What’s the appeal of sitting in front of a dead tree and eating candy out of your socks?

In response to last week’s question, “What’s the appeal of sitting in front of a dead tree and eating candy out of your socks?”, my Parrothead friend Sam wrote, “You are eating candy... enough said!” My dad’s beach buddy Bob was a bit more selective as he wrote, “Not if you have a live tree and there is a box of Godiva Chocolates in the stocking.” My cousin Wes added, “The appeal is obvious: Candy. It also explains why people dress up in costumes and extort candy from neighbors on Halloween.”

My dog rescue friend Kate asked, “Who does that ?????” My cable marketing friend Megan shared, “Just for the record, we sit in front of a fake tree and at least the socks are pretty and personalized!” This is more appealing than my friend Swany who wrote, “Actually the tree isn't dead, it's on life support. But I guess in a lot of homes, the tree is artificial so it's a prosthetic tree. But in either case, candy is good no matter where it comes from and no matter where you are eating it. And as long as it's your own sock, then OK unless of course your toenails are full of those cartoon, yellow, brown spotted, nail fungus creatures.”

My former colleague Chris, who is typically a non-conformist, suggested, “Everybody else's doing it so it must be right!” My organizational behaviorist friend Marya explained, “I believe it depends on the number of spiked eggnogs you consume!” My friend Royce countered, “too much Prozac.”

My neighbor Bob observed, “At the very least, it means I am not sitting at work like I am now or home with my never ending list of domestic chores. Just sitting in front of a tree would be good enough for me. Dead or alive.” And my friend Richard suggested, “it is better than sitting near a live skunk or badger, and it’s certainly better than eating anything out of your socks!”

My college roomie John reminisced, “Some years we had a live tree that had a root ball that we planted in the spring. Some have even lived. Now I have my version of an artificial Charlie Brown tree. We used to get small checks in our stockings since the pin would give out and the stocking filled with candy would fall off the mantle. So a live tree and money appeals to me.”

Please share your thoughts about "things that make you go 'Hmmm' ”:

   Should you make a New Year’s resolution about something you’ve already accomplished?

Live well...laugh often and heartily…. have a good week and never regret anything that made you smile!

Hal

The toe nail fan from above, Swany, reminded me that I always thought I was a “fun-gi.” What more can one say besides enjoy all that the holiday season has to offer --- family, friends, pets, volunteering and colleagues.

My dad, Hank, let me know that this Saturday, 1/1/11, marks the 100th birthday of Hank Greenberg, “the Jewish Babe Ruth.” Interesting article below when you have 5 min to read about a great athlete who maintained his values and love of his country.