Published 3:36 pm Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Christmas is not about sleigh bells and Rudolph. It’s about an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. There is no other Christmas.

If I had my way, we’d set up the tree two days before Christmas, decorate the tree on Christmas Eve and put presents under it on Christmas morning.

We’d keep the trees up until February.

Think of how many lit-up weekends we’d have in dark January. Think of how many Black Fridays we’d have in January.

If we hear Christmas music in November, why not through January?

Christmas Day would be a spontaneous childlike wonder and joy like none other. Old fashioned? Perhaps. But truer to the spirit of Christmas? Oh yes!

Every capitol, City Hall, school, library, backyard and front yard would have a crib.

Extreme? No, just one man’s opinion.

Joe Mahoney, Federal Way