It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas.....

I love Christmas. I love the whole season - the sights, the sounds, the tastes. And don't you think that Christmas just smells better, too? I mean what's better than the smell of Evergreen and Cinnamon?? This is also the time of year that I miss Germany the most. No one does Christmas more beautifully than the Germans. Christmas is much less commercialized in Germany than it is in America. There is no crazed shopping season, no people running over other people in their haste to buy the latest "thing". There are weekend festivals throughout the month of December called Christkindlemarkts, or Christmas Markets. They basically consist of tons of little booths for you to wander through in the town square. Now in this country, every single one of those booths would be selling some "awesome gift for Christmas", trying to make as much money as possible. In the German markets, 90% of what they are selling is food. Special treats you can only get at Christmas time, along with the usual favorites such as bratwurst and - in Rothenburg - Schneeballen. And of course, who could forget my all-time favorite, Gluwein. If you've never experienced Gluwein, you are missing out. It's a hot, mulled red wine spiced with cinnamon and other spices. It will warm you right down to your bones on those chilly, snowy days. The point of a Christkindlemarkt is not to spend a ton of money on pointless gifts, but to bundle up in your favorite coat and hat, grab a mug of Gluwein, and stroll the ancient, cobblestone streets breathing in the atmosphere of the season. The streets are lit up, there are trees and wreaths and holly berries everywhere, and the centuries-old cathedrals are decked out in all their Christmas splendor, beckoning the faithful to Midnight Mass. There is just something perfect about it.

But, since I'm not in Germany anymore, I'll have to settle for Christmas in Georgia. I'm going to make my own Gluwein (with non-alcoholic wine, of course!), get some real evergreen wreaths for the house, and do my best to remember that the Christmas season is best celebrated outside the walls of a department store.