Holiday Thoughts on Christmas Eve

I want to wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday season.

I'm celebrating a traditional but solitary New England Christmas here in New Hampshire, missing my father greatly but recalling wonderful Christmas memories from childhood.

The traditional reading of "The Night Before Christmas" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", remembering how hard it was to get to sleep on Christmas eve listening for any faint sound that might actually be Santa on the roof and the rush of anticipation in my belly. Also waking up early on Christmas morning, wondering if it's too early to wake mom and dad to get the day started, then feeling like it's taking them forever while they make their coffee and have a bit of breakfast before finally gathering around the tree to see if your wishes had been answered by Santa.

I'm also thinking of all the people who might not be having a 'merry' Christmas for whatever reason, including those not able to be with their loved ones for the holidays and those who can't afford to get their kids what they've been asking for the past year. And most recently, the employees who have found themselves suddenly without their jobs just before Christmas.

To many of those folks, remember that there are people out there who care, and tomorrow's always a new day.
And as my father would always say to me when times were tough, "this too shall pass", then he'd remind me to "keep smiling".

Bless you Dad.
And bless all of you, one and all..

My Favorite Card

The title of this card is "Frozen Thung", and inside it says
"Hathy Holidayth".

The first thing I like is that it looks a bit like I did back when I was a little kid.
The other thing is his resemblance to the younger brother in the classic Christmas movie "A Christmas Story" who also froze his tongue to a metal pole. The only thing missing are the kids gathered around him laughing.

So here's to wishing everyone "Hathy Holidayth"!


Here's the info from the back of the card (with my comments added):

Contemporary American Photographers

Photograph [Copyright] 1994 Joe Lampi (<- This guy is good)
Dublin Productions (<- really neat site w/ Flash, check out the photos)
Frothen Thung
[Copyright] Palm Press, Inc. 1995 (<- Interesting cards)
1442A Walnut Street #120
Berkeley, California 94709

Close Call For Nativity Display

Gusty winds brought down the Christmas Tree in front of the Concord, NH State House today somewhere between noon and 1 PM, narrowly missing the Nativity display. Luck, or divine intervention? I guess I'll leave that up to you.

The gusty winds we've been experiencing the past day or so were strong enough to snap the big pine tree off at the base.


This could be just the start of a stormy start to the week as the National Weather Service puts out this alert:

"[...]THIS STORM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE THE FIRST MAJOR WINTER STORM OF
THE SEASON FOR MUCH OF THE REGION. SNOW WILL SPREAD FROM SOUTHWEST
TO NORTHEAST SUNDAY NIGHT...WITH SNOW LASTING INTO TUESDAY AT MANY
LOCATIONS. SINCE THE END OF THIS EVENT IS STILL SEVERAL DAYS
AWAY...SOME UNCERTAINTY STILL EXISTS IN SNOWFALL TOTALS.
HOWEVER...THIS STORM DOES HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE GREATER
THAN A FOOT OF SNOW ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION.[...]"

I don't know about you, but I'll be taking advantage of the new parking garage next door and parking under cover for the next few days.