“The two most joyous times of the year are Christmas morning and the end of school.”
I have come to believe I am living under a curse. First it was the fall, and I am still in the midst of the aftermath, but it is getting better, my face that is. My teeth, though, still hurt as does part of my lip on one side, and there is an ugly scab, one which draws looks or averted eyes. Yesterday’s curse was the sodden English muffin. This morning I woke up with a cold. I have decided to stay home today, walk gently and spend most of my time on the couch. That last one I do well.
Yesterday’s concert was wonderful. The audience sang along with the carols. We wore red, fun hats and fascinators. I wore my red Converse high tops. The sound effects included bells and whirrs and a drum.
On Christmas Eve, we were always allowed to open one present, but we had no choice as to which present. It was always the new pajamas. A few other wrapped presents were under the tree. They were from my parents. Santa never wrapped his gifts. He placed them around the tree in groupings, one pile for each of us. I remember going down the stairs and looking over the banister at the lit tree and all the presents around it. A new game was always upright in the front. I remember the year it was Sorry. The most amazing present was my bike, my very first new bike. It was all by itself along the picture window. It had a bow on the handlebar and a basket in front. I took that bike out on Christmas Day and rode it up and down the street. I was still in my pajamas.
I don’t remember Christmas morning breakfasts. I do remember eating some of the chocolate from my stocking. It was allowed. When I was an adult, I always went to my parent’s house for Christmas. I’d make a breakfast casserole on Christmas Eve so we could stick it in the oven in the morning. We always had mimosas Christmas morning. Even now, I usually make myself a pitcher of mimosas. It is, after all, the tradition.
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December 9, 2023 at 4:31 pm
Hi Kat,
Today the sky is clear and the high temperature is 64°. We will probably not have a white Christmas. The last time we did was in 2012. The National weather service actually has a definition of a white Christmas. There must be at least one inch of snow.
Christmas would not have existed without Chanukah. In the second century BCE, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who tried to force the people of Israel to accept Greek culture and beliefs instead of Jewish observance and belief in God. Against all odds, a small band of faithful but poorly armed Jews, led by Judah the Maccabee, defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of God.
When they sought to light the Temple’s Menorah (the seven-branched candelabrum), they found only a single cruse of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks. Miraculously, they lit the menorah and the one-day supply of oil lasted for eight days, until new oil could be prepared under conditions of ritual purity.
Had the Maccabee rebellion been unsuccessful, then there would have been no Jews in the Holy Land and Jesus was a Jew and not a Syrian-Greek.
Many Jewish public Chanukah celebrations this year have been canceled or reduced due to fear of antisemitism brought on by pro-Palestinian protestors along with the usual other home grown bigoted groups.
December 9, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Hi Bob,
It hit the high 40’s today which is warm for December. Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer. It is supposed to rain here and snow up north.
I knew the story of Chanukah and how a single day’s supply of lamp oil lasted for eight days, but I hadn’t ever read how without Chanukah there would have been no Christmas. Thanks!
It is a sad time when people cannot celebrate their religion because of fear.