The Day After Christmas

What our tree looked like after we'd denuded it of presents every year.

Are you sighing a big sigh of relief or are you in the after-Christmas doldrums? As kids, it was probably the last one. The only thing we liked about it was showing our friends everything we got for Christmas. If we got a sled, and we prayed hard enough for snow on Christmas and it happened, we went out sledding over on Pacific Street.

But when the Christmas tree went out the door looking sad and naked without all its trimmings, we knew that the great holiday we waited all year for was finally over. The house decorations inside and all the houses with outside lights and decorations soon followed and everything looked lifeless to us for a while.

If you were like my mother, what you looked forward to next was the after-Christmas sales. She’d save things all year for Christmas from some of these sales. These days you can still buy paper and cards after Christmas if you can catch them before they put them all away. They are quick enough to put all that stuff out before Halloween, but they disappear quicker than a Halloween costume.

Here in Georgia, Nanci and I went out for our traditional Christmas breakfast at the Waffle House on Christmas Day. The workers all wished us a “Merry Christmas” as we came in the door. They all had Christmas gear on along with their aprons etc. Some even had reindeer antlers on. I get a kick out of hearing them call out their orders to the cooks. “Drop one bacon, one sausage. One Texas cheese bacon and egg. One scrambled. One scattered and smothered. One scattered and covered.” And if you know what all that means, you’re a true Waffle House patron.

Sometimes we go to the movies on Christmas Day. This year we decided to wait until January when Janet Evanovich’s “One for the Money” comes to the screen. I can’t wait to see Debbie Reynolds as Grandma Mazur.

If you are a fan of Janet’s you know that she writes by the numbers. I got “Explosive Eighteen” for Christmas thanks to Nanci. Janet has a way of making you smile no matter what kind of day you’re having; therefore, she’ll keep me company if I get after-Christmas blues.

A Christmas Story House, located in Cleveland, now restored to its movie splendor, is open year round to the public for tours. Directly across the street from the house is the official A Christmas Story House Museum, which features original props, costumes and memorabilia from the film, as well as hundreds of rare behind-the-scenes photos. Among the props and costumes are the toys from the Higbee’s window, Randy’s snowsuit and zeppelin, the chalkboard from Miss Shields’ classroom and the family car. After reliving A Christmas Story at Ralphie’s house don’t forget to visit the museum gift shop for your own Major Award Leg Lamp and other great movie memorabilia. 

I’m giving you an extra added attraction with this blog. If you are “A  Christmas Story” nut, get to Cleveland someday and see “Ralphie’s” house. Here’s a picture and blurb about it. Hopefully you didn’t get one of these “Major Awards” lamps for Christmas.

Thanks for listening and Have a Happy New Year.

Tips for Surviving the Holidays

Top Tips for Surviving the Festive Season…

Claudia Carroll is from Harper Collins, a publisher in London, whose web site I visit once in a while. She has some tips to surviving the holidays. You’ll notice the British twist on words and sayings here. I’ve edited the tips just a bit. I hope you can appreciate this advice from across the water.

	Well hello all, and can you believe we're already into the mad, mental run-up to Christmas? So anyway, whether you love or hate the festive season, I thought I'd give you my top Christmas survival tips: 1) Absolutely and utterly bid goodbye to good taste... Come on, you spend all year stressing about matchy-matchy this and co-ordinating that; this is the one time of year you can fling just about every bit of mad coloured tinsel and twinkly lights at every spare surface you have in the house. And not care. 2) Blast out cheesy Christmas songs and for the entire month of December,.secure in the knowledge that only a Bah Humbug Scrooge would ever dare try to shut you up. I particularly recommend 'All I Want For Christmas is YOU-HOO-HOOOOOOO' by Mariah Carey for said purposes. 3) Follow the EWYFL diet. Eat what you feel like. Everyone knows January is a miserable month no good for anything but dieting anyway. 4) Watch movies that pull at your heartstrings and sob uncontrollably in front of them, for about the hundredth time. I'm talking 'It's A Wonderful Life' or if you are in a Hugh Grant humour, 'Love, Actually.' But if that doesn't do it for you, remember that we've been promised a 'Downtown Abbey' Christmas double bill special. Will Mary and Mathew finally get it together.....?????? Will the cousin no one cared about who survived the Titanic then totally changed his accent, return to stake his claim to the estate? My nerves are in flitters waiting to see......Kleenex at the ready.... 5) Remember it's only ONE DAY. That's all, folks. Years ago, the whole county would basically shut down for a fortnight and no one would do a tap till well after New Year, but all changed. Now, on Stephen's Day you can hit the sales if you were lucky enough to have been given cash by some kindly relative, that is..... 6) Wangle an invitation to someone else's for freebie grub. Let's face it, last thing you need are other people descending on you, eating you out of house and home, drinking every drip of alcohol you have bar the Jays domestic fluid under the sink and then staying till all hours, burping in front of the TV and hogging the warmest armchair by the fire. At least, if it's the other way round, you can descend on some kindly relative or pal and inflict all this on them instead. Far, far better idea. 7) Have a good laugh at the super-organised. You know, the type who brag about shopping in the January sales and snapping up all the reduced to clear Xmas cards and wrapping paper...to keep for the following Christmas. Similarly, you can have a right told snigger at all the last minute merchants. People like me, in other words. 8) Snuggle up inside and bear in mind, it might snow. Heavily. Like last year. In which case, you have the perfect excuse not to leave the comfort of home and no one can say a single word to you. In case this event though, it's well worth your while stockpiling. 9) Opt out altogether! You could always do what a pal of mine does without fail every year. Tells all his London family and friends he's spending the holiday in Dublin and vice versa. Then he happily holes up here with the phone off the hook and has a proper holiday for himself, unfettered by any obligations to anyone and most importantly of all...no unwanted callers. Nice one, if you can pull it off.

