There's three kind of Christmas

There's three kinds of Christmas.

The first kind is the Christ kind of Christmas. This is the celebration of baby Jesus and everything he means to Christianity/the world. You'll see nativities and advent wreathes and singular stars that outshine the rest. The primary colour of this Christmas is gold.

The second kind of Christmas is the Christmas of Santa Claus. This Christmas is the sharing of gifts, singing about reindeer, and stockings over the fireplace. It's an all-ages kind of Christmas. Red and green dominate this Christmas, with white and gold as supporting roles.

(One could argue there's the Christmas of getting together with family, but that's hardly Christmas-specific.)

The third kind of Christmas is a subset of winter. It isn't the winter of plowing your driveway or it generally being cold. It's the winter of staying inside a cozy cabin. It's the winter of eternal white covering the evergreen trees. It's the winter of cardinals and pleasant silence. White is the primary colour of this Christmas, followed by greens and browns and just a hint of red.

There's two kinds of Easter.

The first Easter is the Christian Easter. A sad time followed by a joyous time. Long church services. Dressing beyond your Sunday best.

The second Easter is the children's Easter. Egg hunts. Bunnies. Chocolate.

There's two kinds of July 4th. One is American patriotism. The other is barbeques.

There's one-and-a-half kinds of Thanksgiving. There's the American Myth of pilgrims and natives. There's the dinner with family.

There's three kinds of Halloween.

The first Halloween is horror-Halloween. You watch scary movies. You play scary games. There are zombies and monsters.

The second Halloween is the Halloween when you dress up. Maybe you go trick-or-treating. Maybe you go to your friend's party. The Monster Mash and Thriller play. It's playful.

The third Halloween is a gothic Christmas. It's dark in a beautiful way. It's gives warming solitude.

I think my favourite holiday is the third Halloween. But I admit, it may not be the best. After all, Halloween is the one night of the year when you really can dress for the job you want.