Last year, I got in line with many, many people at the Hallmark store. It was so cold we lined up close to one another to keep warm. (We in Northern California are a bunch of wimps when it comes to winter, mostly because we tend to underdress. Few of us own heavy coats, and if we did , we sure wouldn’t wear them to do this kind of shopping.)

This morning, the line at Target at 7 a.m. was not so bad, a stark moon shone over us and the crowd was cheerful. I was early enough that entire aisles of Christmas things were mine alone. This didn’t last long.

Post-Christmas is very different from other kinds of shopping. People go in groups, coverage is coordinated, and they tend to yell happily to one another across the store. It’s not confined to women. Christmas quilts go fast. Men tend to hunker down in front of the remote lighting control section. It’s the best time to get an artificial tree.

I was there for one item, a box of non-reflective ornaments for photographing. What did I come out with?

1. two boxes of ornaments
2. three new stockings because the old ones were impossible to fill comfortably
3. two Santa hats
4. two packages of gift boxes
5. one package of gift bags
6. one nutcracker
7. two packages of tags
8. three rolls of wrap
9. one bag of red bows
10. one star ornament
11. one package of cookie cutters
12. one pair of Christmas argyle knee socks

What I looked at seriously, thought about but didn’t buy:
1. the Christmas gnome
2. a Christmas quilt
3. a Christmasy duck
4. a Pooh sitting in a rocking chair reading to Piglet
5. jingle bell wreaths