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CHRISTMAS
The Christmas holidays, moving on into the New Year’s celebrations, and then into the Winterfest celebrations of ice and snow sculpting are fully underway, and the cheer and thoughtfulness of both citizens and visitors alike is something to behold and be a part of. Winter many years ago was a much quieter affair; the men mostly worked to cut giant ice chunks from the frozen lake to sell to the merchants in Chicago.
Now there is little ice. If Lake Geneva does freeze over, the maximum depth of the ice is usually
Thin Ice Lake Geneva
no more than six to nine inches, not a thickness measurable in feet or yards. The lake is traveled upon when the water’s frozen, although generally with some trepidation. Not many years ago, over 30 cars took the plunge into the waters when the ice gave way. Today, almost nobody even takes a full-size vehicle out on the ice, much less parks it out there with another large group of cars or trucks.
The merchants of Lake Geneva have not taken advantage of the tariff nightmare or the still rising prices of inflationary times without seeming end. Prices have remained stable across the board in almost all the Lake Geneva stores. Even Piggly Wiggly held a special of under seven dollars a pound for quality, choice rib roasts. Daniels did not do that and looked at the difference there (Daniels was at just over 20 dollars a pound for the same quality rib roast), and that was measured just two days before Christmas. Thank you, Piggly Wiggly.
The Polar Plunge is coming, as well as New Year’s celebrations in most of the bars all around the lake and the country clubs, too. Get out there and circulate, as the Internet, cell phones, and televisions have pinned most of the population down into apartments and homes.
The lack of social interaction is not only threatening the birth rate and the future growth of the workforce, but it is also fracturing the ability of regular humans to be ‘regular’ with other people. Having bliss is an internal thing, but it is almost wholly dependent upon external forces and the handling of those forces. Without the ability to be among others, then all we have left are Christmas movies. Grand as they are, you will note in watching them that what you, and everyone, love is the social interaction being discussed here.
Use Christmas and the New Year to get back into the game. Get out there and then in there to say hello, and with a smile, and mean it. You don’t need many gifts. All you need is you there, just as they need you to be there and to be there themselves. As with this country, and this has been given short shrift these days, one can survive alone, but one cannot thrive alone. Turn first inside and then spin around and turn to the outside. Wonderful people are waiting for you if you will simply accept what is written here and try it.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and beyond.
