The season when time means nothing ... and everything

Forget October, this is the spookiest time of year. Sure, Halloween is rife with horror and gore – my neighbor puts up a 12-foot tall werewolf in tattered clothes and flames in its chest cavity each year to welcome the kids asking for free candy – but this week, with its long nights and unwelcoming weather, makes for a much better atmosphere for scary tales.

“A Christmas Carol,” one of the most famous Christmas stories of all time, is really a ghost story, after all. Four ghosts, to be exact, unless you go by the Muppet version which throws in an extra Marley.

This week between Christmas and New Years has a strange chaos to it, almost the opposite of the hustle and bustle of the previous weeks. Hours and days lose meaning as they blend together without the rigor of work to keep time and balance. Even if you punch in this week, its not the same. Time doesn’t move the way it should, but no one seems to mind.

It’s not just the the present that feels unformed either. The past leaks into the present, and with a new year approaching we have to keep an eye to the future. The holidays are always nostalgic. They were more fun when we were kids, when presents were a surprise because someone else did the heavy lifting. There is always more snow in your memories. The lights were brighter, the toys were more fun, the trees smelled better. The fireplace warmer and the hot chocolate was chocolaty-er.

If I find myself with a spare moment, far to rare these days, I find myself looking back, too. Looking for something to read, it’s not right to take a chance on a new release, a living author or even a modern tale. “The Lord of the Rings” or “The Once and Future King” are my standbys. I first read them on holiday breaks when I was a kid and reading them any other time of year feels uncomfortable. It’s nice to take a quick visit to a familiar place that never changes.

I do need to remind myself not to get lost in the past. While the present isn’t ideal – and, despite what nostalgia will tell you, it never was – this is where we make new memories. When I’m putting presents under the tree this year, they may not be a surprise for me but one could end up being a cherished toy for someone else. Playing with a new science kit or bird watching with those new toy binoculars in these slow, lazy mornings while i wait for the coffee to kick in will mean a lot to my family and shape their memories.

And then it will be the new year. Who knows what this next year is going to bring? It makes me think of that standard and bad question I used to get asked in job interviews: Where do you see yourself in five years? I have no idea. Try and tell yourself from five years ago everything you would have seen and gone through between 2020 and now. Or from just this past year. Would you believe yourself? Sure, it was a journey, but there is a reason those start with a single step and not all at once. Pace yourself.

This week, they all blend together. Past, present and future, crashing into each other during a time of long nights and dim days. It’s not truly scary, not like those spirits we dressed up as a couple of months ago, but it’s a little unnerving. But what adventure isn’t?

• Kevin Solari is Regional Editor of Kane, Kendall and DeKalb counties for Shaw Media.