“Mom, look at this LEGO Star Wars set,” my eight-year-old son Nathan said. “Can I get it for my birthday?” I looked at the LEGO set in question.

“Nathan, this isn’t just a regular LEGO set. It’s an Advent calendar(降临历).” Seeing his questioning look, I explained, “An Advent calendar counts down the days until Christmas. Starting on December 1st, you open one box each day, and each box contains one small LEGO toy.”

“I want this really badly, Mom. Can I get it for my birthday?”

“Yes, but here’s the problem with that. It’s August right now, and your birthday is in September. If we bought this for your birthday, you couldn’t start opening the toys until December 1st. That would be a long time for you before playing with a new toy. Are you sure you want it?” He thought for a minute and said, “Yes, Mom, I really want that Advent calendar.” So we bought the calendar.

On Nathan’s birthday in mid-September, he received many presents, including the Advent calendar. He seemed as surprised and pleased with it as he did with other gifts that were actually a surprise. And then he started to open it.

“Remember that’s an Advent calendar. So we can’t open it yet.” His shoulders slumped(垂下来). “Oh, yeah, that’s right,” he said unwillingly.

We put the box in his closet. I hoped he’d forget about it, but that was wishful thinking.

“How many more days should I wait until I can start opening the toys in the calendar?” he asked the day after his birthday. I gave him a pocket calendar, and we counted how many days there were until December 1st.

After waiting for so long, it was December 1st finally. Nathan’s hands were practically shaking as he opened that first box. “I’m so glad I waited, Mom,” he told me.

People say that Christmas starts earlier and earlier every year. I know these complaints are about the over-commercialization of the holiday, and I see their point. But this year, Christmas came to our house very early, and it was so much fun.

3 . The Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) opened its doors again this weekend for the University of Rochester’s Clothesline Arts Festival. This event has been an annual tradition at the Centennial Sculpture Park right outside the MAG for the last 62 years. Initially organized with less than 100 artists showing their work on clothes lines and fences, this festival has attracted over 500 artists from across the nation.

The park was decorated with colorful tents where artists proudly displayed their works. Each tent was a story within itself — a display of skill, creativity, and years of experience.

Piche Design, a unique custom creation art store owned by Chuck Peashy, had one of the most interesting tents: an eye-catching, old setting with lamps shaped like musical instruments. “People come to me with objects that belonged to their long-gone loved ones, and I make beautiful items out of those for them. It is, indeed, rewarding,” said Peashy.

Jill Schiller started doodling (涂鸦) when she was very young. Her hobby gave way to a series of super cool modern designs. She now draws with Swedish weaving techniques on scarves, carpets, bags, and T-shirts in her tent. Schiller believes that it is evidently a great method of expressing creativity and emotion.

George Banagis’ tent, which presented watercolor and pen and ink pieces, had a variety of options. His complicated pen and ink illustrations were available in the original full-size versions, which were made after weeks of effort, and also small, affordable postcards, notepads, and other souvenirs. Visitors loved this inexpensive form of art and flooded inside to buy.

Visitors also experienced all seven continents in one tent, Tatarzyn Photography. From penguins lined up on an Antarctic coastline to swans and wandering African elephants, Ted Tatarzyn has traveled all around the world to catch these moments of amazing creatures with a camera. “This is actually my second career,” said Tatarzyn, who interestingly worked at Kodak for many years before its shutdown. He then started touring around the world for the pictures.

Strolling across the little artistic showcases is a learning experience that every student should take advantage of. And Clothesline had many other stories to tell.