I'M THE OLD-FASHIONED type who gets the Christmas spirit early. I probably get it from my mother, who was unabashedly sentimental and as excited as a child every year.
Like her, I love all the lights, decorations and music associated with the season. I constantly listen to any artist who has a holiday recording, both in the car and at home.I like the "Andy Williams Christmas Special," "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" and any Santa Claus special the TV networks can dream up.
I even like the original version of "Miracle on 34th Street," with Edmund Gwen and Maureen O'Hara.
Especially next to a raging fire.
I like to drive around and look at the Christmas lights. Have you noticed how much better everyone's home looks at Christmastime?
I don't even mind shopping, although getting it done is tricky, because I tend to make decisions very quickly, and that's hard to do in crowds. I would have to do my shopping several days before Thanksgiving in order to avoid the crowds.
I confess I've never done that yet.
I did go a couple of times on the day after Thanksgiving - you know - the biggest shopping day of the year - and I can do without that.
I tend to wait much too long, although not nearly as long as President Clinton. The first lady recently said that prior to the presidency, her husband used to wait until Christmas Eve and then take a station wagon and some friends and shop for about six hours. She said he has no idea how he is going to get his shopping done this year.
Maybe by mail-order catalog.
Actually, I don't mind crowds - if my shopping is all done. But six hours on Christmas Eve would be far too stressful for my tastes. I'm sort of shy when I go into a store, and when there are people on each elbow, I get nervous. And when a sales clerk says, "HI, HOW ARE YOU TODAY?" I freeze up.
I prefer to browse quietly, even unnoticed, checking things out until I'm good and ready - and then say, "I'd like this please."
And then if the clerk says, "Would you like it wrapped?" I enthusiastically accept. If you'd ever seen a sample of my wrapping, you'd understand.
I'd really prefer to be an invisible shopper.
But isn't it hard to be original? One of my favorite gifts last year was an Albert Einstein calendar, containing 12 memorable quotations from the great man.
It's even easier for me to get into the Christmas spirit since we went the fake-tree route. I really don't miss walking around in the cold and arguing about which Christmas tree is the perfect one, checking it for freshness, then hauling it home on top of the car and hammering holes in the trunk so it can soak up water.
I can hardly believe now that we used to take a fresh tree home and flock it in the garage by using a ton of water mixed with chemical snowflakes and a vacuum cleaner.
I prefer to just bring it up from the basement, set it up and decorate it. In a matter of minutes, it looks great - even better than last year.
But I look at the Christmas season differently since my visit to Israel. I find now that I have real images permanently etched in my mind of Jerusalem, Shepherd's Field, Bethlehem and the Sea of Galilee.
And the song I enjoy the most is one called, "I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked."