Thirty-three (33) days to Christmas! Our tree is nine years old – 3 plus 3 plus 3 – but it’s only 8 ft tall; I wish it was a nine-footer. It’s been good to us, so I shouldn’t complain.

We’re quite sentimental about our tree, even if the three of us at home are no longer kids. We love our tree, and every year we find something special to add to it – an ornament that could be quirky, funny, or just plain lovely. Over the last nine years, stores and shops have come and gone, but I haven’t found one with the type and class of merchandise to rival or even equal what we already have. Which is unfair, because most of our ornaments came from a local factory that no longer manufactures made-in-PH stuff; the owner has shifted to importing Swiss cosmetics for ladies!

Christmas Three. It sounds nice, with a rhythmic ring to it. The three characters of the Nativity: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. A supporting cast of angels, shepherds and sheep. The Three Kings from the Orient (now known as the Middle East).

Three symbols of Christmas: the Star of Bethlehem exemplified by the “parol” or lantern; the lighted tree, a tradition started by Martin Luther; the season of the scarlet flower of Christmas called poinsettia (of tropical American origin).

Other traditions pale beside that of gift-giving, so thank the Three Kings for starting such an en-during practice.

But as a friend pointed out many years ago, should we seniors and oldies be exchanging gifts, at our age? At our age, let’s wish peace, prosperity, and compassion to dwell among us, beginning at the top. The President needs our prayers, no matter how powerful he is; in fact just because he is powerful.

Over the years, what may have changed about Christmas lies in the area of the kiddies’ expecta-tions. What I wanted when I was 12 years old is not what a 12-year-old would dream of owning this Christmas! At that age, I couldn’t spell “cologne,” could I?

Happy days and nights to you, dear reader, as you draw up your gift-giving list. It’s the thought that counts, sure, but thinking is not all there is to the art.