Non-Sectarian Midwinter's Holiday Cards in the Tradition Consisted with Your Ethnic, Religious or Cultural Tradition.

We at Palmerwood are somewhat ambivalent about the holiday season. Or at least I am. The children enjoy it. And so do I, to some extent--the feasting, the fellowship, the presents.

Mostly the presents, though.

But holiday-season weather, at least in the Midwest, is a thing of yawning horror. Cold, darkness, snow and ice... all these things bring yetis down from the heavily wooded slopes of the Palmer Mountains in the far northern reaches of the estate in droves.

Horrifying.

So, on balance, I'd prefer to dispense with the season altogether and just buy my own presents.

But we make exceptions for the sake of the children, don't we, so each year, I do my best to grin (a horrible skull-like rictus, admittedly, but I DO try) and get into the spirit of things.

Here's a selection of our holiday-cards. As I am not only an artist of heartbreaking talent, but a poet of swoon-inducing gifts as well, I generally include a few lines of season-appropriate doggerel.

Here's from 2016.

And here's from 2017. Notice I've refined my style somewhat.

And here's 2018... 

And 2019. 

Doesn't make the season any more bearable, but it does give a man something to do on those long, dark winter evenings.