Getting Excited for Christmas [1]

Christmas is just around the corner, and I am excited.

I recently had the following conversation (or something like it) with a student:

Student: “Are you excited for the non-specific winter holiday coming up, which I assume is Christmas?”
(My pat answer.) “I try not to get excited about things until they actually happen.”
Student (exasperated): “But that’s the whole point!”

Adoration of the Shepherds
by the Dutch painter Gerard van Honthorst, 1622
This work is in the public domain.

The short...