Below are some of the comments on our entirely unscientific survey of the holiday mood:

"I just absolutely love the holiday season. It's like the song says: 'It's the most wonderful time of the year!!' " Mary K.

"This most joyful season is most stressful because of the nature of the politics of this country at this time. May 1999 be a year for healing." Linda S.

"This year is a sad year for me. My husband died on Sept. 26th, our daughter's sixth wedding anniversary. He was only 54, and faced cancer head on, and with courage and dignity. He lost his battle and he has been set free of a body that betrayed him. Although I don't wish him back, there is an emptiness that is indescribable. This year is stressful." J.M.

"I think it's a shame that the joy of Christmas has been taken over by the stress of what to buy for whom, especially with the scam of the last few years on "the most popular Christmas toy" that can't be found before Christmas unless you've got a few hundred to buy the one somebody has for sale privately who paid $19.99 for it. That's not what Christmas is supposed to be all about!" Joyce R.

"Today this holiday is joyful because it the gift of life and I get to live it one more day one day at a time." Greg L.

Tell the "Bah Humbugs" to lighten up. Anyone can be miserable, You have to work on being happy. Pay attention to your God and work on being nice." Michael A.

"As a non-Christian at this time of year I sometimes resent having the religious aspects of Christmas imposed on my children and me. I do not want them singing "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" in school or making wreaths for our door. When I complain I do not want to hear that the wreath is American when in fact it is a Christian symbol representing the halo of Christ as well as several other interpretations. I do however love seeing people enjoy this great holiday. The decorating of houses and trees and even shopping malls is something everyone can appreciate. But if I pay for an aerobics class I do not want to work out to an hour of Christmas music. For public schools this time should be about snowflakes and snowmen and winter, leave Christmas and Hanukah in the private sector." T.B.

"Putting the religious aspect of this holiday season aside: there are too many decisions to be made -- which mandatory work party to attend, who gets which gift and how much do I spend per person, why do I have to decorate the damn bushes outside, why can't we have a four-foot tree, etc." Alan D.