It’s been a few days since the New Year. People are trickling back into town. Things are beginning to happen again. Twitter is abuzz with return trips. People are discussing things that have to be done before the year starts up again.

I’m not sure I’d ever really noticed this before, perhaps because I was taking a vacation of my own in previous years, but the world just stands still during December. People are visiting family, taking time off work and school. Then, in January, things just kind of start happening again. Everyone gears up to go back to work or school, the endless parties stop happening, and life, such as it is, picks up again.

And even (or especially) those who aren’t doing anything terribly special, you can tell the holidays are here. There’s just this month-long lull. I sometimes wonder if the reason I like the new year isn’t just that it’s the signal that it’s okay to start doing things.