Santa's Mailbox

Did you ever write a letter to Santa when you were a kid? I always loved to read what the kids had to say when they printed their letters in The Courier Gazette. It was a tradition that the new newspaper didn't see fit to continue. Too bad. Some of these kids you could cry for. I always wondered what happened to them.  I found these letters on the backside of an article I had saved. The date was December 2, 1980. The kids who wrote them would now be in their 30s or there about. We know some of their ages because they gave their ages at the time in their letters. Are you one of the writers below? If you are I would like to hear your story. What are you doing now? Do you have kids of your own who write letters to Santa? Email me at southendstories@aol.com. I'd love to hear from you and I hope you'll give me permission to print your story here.

By the way, I scanned the actual head in Old English type that the Courier used. It will be familiar to a lot of you.  I think there was someone at the Post Office who answered some of these letters. Many towns had post offices who did that very thing. Enjoy the letters. I will type them exactly as they were printed, typos, misspellings and all.

Rockland

to Santa

     I Plan on Leaving you some Cookies and milk you can Leave my Brother andI Bikes.  I hope you can find your way to Rockland I saw you on the Fire Truck. at 9 a.m.

Love,

xxxxx

Thomaston

Dear Santa

     I hope you hada nice year like I did. I got a new baby brother in June. For christmas I would like a egos and a cake baking set and a Barbie Doll and Clothes. I can'twait until next Christmas because my grammie and grampie who live in S.C. are coming back here to live. I have never had christmas with them before. I Love You, santa

Rockland

     Dear Santa if I were a rech boy. I would not have Christmas. I would give all my mony to the needy people I live at xx Park Street. I have been a good boy. I hope you come to my hose at Christmas night.

Rockland (This writer would be 38 today)

Dear Santa

     I am xxxxx I live at Rockland I am 7 for crismis I wod like a new sweater and tenspeed and toy oven and a toy sink

Love, xxxxx

Rockland

Dear Santa Claus,

     I wish that my grandfather could have a good. Christmas.  Cause his wife died two days ago before Thanksgiving.  My grandfather is verry sad will you bring him a pipe. Maybe that will make him happy again. And I would like to have some STAR  WARS figures pleas and thank you.

from,

xxxxx

Rockland (This writer would be 36 today, probably a female)

     My name is xxxxx I am 5 years old I go to McLain school. i love you i would like to have a tessie talk a snappy shots camera and a love and touch baby merry Christmas.

Rockland (This writer would be 36 today, probably a female)

Dear Santa i am 5 years old I love you I want a big amx doll I will leave some milk and COOKIE for reindeer a carrot. 

LOVE

xxxxx

Rockland (This writer would be 37 today)

DEAR SANTA MY NAME IS XXXXX AND I LIVE ON OLD COUNTY ROAD ROCKLAND. I AM 6 AND GO TO MCLAIN SCHOOL I WOOD LIKE TO HAVE DOLLY POPPS CANDYLAND AND SLIDE WILL LEAVE YOU A TREET I LOVE YOU XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO P.S. DO NOT FORGET MOM AND DAD

Put your thinking caps on everyone. I hope to hear from you soon. Now I have to go and write my own letter to Santa.

