Thanksgiving is around the corner and Advent a step behind.  What more could a blogger want?  So, I’m hoping to wring a few drops of originality from my fairly wrung-out brain and add some entries here.  At the same time, however, I’ve decided to run several of my favorite columns from years past as well.  I prefer the word “classic” to “rerun,” but call them whatever you wish.  The bottom line is I’ve used them before.

But why should I feel apologetic?  if there is any time when reruns are not only permissible but appropriate, surely it’s the holidays, when traditions rule our lives more than any other time of year.  From the movies and television shows we watch to the food we serve to the gatherings we enjoy to the songs we sing, this is the season of predictability and routine.  And may God have mercy on anyone who dares to question a family tradition.

In fact, that is one of the topics I almost always cover when talking with a soon-to-be-married couple: What will you do for the holidays?  It is one of the first crises couples often face, as both families tell their “kids” that “surely you’re going to be with us for Thanksgiving dinner/Christmas Eve/Christmas dinner at Grandma’s/or name your own hybrid observance here.”

So, let’s add one more tradition: reading old columns by Westmoreland (“Sorry, Grandma, I can’t be there this year.  I’m behind on blog-reading”).  If nothing else, it’s a holiday habit you’ll be able to break with minimal anguish.

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