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It really feels as though this year has crawled and flown, but never walked. Here we are, the first week of December already nearly complete, thinking about the month that lies ahead. We asked our team a simple question:
When you think of December, what is the most dominant thing that comes to mind?
Anthony Reeves: Holiday Schedule
When I think of December, I have two words: HOLIDAY SCHEDULE. The tree and decorations went up the Saturday after Thanksgiving with Johnny Mathis and Donnie Hathaway (“This Christmas”) being played. The Christmas parade was the first week of December. There were MANDATORY Christmas shows: Rudolph, Frosty, Miracle on 34th Street, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The movie “Scrooged” was always a Christmas Eve event. Christmas gifts opened in the morning. Went to grandmother’s home in the late morning. Played football with cousins while the adults finished the food. Eating. Fellowship. Going home and having a moment of silence and sadness as the day ended, but then resetting the 364 day countdown clock for the next year. Predictable. Consistent. And downright AWESOME!!!
Josh Bard: Neither Holly Nor Jolly
It is very hard to think of December and not have all of your other thoughts blasted away by the ambient Christmas music happening somewhere in your vicinity. Either it’s a commercial or “holiday” movie on the TV, or from a car passing you by, or coming from the speakers in the stores we used to frequent. Even now that we’re stuck at home, Christmas music is force fed to us via Spotify algorithms and pop up internet ads like we’re geese being turned into foie gras.
I know it’s not a holly jolly thought, and I even wonder if our internet overlords will let this copy see the light of day (BTW what’s the deal with Daylight Saving Time?!?!) but you asked for the truth.
Mike Taylor: Skateboarding in Milwaukee
Before I got married, every Christmas I would visit my parents house in Milwaukee. I would turn into a blob of nothing, eat their food, and play Grand Theft Auto San Andreas on my younger brother’s Playstation 2. I refused all chores and sank into a TV-heavy, lazy, dehydrated stupor, covered up by blankets and warmed by a gas powered space heater in the den while my family worked and shopped. I remember playing a lot of Spider Solitaire on the family computer, up late listening to Pearl Jam bootlegs. I had seasonal affective disorder, dysthymia, and undiagnosed Celiac disease.
But during that time there would usually be at least one warm day right around Christmas. We’d go skateboarding. I often went skateboarding with my brother those days. Once we found a dead cat, face frozen in a yowl. Winter is death, but Christmas is life, and you somehow eventually grow up.
Erin Vail: Taylor Swift?
Simply based on word association alone, I immediately thought “Back to December” by Taylor Swift. Yes, I love Christmas. Yes, I love my Christmas Spotify playlist. Yes, my sister’s birthday is in December. And yet, my first thought when reading this prompt was Taylor Swift. “Back to December” is about Taylor Lautner, from the underrated “Speak Now” album, and evokes just the right amount of bittersweetness and nostalgia for me.
Kelonnie Harris: Snow
Even though it snows at most once or twice a year where I am, December makes me think of snow. Crown month of the winter season, December has always been associated with cold crystal stars falling to the ground, figures made of compacted white powder, and the steely blue of snowshadows. Such representations abounded in media—even the classroom calendar decorations—employing this mysterious phenomenon as thematic adornments, despite having only ever experienced rain and cold-for-Cali weather. It wasn’t until my family and I moved to a higher altitude that my siblings and I experienced our first days of snow. We were excited to do all the snow day clichés before the thin blankets dissolved into rivulets rushing down gutters and storm-drains. Our snow angels turned out as muddy-icy silhouettes. It felt like we had been transported to another world.
Tom O’Gara: Oh, What a Night
December reminds me of holidays, Christmas lights, and the terrible presents of years gone by (sorry for that time I gifted you a 12-pack of Diet Coke, Mom). But there’s a December that doesn’t remind me of December at all. “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” is an earworm of the highest offense that makes my skin crawl. I think of the many weddings and events The Four Seasons’ staple has tackily been spun by accountants that moonlight as weekend DJs, playing an old classic to “start the party.” Frequently partnered with “Celebration,” the threadbare cheesiness of these tracks make me cringe. I pray they continue to fade away with time, never to see a kitschy resurgence. Side note: Earth, Wind and Fire’s “September” is a straight-up banger, and is always welcome—no matter the time of year.
Michael Gural-Maiello: The Fantasticks
Reminds me of The Fantasticks, a musical from 1960 based on a play from the 19th century that parodied Romeo and Juliet. It has some amazing lyrics by Tom Jones including:
Deep in December, it’s nice to remember,
Although you know the snow will follow.
Deep in December, it’s nice to remember,
Without a hurt the heart is hollow.
Deep in December, it’s nice to remember,
The fire of September that made us mellow.
Deep in December, our hearts should remember
And follow.
Ariel Cross: Lights
Pretty lights! Honestly, my favorite part of winter is how humanity colors the gray season with rainbows of color to stave off seasonal depression, both collective and generalized. Before electricity and sparkly lights, the most colorful decorations of the season were the tiny refractions of light bouncing off the fresh snow in the sunlight. Now, we can outdo this natural phenomenon, ironically only when the sun has gone to rest, and we do it with such pizazz, it’s hard to frown when gazing at our seasonal anti-sadness displays. It warms my heart every time I drive past a home with their pretty lights on display.
Zach Straus: Counting Crows
With zero irony, especially after 2020: It’s been a long December, but there’s reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last. I can’t remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass.
Sarah Razner: Childhood Wonder
To me, December always reminds me of childhood. While it may be because a certain portly man in a red suit makes an appearance, it’s more how the holiday season seems to make me and the people around me revert to our kid selves. We ooh and ahh at twinkle lights and the first snow. Over and over, we watch the same Christmas movies, but laugh like it’s our first time seeing it and not really our 20th. We tend to treat each other with more kindness and see the world with magic. Of course, despite our better natures, we can’t seem to help gorging ourselves plates of candy and cookies, but holiday pounds don’t count, right?
Dennis William: Those Movies
Christmas obviously. Snow. Cookies. Presents. Songs that aren’t as bad as we all pretend they are. But above all else: Those Rankin/Bass movies, which I love and creeped out my sister.
V. Buritsch-Tompkins: Mom
I think about my mom. She was the center of Christmas at our house, from the tidying the first week of December through taking my family to New Years Eve festivities and fireworks, she was the red glitter-glue that holds the snow globe of my December memories together. Although December and cancer would eventually take her from me, I remember her warmth and joy the most when I think of this cold winter month.
Billy Hafferty: Red Bow “Events”
It’s the December to Remember Sale Event! So you better not wish me a Happy Honda Days because I only celebrate The Toyotathon. Surprise honey! I bought you a brand new car without your consent—I hope you like the big red bow, and I hope we can afford it!
So, what about you, dear reader? When you think of December, what is the most dominant thing that comes to your mind? Tweet us and let us know!
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