An Enduring Fable of the Western Front

For some of you out there, I imagine this was the year the cold truth about Santa Claus was delivered to a devastated young person. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it. I don't remember exactly when I found out about ol' St. Nick, but in the fog of memory, the revelation seems gradual. At some point the logistical challenges of Santa being at my local mall, on multiple TV channels at the same time and in chimneys all over the globe just seemed infeasible. I recently went through a similar process, laying to rest the final Christmas myth that I allowed myself to indulge in, the fabled soccer matches enemy combatants played during the Christmas Truce of 1914. A word of caution: I'm about to step into the role of the Grinch, so if you love the romantic notion of a kickabout in the trenches, please pour...