A great background helps make the holidays better
A COLUMN By Tiger Hulin
When I was a kid, WPIX out of New York ran the Yule Log. No commentary. No graphics. Just a fire on the television, crackling away while the house did whatever it was going to do. You didn’t really watch it. You lived alongside it. It was permission to slow down.
These days, the screens are different, but the instinct is the same.
Here in the Genesee Valley, our early snows make it hard not to look forward. The hills go quiet. The roads empty earlier. The light fades faster than it used to. Winter arrives whether we’re ready or not, and it has a way of asking us to sit still for a minute.
So I thought I’d share a few modern Yule Logs that have found their way into our house. These aren’t flashy. They aren’t loud. They’re meant to be put on in the background while life happens.
One is the Michael Bublé 24/7 Christmas Radio Yule Log, with winter landscapes and familiar holiday music rolling gently along. It’s warm without being overwhelming, the kind of thing you can leave on while cooking, wrapping gifts, or letting the evening settle in.
Another favorite is the Grateful Dead Yule Log: Spring ’90, Vol. 1. It’s built around long, wandering jams from a time when music wasn’t in a hurry. You don’t have to listen closely. You just let it breathe. It feels like memory without sharp edges, perfect for a snowy night when you don’t want silence, but you don’t want noise either.
And then there’s A Charlie Brown Christmas by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, paired with a fireplace and a quiet visual loop. That piano has been part of winter for generations. It feels like lamplight, old records, and a moment when everything didn’t need to be explained.
For the record, my wife started dancing the moment the right parts came on. No hesitation. Just up and moving. Everybody loves Snoopy, and we’ll be seeing him again at Cedar Point very soon. Some traditions stick around because they still know how to make people smile.
I know this season isn’t easy for everyone. Some of us are surrounded by family. Some of us are missing people we wish were still here. And some of us find ourselves alone in ways that don’t show on the outside.
If that’s you, you’re not forgotten.
Put one of these on. Grab a cup of something warm. Sit back for a while. Let yesterday’s memories pass through without grabbing them too tightly. Let tomorrow stay where it belongs, just over the horizon.
Enjoy the now.
From our family to yours,
Merry Christmas from the Hulin family, 2025.
Love each other like it might be your last chance.
Hold on to what you love.
And be gentle — with yourself and with one another.
Clay “Tiger” Hulin writes on a wide range of subjects from his Franklinville home. Hulin is registered nurse, family guy, and welcomes all questions or feedback to claymation_88@yahoo.com
