It's Aboot Time To Party

This just in from the Oh! Canada files: I am totally grogged ... music and merriment surrounds me ... there is not one party I haven't attended ... and, I must say, you- all in the lower 48 really know how to throw a gathering.

Where I'm from (around the band of your top-hat country) parties tend to be more subdued. ... For instance, a bowl of pecans and a slice of buttered soda bread, washed down with a bottle of Carling Black Label is the most fun we ever have while leaving our boots on. Well, except for the Calgary Stampede.

Man, you Yanks start the party early! Decorations went up two weekends after Labor Day and the carols started at Halloween ... what's up with that? ... and I assume the Hallelujah Chorus will be the denouement, sometime after dark on Christmas Eve.

I'm of the mind it now doesn't matter what religious icon we revere ... partying is simply our way to keep from being totally depressed when the outdoor light sneaks off to the south for the winter and leaves us shivering.

I think you Yanks should start a Party party to compete with the donkeys and elephants stealing each other's hay and peanuts while sparring in your political ring. The Party party platform would simply be to assist the general populace in finding ways to stay cheerful and out of politics.

... Meanwhile, my stocking cap is off to all those organizers of Eureka Springs's unending plethora of fundraisers that emptied my pockets while filling my belly with good cheer and laughter so I didn't notice my thinning wallet.

Thank Krampas (Google it - you'll be saving your rib bones from Bubbas and The Rockin' Pig all year to wear on your costume), there's a free Christmas dinner at ECHO on the 24th. That's where I'll be, broke and loving it.

And you can party with me any time of year at oliverdeplace@hotmail.com. I do have a Facebook page, ya know.