Jacob van Ruisdael (d. 1682), \u201cWinter Landscape with a Watermill\u201d
(Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I was very young, the days immediately after Christmas \u2014 heck, the hours after Christmas morning! \u2014 were sad and depressing to me. \u00a0From roughly Thanksgiving Day through Christmas Eve I was so excited about, and so focused on, the coming of Christmas that it was a real let-down once the anticipation was over. \u00a0I didn\u2019t even like to listen to Christmas music any more.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
And now, having moved from southern California to Utah, I have to face the rest of winter. \u00a0It reminds me almost of C. S. Lewis\u2019s description of Narnia under the dominion of the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe<\/em>: \u00a0It was always winter, he writes, but never Christmas. \u00a0Although, to me as a child, winter and Christmas\u00a0involved blue skies and palm trees, just as in the original New Testament story, I\u2019ve been acculturated to the Currier & Ives vision of Christmas as possibly involving\u00a0lots of fresh snow dotted by the occasional sleigh and a rural New England church or two. \u00a0But after<\/em> Christmas? \u00a0I don\u2019t much mind the cold, but I really dislike gray skies, old and dirty snow, and dead trees.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
In maturity, though, my attitude has changed considerably from what it once was. \u00a0Christmas Day itself, alas, isn\u2019t quite so magical as it was when I was a (greedy) child. \u00a0But my appreciation of what Christmas actually stands for is many times deeper. \u00a0And, to the extent that I permit it to do so, that meaning informs my life throughout the year.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elder Neal A. Maxwell captured this sentiment beautifully:<\/p>\n
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The larger Christmas story is clearly not over. It is not solely about some other time, some other place, and some other people. It is still unfolding, and we are in it!\u201d (The Christmas Scene,\u00a0<\/i>page 11) \u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 When I was very young, the days immediately after Christmas \u2014 heck, the hours after Christmas morning! \u2014 were sad and depressing to me. \u00a0From roughly Thanksgiving Day through Christmas Eve I was so excited about, and so focused on, the coming of Christmas that it was a real let-down once the anticipation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
The post-Christmas winter blues?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" When I was very young, the days immediately after Christmas -- heck, the hours after Christmas morning! -- were sad and depressing to me.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/01\/post-christmas-winter-blues.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The post-Christmas winter blues?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" When I was very young, the days immediately after Christmas -- heck, the hours after Christmas morning! -- were sad and depressing to me.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/01\/post-christmas-winter-blues.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-12T17:25:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-01-12T17:25:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2017\/01\/Jacob_van_Ruisdael_-_Winter_Landscape_with_a_Watermill-1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/01\/post-christmas-winter-blues.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/01\/post-christmas-winter-blues.html\",\"name\":\"The post-Christmas winter blues?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-12T17:25:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-12T17:25:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" When I was very young, the days immediately after Christmas -- heck, the hours after Christmas morning! 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![\"Desolate](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/01\/Jacob_van_Ruisdael_-_Winter_Landscape_with_a_Watermill-1.jpg\")
<\/a>