That Time of Year

Almost every day now, envelopes addressed by hand arrive mixed in with the bills and the credit-card offers and the gratuitous catalogs.

Most of the time, I don't know until I've gotten one open whether the card inside is going to offer holiday greetings or condolences.

The juxtaposition is an apt one, mirroring as it does the alternating emotions of this unsettled time—and the surprise with which each sometimes overtakes me.