Our house is decorated, the Christmas tree is up, and all the presents have been bought. Well, almost all; I’m sure we’ll find some last-minute must-haves. Our holiday season is normal, outside of inflated prices and a deflated Santa that blew into our yard last night.

But New York City, Washington DC, and other blue cities are observing Covidmas again this year. The dreary winter weather matches their residents’ dreary mood. “Fifteen days to slow the spread” has dragged to 21 months with no end in sight. Politicians shame the unvaccinated, teachers’ unions threaten more school closures, and progressives tut-tut Christmas revelers.

BuzzFeed hosted a staff holiday party in Manhattan that turned into a super-spreader event among the 100-percent vaccinated and boosted attendees. Other Gotham CEOs canceled their soirées and opted for yuletide classics like online yoga and meal delivery.

The Atlantic published a piece, “I’m Starting to Give Up on Post-pandemic Life,” with the subhead “Despair is not a mild symptom.” CNN’s Chris Cillizza wrote about his “long December” and how his “Covid anxiety is spiking.” Neurotic journalists keep using their day jobs as free therapy and insult readers for not being as miserable as they are.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom stopped attacking Ron DeSantis long enough to announce yet another state mask mandate. Politico noted that “many Californians have already reconciled themselves to a perpetually masked lifestyle.”

In the Beltway, politicians rue the day candidate Joe Biden promised to “shut down the virus,” especially since there have been more Covid deaths under his presidency than his predecessor’s. Six months ago, Biden heralded a post-vaccine “summer of freedom. A summer of joy. A summer of reunions and celebrations.” His message today is quite different.

NEW – Biden declares winter of severe illness & death for unvaccinated.pic.twitter.com/RUnAWqlXb9

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) December 16, 2021

And you thought Jimmy Carter’s “malaise” speech was bleak.

On Friday, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients repeated this grim prognosis. “For unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death — if you’re unvaccinated — for themselves, their families, and the hospitals they’ll soon overwhelm.” By the way, Christmas is a week away. Ho, ho, ho.

Or is it? Dr. Anthony “I Am Science” Fauci canceled the holiday for his family. “For the first time in more than 30 years,” he said, “I’m not spending the Christmas holidays with my daughters.” He claimed everyone doesn’t have to cancel get-togethers, as long as they “ask and maybe require that people show evidence that they are vaccinated.”

You’re a mean one, Dr. Fauci.

In the C.S. Lewis classic The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, Mr. Tumnus describes the White Witch’s evil rule over Narnia. “She makes it always winter. Always winter and never Christmas.”

Always winter, never Christmas, only Covidmas.

The shrieking reports from coastal media bewilder those of us in free states. Outside of doctor’s appointments and air travel, I haven’t worn a mask since … I don’t know … May 2020? A handful of my neighbors wear masks while shopping, perhaps 5 percent and nearly all elderly. The rest? We moved on a year and a half ago.

A NYC-based journalist friend was dumbfounded when I told him this, and more than a little envious. The national media is stuck in a different world, and a different time. It’s like the White Witch’s Narnia, but with the additional horror of online yoga.

I wish a Merry Christmas to the vast majority of the country and a Dreary Covidmas to those unquestioning minds trapped in locked-down cities. If these New Yorkers, Angelenos, and Washingtonians happen to own an old wardrobe, perhaps they could step through it to celebrate Christmas with the rest of us.