Thanks for listening.

My Christmas Letter

   

Well I was going to post one of those fancy musical animated Christmas cards, but they have made it too complicated this year. You have to open an account, set up a password, address book, etc. It was all too complicated for my brain, such as it is, so this Christmas letter will have to do.

First of all, I would like to thank all of you for your continued support of my writing. I appreciate your “liking” me and commenting to me via email. I always like to hear from you. Just send me a short note at southendstories@aol.com. Even though I have a statistics program that lets me know what stories are the most popular and how many “hits” I have on that particular story, it’s still nice to know you are out there in person. My statistics show activity from all over the world which is very exciting.

This blog has evolved into its present state little by little. Some things will stay, some will go as I’ve already stated. I hope to bring you more quality blogs as a result. Your input is always welcome of course as this is as much your space as it is mine.

At this time of year I suffer from bouts of homesickness, so it was with much happiness that I saw the story about the making of the lobster pot Christmas tree which aired last night. It was fun seeing some of the familiar places and faces, like the Posts. I hope to see it in person at some time in the future.

Family wise, this year was eventful in that we celebrated our Aunt Virginia’s 101st birthday on December 7. She’s still going strong. Unfortunately, we lost my “twin cousin,” Diane Hilton O’Connor. I learned not too long ago that her husband, Lee, had also passed away at a Portland hospital. The old farm in Bremen, where I spent so many happy hours as a kid, will seem very quiet now.

I did get up to Maine this summer and enjoyed seeing some of you. My time was short, so I didn’t get to visit everyone, but will try to do better this summer.

Things are going along as usual in Georgia. This year I was very happy to get my cataracts removed so that I don’t have to wear glasses for distance anymore. I only wear them for reading and working on the computer. $28 dollar glasses bought at the drugstore is a lot cheaper than the $400 glasses I just donated to my doctor. They will be used to help someone else. I  also just bought a pair of fancy sunglasses, something I haven’t been able to do for a long time. In the coming year I will also have an operation to fix my droopy right eyelid. The procedure is finally available now to make it easy to fix. I was also able to get a mole removed from my eyebrow with the magic of a laser. I love modern medicine. I’ll get a picture taken for you when I have my new “eyes”.

I look forward to the possibility of perhaps moving back to Maine when the economy picks up a little. For now, Nanci and I are maintaining the status quo.

I wish all of you the very best Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

Your favorite blogger, Sandra

A Message From a Great Poet

I have kept a little known piece of literature written by Edna St. Vincent Millay because it shows her view of another war, WWII. This message to American civilians was written for The Spokesman Review’s February 6, 1943 edition. It appeared on page two. These were her thoughts from over 60 years ago. Words to live by today.

Nothing…If Not Enough

A great American poet’s message to civilians

By Edna St. Vincent Millay

The room is growing dark, it is too dark to write.

I put down my notebook, and draw the curtains over the windows of the living room, looking out for a moment at the snowy hills, lovely in the deepening dusk.

Then I light the candles.

And as I light the candles, I smile. I am suddenly happy. But I do not at all know why. The lighted candles in their branching candlesticks, one at either end of the mantelpiece above the smoldering logs in the big open fireplace—how charming they look! Is it that which makes me so happy? No, it is not that. I lay some small birch logs upon the fire. The bark crackles. The smoke pulls up, smelling sweet. Then the thin flames appear between the logs and all at once the fire is burning briskly. Is it that?

No, it is not that. But, as I take up my notebook again and sit down, prepared to go to work, in the feeble light thrown waveringly across the page by the two candles on the table beside my chair, I know what it is. Forty gallons of gasoline a week, it takes, to feed the engine which makes the electric light for this house! And that gasoline is tonight on its way to the northern coast of Africa! Suddenly my two candles give so strong a light that for one silly, happy moment I am tempted to extinguish one of them and write by the light of one candle alone.

But I do not do this. A thought comes into my mind, and sits down heavily there, crushing at once my foolish exuberance. “How many people in this world today are forced to go without not merely a few of the conveniences of life, but the actual necessities of life—food, shelter, a handful of coal to keep them from freezing? And how many people, as if their hunger and cold were not enough to bear, must bear also the bitter knowledge that by their terrible deprivations they are not helping their country at all, but on the contrary are giving strength and comfort to the hated enemy which reduced them to the wretched creatures that they are?

