I’ve always liked Christmas, but over the years I’ve found that I look forward to it the most during semesters* that I am the busiest. Given that this is one of the busiest semesters of my life, I was not sorry to see the Christmas decorations creeping into stores just after Halloween. In times like these, the decorations and lights that start in the stores and spread out into homes and yards are a reminder that Christmas, and the corresponding relief, is on the way.
*It is hard for me to comprehend the fact that most people do not measure their time in terms of semesters.
Memoirs of a SLACer 