Cartoon of Scrooge and the ghost of Jacob Marley. Marley says, “You will be visited by three spirits: The Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas present, and Ghost of Christmas Mall Music.”
Christmas mall music has been vexing me lately. It’s a lot of cheer without the babe in the manger. Christmas music without Christ is vain, fluffy and nonsensical… much like the rest of the mall.
Cartoon of  Santa Claus and a boy. The boy says, “You know something? You are quite the phenomenon.”
Guys in red suits are always a phenomenon this time of year. I marvel at all of Santa’s helpers. There are a lot of varieties and interpretations of the jolly, old elf.
I drew this for Illustration Friday. This week’s word is “phenomenon.”
Cartoon of a boy and girl. The boy says, “I did some research. Did you know O little town of Bethlehem is nowhere near the North Pole?”
It can be confusing for kids when the whole Santa thing seems to get mixed up with the story of the Nativity in Luke, chapter 2. I’m sure Mary and Joseph would have been glad Bethlehem was nowhere near the North Pole. Just imagine trying to have a baby in that environment! It can easily get down to -45° Fahrenheit there! It’s a bad place to have a stable.
Cartoon of a boy and a dog in its dog house. The boy says, “I don’t expect you to win prizes, but can’t you spruce up your house for Christmas?”
I never could get my dog to spruce up the old house for Christmas either. I even had her watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” It didn’t do a thing to help my unmotivated hound.
Cartoon of the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus. The Easter Bunny says, “I had a surplus last year. Could you make a few Easter eggs into stocking stuffers?”
I used to wonder if the holiday characters had formed alliances. This would have been a good thing if I didn’t get what I wanted for Christmas, and the Easter bunny would take over Santa’s list in the spring.
Alas, neither Santa Claus nor the Easter Bunny ever brought me that nuclear powered jet pack. How was I supposed to rocket around Sheridan Indiana without a jet pack? I was doomed to take the school bus just like everyone else.