from Alaska and I can only surmise that it got damaged in transit. I saw an article that said the two drivers who drove the tree from Tongass National Forest to D.C. have driven more than 10 million accident-free miles between them, but I dunno. I think something happened to this poor tree on the way to D.C. Either that or some jerky conservative in Alaska thought it would be funny for the Bidens’ last tree to look like it’s missing pieces. The trunk is crooked, too. When I saw it from another angle all I could think was “This tree has scoliosis.” Poor thing. At least they took pains to anchor it after last year’s tree blew down in a storm. They hoisted it back up with a crane but never fixed the lights, so it was a hot mess.
As for this year’s state Christmas trees, if you want to see one ornament from each one, you can visit the National Tree website. (I like Iowa’s best. Also Missouri’s and Illinois’s.) As I won’t have time to go back in daylight to take photos, all I can do is apologize and hope that whoever makes decisions about this kind of thing sees the error of their ways and goes back to white lights next year so we can see all the fun colors the kids picked out for their artwork.
I did, however, buy the White House ornament, which I’ll post at some point after I put my tree up tomorrow evening. I figure I might as well get the last one before the fall of democracy.
Long day, even though I had most of the afternoon off after the office holiday party. Good food, nice conversations.
Spent a couple of hours reading through the hundreds of comments on the Threads version of what I posted here yesterday. I had to split it into two posts, and between both of them it got more than 16,000 likes and 900 comments, although many of those comments are also Threaders talking to each other. I’m kind of overwhelmed, but in the very best of ways because 99.95% of it is supportive, the conversations are thoughtful and fruitful with ideas and sharing of experiences, and it restored my faith in humanity. I really think that the only way the United States is going to get through the next four years is if we all work locally, individually, in our communities, to help one another. I have a few ideas about that, but really, it just comes down to setting aside the consumerist behaviors we’ve all gotten accustomed to and putting the money toward our communities. This has the bonus of hitting some of these billionaires where it hurts: Their wallets.
It’s going to happen by default, anyway, because once Creamsicle Caligula gets in there and destroys the economy, the middle class isn’t going to be able to afford much other than food and shelter, if that. Remember the last time that happened? Marie Antoinette lost her head.
And so I give you my Song of the Year: “Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!),” as performed by Gojira at the Paris Olympics.
Without all the applause:
“Ah Ça Ira” is a song from the French Revolution. It’s basically about hanging aristocrats from lamp posts.
As for the .05% of comments that weren’t productive, they were about how Elon Musk owes the world nothing, it’s not his fault a woman is homeless, blah, blah, blah, bronyism, blah. I hid, muted, restricted, and blocked them. First, that’s not the point. The point is people who have the power to change the world for the better and don’t are lousy human beings. Second, don’t derail the narrative on my account with your worship of false kings. If you’re going to fall to your knees in submission to the personification of greed, do it on your own page.
Going to see the state trees tomorrow. It will be cold but fun! And no aristocrats allowed.
zenzalei 