Holiday Refrain

August Christmas trees; last year’s tinsel; forgotten relatives; broken candy canes; whipped eggnog; red dresses; knit sweaters with Santa designs; icicles from eaves; shiny red nail polish; long airport lines; mistletoe; turkeys in ovens; waiting in line to sit on Santa’s lap; hand knit mittens with matching scarves; spinning dreidels; saluting soldiers; food drives;

reindeer pulling presents; menorahs in windows; charity boxes; music boxes; days off school; Macy’s windows; rolls of wrapping paper; light-framed homes; glittered holiday cards hanging from fireplaces; snow drifts; mothball-scented sweaters; unraveled bows; traffic jams; cracked ornaments; shoes sales; rubbed off lottery tickets; Salvation Army bells;

jammed shopping malls; pancakes at IHOP; potato latkes; seven days of gifts; newspaper ads; Christmas Carols; nonstop holiday music on radios; knocks on the door; homesickness; homeless rolling on grassy fields to keep warm; and parades down main street.

Need more holiday cheer to accompany your candy canes? Find the holiday spirit alive and well at the MockingOwl Roost!

• Almost Christmas Morning – Nonfiction
• The Princess and the Pain – Fiction
• Fireplace for Your Home – Nonfiction
• Hole in the Stockings – Poetry
• A Gift for Sandy – Nonfiction
• Man in the Shadows – Fiction
• A Simple Gift
• Vacation to the Dragons of Io Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 – Fiction

Diana Raab, PhD

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Diana Raab, PhD, is an award-winning memoirist, poet, blogger, speaker, and author of 13 books. Her new poetry chapbook is, An Imaginary Affair: Poems Whispered to Neruda (Finishing Line Press, 2022). She blogs for Psychology Today, Thrive Global, Sixty and Me, Good Men Project, and The Wisdom Daily.

Find more on Diana’s website and Instagram.