“And you!—you who find pleasure in the fact that by a small inconvenience to yourself you are helping, if only to an extent no greater than the millionth part of a mustard seed, your own hard-pressed country and her brave allies—what are you thinking of, that you do no more for your country than you do? What a privilege is yours!—to be deprived of conveniences, comforts, even some of the things that you would have called necessities—in order to help the democratic nations win this war, and at the same time make yourself a happier person than you have been for years!

“That is true,” I think. It is true not only of me, but of hundreds of thousands of my fellow citizens as well. We love our country. We love that Liberty, whose clean fresh air, with the very first breath we drew, came rushing into our lungs. That Liberty, whose clean, fresh air we have been breathing all our lives. That Liberty, for the lack of whose pure, uncontaminated air we should all, I honestly believe, in a short time suffocate. And we know that our Liberty is threatened. And we know that once it is taken away, there will be nothing that we can do about it, nothing at all—nothing but sit quietly waiting, staring at each other in patient, helpless horror, breathing carbon dioxide till we die.

And what do we do to prevent this from happening? Nothing. For we are not doing enough. And in a struggle for life, such as this is, not to have done enough will be in the end the same as to have done nothing. “Give me Liberty or give me Death!” Why have these words taken from a speech of a great American patriot and orator of many years ago, been singled out from the rest of the speech, been remembered all down the years, by the American people? Because it is the heart’s utterance and earnest cry of the American people itself!

And yet—seeing Liberty, which to us is almost identical with Life, so gravely threatened, what do we do to defend it, to make it secure, not only for ourselves, but for our children and for the generations to follow? As I said nothing. Because we do not do enough.

“Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”—that is another phrase remembered. But we in this country, secure in the certainty that Liberty is merely a part of Life, and inseparable from it, for we have never lived in a world in which this was not true—give all our attention and most of our strength as well to “The Pursuit of Happiness.”

Why should we not? Why should we not “pursue Happiness”? No reason. Only that we must look so fantastic at madly pursuing happiness, and all running in the wrong direction!

It is the Pursuit of Gaiety, not the Pursuit of Happiness, which occupies our time. When our personal, or household duties are done, when our business at the office is over for the day—then off we go in the pursuit of happiness, all running madly in the wrong direction! Fantastic spectacle. Cocktails, dinners, theater, supper, dancing—everything to try to keep from thinking of the war!—when our only real happiness is so close beside us, thinking of the war, not trying to shut it from our minds, thinking of it, and trying to think constructively about it. In this alone today our true happiness lies—we who truly love Democracy. We shall find little real happiness in any other direction, until we have won this war.

Maybe it’s time we all rethought our priorities as far as our country goes. Patriotism ought to be a prerequisite for being an American. Ask any person from another country how much it means to them to be sworn in as an American. Edna was certainly a patriot, that’s for sure.

They're on the Way Home!

Finally! Our servicemen and women will all be home from Iraq soon. The last troops left today. See part of the story below I found on my AOL News service. This debarkation process was a lot different from the frenzied exit we made from Vietnam with emergency air lifts from the tops of buildings as the North Vietnamese Army was at the doorstep in Hanoi. We left with our tails between our legs. Today I think everyone is proud of the job our troops did in Iraq. Now maybe after we get everyone home from Afghanistan the U.S. can stop being a policeman for the entire world for a while. Welcome Home Troops! A very Merry Christmas to you and your families, who are anxiously awaiting your return.

Iraq War: Last US Troops Leave Country

KHABARI CROSSING, Kuwait — The last U.S. soldiers rolled out of Iraq across the border to neighboring Kuwait at daybreak Sunday, whooping, fist bumping and hugging each other in a burst of joy and relief. Their exit marked the end of a bitterly divisive war that raged for nearly nine years and left Iraq shattered, with troubling questions lingering over whether the Arab nation will remain a steadfast U.S. ally.

The mission cost nearly 4,500 American and well more than 100,000 Iraqi lives and $800 billion from the U.S. Treasury. The question of whether it was worth it all is yet unanswered.

Capt. Mark Askew, a 28-year-old from Tampa, Florida who was among the last soldiers to leave, said the answer to that question will depend on what type of country and government Iraq ends up with years from now, whether they are democratic, respect human rights and are considered an American ally.

"It depends on what Iraq does after we leave," he said, speaking ahead of the exit. "I don't expect them to turn into South Korea or Japan overnight."

The war that began in a blaze of aerial bombardment meant to shock and awe the dictator Saddam Hussein and his loyalists ended quietly and with minimal fanfare.

