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A flurry of seasonal tunes pelts the airwaves and eases the iciness in December. Sleigh bells ring everywhere you go, and that little drummer boy keeps pounding in your head. Earmuffs can block the cold but can’t muffle the beat.

Now Santa Baby probably keeps warm by shuffling those furry boots to a Yuletide boogie; but when I’m alone and cruisin’ in the Canyon, I just turn the radio on and adjust the heater. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to catch the Eagles or Creedence or the Doobie Brothers. Dial in some Black Oak Arkansas, and the foot-tappin’ tempo has me sweatin’ to the oldies. Not a pretty sight but festive and cozy.

Now we know that songs deliver more than a comfortable temperature. The lyrics can actually make us think, and who knows where thinking will take a solitary man? For example, an evening or so ago I was feelin’ Nights in White Satin and then Horse with No Name when the mood was interrupted by Hello, Goodbye.

Paul McCartney totally destroyed a mellow state of mind with a bit of silliness, but the phrases just kept tumbling in my head. The Beatles had better songs: Hey, Jude, Let It Be, Yesterday, In My Life, Eleanor Rigby, Strawberry Fields Forever. Those hits delivered profound commentaries or told poignant tales, and you know that can’t be bad. But, for a moment, Hello, Goodbye was apparently what I needed.

Even though it’s probably not literature-class poetry, “You say, ‘Goodbye’ and I say, ‘Hello, hello, hello’” conveys some serious yin and yang with that British twang in the background. Sometimes it’s okay to put away Byron and Keats, isn’t it?

The song repeats a few of life’s opposites. Sometimes simple. Sometimes complicated. We all experience them. Hello goodbye. Yes no. High low. Stop go. I say, “Yes” but I may mean, “No”. In the truck that evening, the words captured pieces of the past, but I don’t really know if I’ve said more hellos or endured more goodbyes in 2025.

Opposites may not always attract or attack, but they give us perspective. Amazing! “Attract or attack” reminds me of our wedding ceremony. Julie and I weren’t necessarily opposites, but we had our differences. Maybe that’s why her dad, Pastor Fred, included “for better or worse” in the vows. I definitely got the best of that bargain.

My life and the lives around me are filled with the stuff of songs. We’re like the Beatles without the hairstyle. Laughter Tears. Giving taking. Births burials. So much need and so much wealth. Everyone I know faces yes-no moments and high-low emotions. Most have the grit to deal with both.

Every day unveils a bag of opposites. The family of my youth has dwindled, yet the love for them has increased. My kids have grown older, but Julie seems younger. In an age of friction, I have friends and family who are kind and forgiving. In a time when the goodbyes can outweigh the hellos … when the scales of good and bad don’t always balance, I am blessed. I’ve been richer. I’ve been poorer. But, I’ve never felt more blessed. Heck, I may get gifts again this year whether I deserve them or not.

I’ve reached my seventy-second December and am headed into January with more yin- yang observations than I had the year before. New acquaintances were found, but lifelong friends disappeared. Beginnings and endings and transitions are constants in life. And, when I calm my inner Grinch, I’m embracing a few changes instead of challenging them all.

Is there a song or hymn or anthem buried in all that? Maybe I only need a ditty. And, since the weather outside is frightful, I think I’ll switch back to the winter-wonderland melodies for a while. Who knows? I may sit down and absorb some “peace on earth, good will towards men” or find a poem that ends, “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

On frigid, December days a little “Pa rum pum pum pum” warms the soul even more than Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show used to. Let’s find some of that heat, and chill with Bing and Bowie’s The Little Drummer Boy.