The In-Between Week

That week that occurs between Christmas and New Year's is always a strange one. It's a little top-heavy, starting right away with the bigger and more meaningful holiday and then rolling downhill toward the somewhat less important and often anti-climactic night o' partying and day o' bowls that is New Year's.

What's interesting is that both these holidays have "Eve's." For the life of me I cannot think of any other day of the year for which there is an important Eve. I can't say I've ever stopped to celebrate the day before Easter or even Thanksgiving, but Christmas and New Year's are totally different.

The strange thing is that their Eve's serve totally different purposes. Christmas Eve is all about anticipation of morning, when the gift-opening frenzy takes place. It's what an eve should be, a build-up to the big event. But New Year's Eve is really the event in and of itself. Sure you look forward to midnight, that's the deal, but there's nothing really after that point besides a day full of hangovers and football (which I suppose some people do actually look forward to.)

Which leads me to the conclusion that this in-between week is actually an example of perfect symmetry. The second half of the week mirrors the first half. The first day, the first Eve builds to the second day, Christmas, after which there is a lull. The lull persists through the halfway point of the week and then is punctuated by the second to last day, the big day in this half, which is in this case the Eve itself. The transition back to normalcy occurs with the gradual let down from the high, which is New Year's Day itself.

Perhaps it's a theory not everyone will subscribe to (or follow for that matter.) But I find it fascinating. I think the reason I can examine it so lucidly is that I am for the first time removed from the phenomenon. Having not celebrated Christmas this past Saturday, I'm not really riding the emotional rollercoaster that is the holiday season (though I guess I'm on a coaster of a different sort). So for the rest of you, enjoy this bizarre week of limbo before the reality of the long winter ahead hits you like a Mack truck. Cheers!