“We are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmastime.”
This morning I had an early meeting. The alarm was jarring, but something worse awaited me. When I got to the car, I had to scrape the windows, the first time in years.
Winter has taken hold. This morning it was 27˚ when I went out. By the time I got home, it had warmed to 37˚. Never did I expect to use warm and 37˚ together in the same sentence.
When I was a kid, my school had a Christmas fair every year. It was held in the auditorium at the town hall a short walk up the street. We only had a half day of school the day of the fair. We’d walk two by two up the street accompanied by the nuns. After arriving at the fair, we were cut loose. My mother always gave us shopping money and money to buy lunch. Tables were set up all around the room each manned by one of the mothers (a bit of irony to spice up the narrative). Some tables sold knitted mittens and scarfs. At other tables you could buy potted plants, old games and books. I remember one table was filled with crocheted chair headrests and arm protectors. My favorite table was the one with inexpensive gifts for parents. I always bought my presents there. When my sister was in the 4th grade, she bought a Christmas cactus for my mother. It is still living and every year it still blossoms. After shopping, I’d buy my lunch. It was always a hot dog in a soft bun with a small bag of chips on the side. I loved that fair.
Today is finish my wrapping day. I got a good start yesterday so I’m hopeful today will end it. Mailing the presents day is tomorrow. Thursday is set up the tree and decorate the house day. Friday and Saturday are begin the baking days. Sunday is a play, It’s a Wonderful Life, with my sister. On Monday I will take a day of rest.
My dance card is so filled with Christmas I can’t help but smile.
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December 11, 2018 at 2:01 pm
Its the time of lists, and for me it has always been Album of the Year. What did the critics think ? and most important are my favorite record on the list ? I would read and go out and try some of the music from the Top 10s
In the day, it was the New Musical Express (NME) that dictated the tastes. I would wait patiently for the Christmas holiday issue picking it up on Waterloo Station. For years I would have friends in England buy the Christmas Edition and save it for me. Of course, today the NME has gone the way of Melody Maker and Sounds and is a mere fragment on the internet with no paper issue.
I have recognized that new music has solidly passed me by. Not only do I not own any of the records on the current lists but frankly I don’t even know who many of these folks are. Here in Detroit I am oblivious of “Lets Eat Grandma” although their current album makes many of the lists. I know that The 1975 are coming to Meadowbrook in Rochester in May and have completely sold out and that “The Good, the Bad and The Queen” is the dude from Gorillaz and some chums from The Clash
So I am snuffling around in a new space and here is the rather fab The 1975, fresh off heroin and rather sprightly among the best albums on 2018
December 11, 2018 at 5:40 pm
My Dear Hedley,
I saw the Grammy nominees for record of the year and new artist. I didn’t know a single singer on either list.
The internet isn’t the best alternative to print. When I travel, I read the Boston Globe on-line. I really miss holding the paper and find the on-line version less user friendly in some ways. I’m sorry to see the Christmas Edition of NME bit the dust.
Your third paragraph is a foreign language to me. Let’s Eat Grandma sounds like an invitation to dine. The 1975 is a history lesson.
This song reminds me of another song, but I don’t know which one. It sounds so familiar. I do like them.
December 11, 2018 at 2:47 pm
Hi Kat,
That sounds like all the church/school Christmas Fairs I’ve ever been to. Nowadays, you don’t get the crocheted antimacassars. If it’s a Senior Center Fair, you do get lots of knitted and crocheted baby sweaters and crib blankets. There is usually a booth with old costume jewelry, too. Sometimes those are fun. I once found a stick pin that was a silver deer head surrounded by a rosette of deer hair. It looked like something organizational like the International Brotherhood of Stags or something. 😀
It makes me happy to know that someone else has a Christmas cactus Methuselah too. Mine is from a cutting given to me in 1968. It flowers most years but some years are better than others.
Today is sunny and cold.
Enjoy the day.
December 11, 2018 at 5:44 pm
Hi Caryn,
I used to go to so many church fairs, from one to another. They seemed to be on the same Saturday. I used to buy mittens for the kids and knit slippers for my sister. The church fairs tend to have all older women. I also liked to look through the old costume jewelry. The crowds now are too big so the fairs aren’t as much fun as they once were.
My mother had the cactus then my sister took it when my mother died. She takes wonderful care of it. It is a treasured memory.