U.S. officials acknowledged the cost in blood and dollars was high, but tried to paint a picture of victory – for both the troops and the Iraqi people now freed of a dictator and on a path to democracy. But gnawing questions remain: Will Iraqis be able to forge their new government amid the still stubborn sectarian clashes. And will Iraq be able to defend itself and remain independent in a region fraught with turmoil and still steeped in insurgent threats.

Many Iraqis, however, are nervous and uncertain about the future. Their relief at the end of Saddam, who was hanged on the last day of 2006, was tempered by a long and vicious war that was launched to find nonexistent weapons of mass destruction and nearly plunged the nation into full-scale sectarian civil war.

Christmas Cookies

Christmas Cookies

Do you remember frosting and sprinkling with colored sugar and adding other things to your Christmas cookies? In case you’ve forgotten, here’s a recipe I found.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS For the Cookies: 1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened 1 cup sugar 2 eggs 1/4 cup half-and-half cream 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt For the Frosting: 1/2 cup butter, softened 4 cups confectioners' sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 to 4 tablespoons half-and-half cream Food coloring and colored sugar, optional DIRECTIONS FOR THE COOKIES: In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in cream. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or until easy to handle. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with 2 1/2-in. cookie cutters dipped in flour. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 325 degrees F for 6-8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. FOR THE FROSTING: In a mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, vanilla and enough cream to achieve desired frosting consistency. Add food coloring if desired. Frost cookies. Sprinkle with colored sugar if desired. There are also other cookie decorations you can add. Look around in the aisle in your grocery store in the same place that you will find sugar sprinkles. Get a bunch of kids together and have a fun "cookie day." I have good memories of such times with my own mother.

Christmas Lights From Georgia

I give you Christmas lights and music from Peachtree City, Georgia. Hit the image in the lower right corner to see full screen.

A Very Merry Disney Christmas

For all you kids out there, no matter how old you are, here's Christmas in Disney World. Hit the image in the lower right hand corner to see it all at full screen.

A Christmas Message for You

I give you the Jackson 5 this Christmas in honor of our Michael, who the whole world misses this holiday season.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Among the Jews

I worked for the Atlanta Jewish Community Center in downtown Atlanta for eight years. It’s been about 20 years give or take since I left my friends there. Working among the Jewish population of Atlanta is an experience I will never forget and one I think back on with fondness.

My job was to assist the Publicity Director. I wore many hats as typesetter, writer, editor, paste-up artist, among others. I never in any job I ever had was treated with more respect or kindness than I was at the AJCC.

An example of this respect and kindness was never more evident than it was at Christmas time. On top of having every Jewish holiday off with the rest of the staff, we also got our Christian holidays off, especially Christmas.

It was a bit strange though to work in an environment where you saw no Christmas decorations during the holiday season. We had the menorah of course. The Center had a big outdoor one which was lit one candle at a time during the Hanukkah season. I did enjoy that tradition.

The non-Jewish staff was not forgotten, however. There were a handful working at the center including myself, the sports director, and all the maintenance staff. At Christmas time we were given space at the center to have our own Christmas party, usually during a lunch hour during the season.

I did manage to cut out a small Christmas tree out of cardboard, about six inches high, which I taped to the wall by my desk one year, in my view, but not in anyone’s else’s view were they to come into my office. I was not quite sneaky enough though, because one day I came to work to find a beautiful red poinsettia sitting in a prominent place on my desk. Come to find out, my fellow worker across the hall, a nice lady named Sadie, took pity on me, and brought it in to brighten up my office.

Sadie was just one example of how I was treated at the JCC. Their kindness was an ongoing thing. The religion of Judaism believes that you should take care of those around you, whether they believe in the same things you do or not. They believe as we do as stated in the King James version of the Bible, Leviticus 19:34: But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Occasionally I ran the switchboard at the front desk. We never turned away anyone coming in off the street asking for help. We would give them a set amount of money and if they needed a place to sleep for a night we’d send them to the Jewish shelter at the Temple down the street.

The Jewish people probably know the most about prejudice and hatred. They are not about to practice dislike of any race, sex, or creed of anyone they meet in the course of a day. They live Leviticus 19:34 every day of their lives.

Personally, the folks at the AJCC helped me in many ways when I was in trouble and needed help. If I think back I can remember many instances where they had my back.

