This time of year there is much talk of Seasons and Greetings and Winter and Weather.  Especially if your T.V. only gets The Weather Channel.  And you leave it on day and night.  You will probably dream about the weather.  In which case, you should turn it off.  Weather dreams can leave you soggy or windswept or baked like a loaf of bread.

We have all heard it said that "the little things" mean a lot, "the little things" are most important, and when we are in a thankful mood we should appreciate "the little things".  But there are people in this world who are terrified of "little things".  I would therefore here and now like to be a voice for them.  I am certain that while others gather with loved ones around a feast and pause to be grateful for all they have — the little things included — whether daily or but once per year, those poor nervous souls are quivering somewhere in a corner, scared

When presented a box of bonbons, has it ever crossed your mind that the center might not be what you expect?  Of course, it's anybody's guess what hides inside a mixed assortment of chocolates!  Who hasn't been afraid?  An innocent-seeming sampler could harbor unspeakable terrors!  But isn't the soul-shuddering suspense worth the quaking fear?  And isn't that blood rush, the jolt of adrenaline we experience in fear better than a piece of chocolate?

I happen to think it is.

What if you are minding your own business and a curious stranger passes you by, carrying a sack that wafts a fragrance that strikes a chord — reminiscent of an intangible emotion; something distant, lost, perhaps never quite found.  A mere aspiration.  As evocative, perhaps, as a foreign market teeming with spices and intrigue.  Would you be drawn out of your corner, that staid familiar spot you inhabit upon this globe, to chase an inexplicable aroma which has dazzled your olfactory senses?  Might it compel you to pursue this cloaked mysterioso away fr