10 Days Til Christmas!

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely.  ~ Charles Dickens

11 Days Til Christmas!

A lovely thing about Christmas is that it's compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.  ~ Garrison Keillor

12 Days Til Christmas!

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year, male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid-December.  Female reindeer keep their antlers until the spring.  Therefore, Santa's reindeer are either female or magic.  I can't decide which I prefer.

13 Days Til Christmas!

The worst gift is a fruitcake.  There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to each other.  ~ Johnny Carson

14 Days Til Christmas!

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the average North American gains seven to 12 pounds.  Or a little over one pound depending on which study you read.  So, I guess the one you believe depends on how badly you want that extra slice of pie.

15 Days Til Christmas!

Santa Claus was declared a Canadian citizenship on December 23, 2008.  Canadian officials have reasoned that Santa is more Canadian that any other nationality because he dresses in the colors of the Canadian flag.  Additionally, NORAD's annual tracking of Santa's journey has shown that his flight consistently originate from the Canadian region of the North Pole.  Obviously part of the Canadian plot to gain sovereignty over the North Pole.  I wonder what Russia, Canada's main rival for the North Pole, thinks of all this.

16 Days Til Christmas!

At least as of 1999, Kris Kringel lived in North Pole, Alaska and delivered pizzas for the local Pizza Hut in a 1984 Ford Tempo.  Kriss Kringle lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  She drives a maroon Cadillac Escalade.

17 Days Til Christmas!

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.  ~ Norman Vincent Peale

18 Days Til Christmas!

The practice of hanging stockings over the fireplace comes from England.  St. Nicholas was believed to have thrown three bags of gold coins down the chimney of an impoverished man in order to provide dowries for his three daughters.  The bags fell into the girls' stockings which were drying by the fire and were discovered by the man and his daughters the next morning.  However, in many countries, this actually occurs on St. Nicholas Eve, December 5th and not on Christmas Eve.  The feast day of St. Nicholas (December 6th; yes, I'm a day late, but I brought cookies to work) is celebrated with gifts to children in many European countries, seafaring festivities in Greece and masses.  In the United States, children in some families leave their shoes outside of their bedroom doors on December 5th and wake to find small gifts and treats left behind.

19 Days Til Christmas!

Seven out of 10 English dogs get Christmas gifts from their doting owners, and 56% of Americans sing holiday songs to their pets (Pip likes God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen).  Oh, and 27% of pet owners have their dog or cat photographed with Santa.  (My source for this is somewhat sketchy:  "a survey."  So take this as you will.)

20 Days Til Christmas!

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?  It came without ribbons.  It came without tags.  It came without packages, boxes or bags.  And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore.  Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.  What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store?  What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?  ~ Dr. Suess

21 Days Til Christmas!

Oregon (Yes!  Home state pride!) is the leading producer of Christmas trees in the United States, mostly Douglas and Noble firs.  However, Christmas trees are grown in all 50 states, including Hawaii.

22 Days Til Christmas!

In the Thomas Nast cartoon that first depicted Santa Claus with a sleigh and reindeer, he was delivering Christmas gifts to soldiers fighting in the U.S. Civil War.  The cartoon, titled "Santa Claus in Camp," appeared in Harper's Weekly on January 3, 1863.

23 Days Til Christmas!

Christmas trees are edible.  The needles on pines, spruces and firs are actually a good source of vitamin C, and pine nuts from pine cones are a good source of nutrition.  In spite of this, I don't think we'll be cooking the tree for dinner on Christmas Eve, although it would be the ultimate in recycling.

24 Days Til Christmas!

According to the PNC Financial Services 2010 Christmas Price Index, the total cost of all of the gifts listed in The 12 Days of Christmas is $23,439.00, a 9.2% increase from 2009.  This increase is due, in part, to an increase in gold prices, but the cost for poultry is rising, too.  French hens are up a whopping 233% from last year.  If anyone is interested in further exploring the economics of Christmas, Mr. flyskim's favorite gift from last year was Scroogenomics, an impassioned argument for why we shouldn't give presents, especially during the holidays.