”One can never have enough socks.”
Today is an ugly day, a gray day. Last night it rained, and the air is still damp making it feel colder than it is. The birds were back this morning, even a beautiful red cardinal. I’ll fill the feeders in a bit, hoping to keep the birds around. They brighten the day. I haven’t seen a spawn of Satan at the feeders. I suspect the grey devil is waiting for me to add seed.
I have a few errands planned and was hoping to go to the dump, but I just noticed it has started raining again. The day is even darker. We may get snow tonight. The temperature will go down to 35°. I’ll leave the back light on so I can check for snow.
One of the big controversies about Christmas, almost causing people to come to blows, is whether Santa wraps presents or leaves them unwrapped. We were an unwrapped family. The only wrapped presents under the tree were from my parents, and those presents went under the tree before Christmas and were always new pajamas for Christmas Eve. Christmas movies don’t help. In one he leaves wrapped while unwrapped in another; however, in Santa Claus is Coming to Town, the definitive story of Santa, he leaves unwrapped toys. Case closed.
In our house, we had an unfinished attic behind a trap door in the hall celling. When you opened it, a small ladder slid down. I have no memory of it being opened except on one Christmas Eve. My bed was right by the bedroom door. If I twisted around, I could see the hall. I was asleep that Christmas Eve until I heard my parents whispering in the hall. I clandestinely peeked. The trap door was down. My mother was standing by the ladder. My father was in the attic. He was handing presents down to my mother. My parents had found the perfect hiding place. I watched. I remember hearing music. It came from a toy which made music when you pushed it. That was for my little sister. My parents finished unloading the attic and went downstairs to put the presents under the tree. I sneaked down and watched from behind the bannister. I never got caught. I did see some of the presents but never let on in the morning. I put on my most surprised face.
keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
December 20, 2024 at 8:20 pm
Hi Kat,
Today was a chilly 58° for the high temperature with the sun shining, and the wind was calm. The weather prognosticators have already determined that we will not have a white Christmas. It will probably be rainy with a high temperature in the 60s temperature range.
My parents didn’t wrap our Chanukah presents either. I never heard of the controversy between Santa wrapping or not wrapping Christmas presents. In my mind he would not wrap them, since he makes them. Maybe Mrs. Santa wraps them.
We have one of those pull down doors in our upstairs hallway ceiling. It has a built in ladder to access the attic. That’s where the gas heaters and the air handlers for the A/C are located. I have never been in the attic and I don’t have a reason to ever go up there.
This year the first night of Chanukah occurs on Christmas Day. To keep Passover occurring in the Springtime, the Rabbis who set the Jewish calendar, add an entire leap month every eleven years. The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar instead of a solar one. All the Jewish holidays begin at sun down on the previous day. Therefore we will light the first Chanukah candles at sundown on Christmas Day.
December 20, 2024 at 11:24 pm
Hi Bob,
We had on and off rain all day. My sister who lives close to Boston has snow s do my friends in New Hampshire. The cape is often spared. We were 12 degrees warmer than where my sister lives, 12 miles from Boston).
Some of my friends got all wrapped presents from Santa. We never had any. I figured after making them he didn’t have time to wrap them.
The attic was unfinished. There were boards with insulation between them. There were no reasons to go up there.
I’m a bit confused. With the first day of Chanukah on Christmas Day and you light the candles on the previous day, how come you don’t light them on Christmas Eve?
December 20, 2024 at 11:49 pm
I should have said, because we light the first candle at sundown on Christmas Day. So the first day begins on December 25th. this year. The first day ends at sundown on December 26th.
December 20, 2024 at 11:51 pm
Thanks, Bob. Now I get it!!