I lost it on Sunday. I, who haven’t cried for years, who thought I had cried all my tears, began to weep, then to cry, then to sob. My daughter held me with my head on her shoulder, and that did it. Istarted to shake and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to stop. I did, though. Stop. I mean, I am a mature (old) woman, not given to emotional outbursts.

I guess the simplest way to explain my meltdown is to say that I still and always miss my husband, yes, even after 43years. I became too vulnerable with the combination of Christmas carols, the presence of my daughter and her family (I wish that she lived closer), and, at church, the finale of that current YouTube flash mob concert going round. (Check it out.) So I lost it.

I’m back, though, and home again, too, landing in Toronto ahead of the storm that closed Billy Bishop Airport late this afternoon, back to my lethargy and inertia. I’ll be better when I get back into the pool tomorrow morning.

It truly was a day of conspicuous consumption. I suppose you know that the phrase was coined by the American economist and sociologist, Thorsten Veblen (1857-1929), and that it became the duty and the occupation of the middle-class American housewife to spend her husband's money to show off his economic power and prestige. Veblen developed the idea in his book The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899). I think the attitude lasted until WWII when Rosie the Riveter sent her man off to war and then when he returned, didn't want to quit her day job outside the home. And then it became impossible for a couple/family to live as well as they wanted to without two incomes. And somewhere along the way, inconspicuous consumption became a new ideal.

I found some stuff on IC (Inconspicuous Consumption) that is PC (Politically Correct), by the way, and rather than try to condense itI will refer you to it: "The Seven Laws of Inconspicuous Consumption" by Perry Garfinkel. You know it all already: thinking green, reducing your footprint on the planet, being a locavore as far as possible, and so on. During WWII, which most of you won't remember (I was pretty young then, too), there was a little verse that reminded people not to waste precious material (required for the war effort):

Use it up

Wear it out

Make it do

Do without

That's a fine attitude to remind you of, and make you feel guilty about, the day after Christmas. Have a great day!