The Second Day of Christmas

Before the storm

The Twelve Days of Christmas is largely forgotten in the United States, except for that song that I don't care to hear again for another year.  This time of winter was once a wild, twelve day period of non-fasting celebration. In the olden days, the holiday was just getting started on December 25th.

I always like Boxing Day because after a whirlwind of work and craziness I have a chance to contemplate my gifts-- both material and spiritual.  This can be almost as overwhelming as Christmas Day. On the highly material side, there was a new MacBook Pro under the tree.  Yes, that means in 2014 I'll leave the aggravating but familiar PC world behind forever.

And what a good world it was. Thank you, Microsoft for all the highs and lows of a long relationship. But nostalgia only goes so far and apparently new wonders, ease and luxury awaits. Perhaps the best part of the gift will be a year of one-on-one lessons with a smart (and hopefully very patient) Apple Smartperson. 

My Viao will be taking a last, sad walk with me to the Apple Store where its insides (thousands of photos and documents) will be unceremoniously removed by an Apple Genius and installed into a sleek new machine. Just like going from a Ford Taurus to a Ferrari. Thank you, John!