At one time I needed another part-time job on top of my AJCC job to help pay off student loans and medical bills. I was offered and took occasional switchboard duty next door at the Jewish Federation as well as a job across the street which they found for me, at a school for court reporters, for three nights a week. All I had to do was walk across the street.

I had no medical insurance at the time when I became ill and ended up at Grady Hospital, a charity hospital downtown. My boss saw to it that I was added to the insurance plan of another department I occasionally did work for at no cost to me.

There was also a time when a very observant fellow worker saw that I was having trouble feeding myself. She was executive secretary to the President of the Center and was responsible for ordering kosher lunches for people attending the many meetings that took place there. She saw to it that there was an “extra” lunch for me to take home for my evening meal when she ordered these lunches.

As the Bible says again in Matthew 25:35: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in…

(I wrote a paper covering a lot of what is said in this story which I presented to a gathering at the Center. I will post it later on.)

I will always be thankful to the many friends I made at the Atlanta Jewish Community Center. As far as I’m concerned I have never met a more “Christian” group of people as far as living the Christmas spirit, of doing Mitzvahs, or good deeds, for those around them, all year long.

The AJCC is no longer downtown on Peachtree Street. The land the Center sat on was too valuable as far as downtown locations go, so they sold it and moved their operations to the Center in the suburbs. The building was torn down. I’m not sure what stands there today.

However, if I ever have occasion to walk past that spot in the future, I’ll remember the people who made the Center a place of refuge; a place where friends can be found; a place that would never turn you away in times of trouble.

Thanks for listening.

Christmas Trees Around the World

These pictures of Christmas trees around the world came from the New York Daily News site.

New York City prides itself on its sparkling Christmas trees. But these spruces from around the world give the NYC dazzle a little holiday spirited competition. The National Christmas Tree lights up in front of the Obama's eyes near the White House in Washington, DC.

Fireworks mark the occasion for the inaugural lighting of this 68-meter tall spruce in Sao Paulo Brazil.

This purple dazzler illuminates over Megeve, France. Taking a note from the Rockefeller tree topper, this lumber is adorned with Swarovski crystals.

This 32-foot Christmas wonder is presented to the people of Washington by the Norwegian Embassy in DC. It lights the path for holiday travelers in Union Station.

This Christmas tree illuminates the old Portuguese-inspired architecture of Macau

Across the water in another Chinese special administrative region, the tallest Christmas tree in Hong Kong glows with its Swarovski crystal bands. The Bank of China building lights up the background.

The national tree glows amidst the backdrop of the Capitol on the West lawn.

In Beirut, Lebanon, fireworks light the sky as the Christmas tree is lit in the capital.

In Paris, this tree glistens in the famous Galeries Lafayette.

In Madrid, the Spanish choose to be eco-friendly this holiday. Low consumption light bulbs adorn this tree in the capital.

The giant Christmas tree on the bank of the Rodrigo de Freitas Lake is illuminated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On its 15th anniversary, the lit-up tree is recognized as the largest of its kind in the world!

Even in the tropics of Hawaii, this tree of poinsettias spreads holiday cheer.

The New York Stock Exchange tree.

The infamous Rockefeller Center tree.

Prague's tree sits in front of the Tyn Church at the Old Town Square.

Crowds gather in Poland as the Christmas tree is lit in front of the Royal Castle in Warsaw.

This musically inspired tree towers over Beijing, China.

Workers build a giant tree in the northern Philippines, where the Christmas season begins on December 16 with dawn masses and ends on the first week of January.

For more views of trees around the world, visit the New York Daily News online.

Brian's Christmas Tree

How about a non-traditional Christmas tree this year. Check out the one Brian Sylvester, my great-nephew and head librarian at Thomaston Public Library, did with discarded books. Go over and see for yourself if you are in the neighborhood.

Christmas Traditions

Ever wonder where all our Christmas traditions came from? Nanci posted this on Facebook yesterday and I thought I'd share it with you.

Midcoast Community Chorus News

Cindy Anderson, of the Midcoast Community Chorus reported on the group's activities this year and revealed plans for their next concert: Here is her report:

Our concert is on January 15th at 4pm at the Strom Auditorium at Camden Hills High School. This is the first year we will be welcoming our children's choir, and they'll be singing a few songs with us! Tickets go on sale to the public Dec. 12th at the Grasshopper Shop in Rockland, and HAV II in Camden. Hope to see you there!!!

We enjoyed our trip to New York City at the invitation of the Paul Winter consort. We sang the Missa Gaia (Earth Mass) for the feast day of St. Francis and the blessing of the animals! This was held at St. John the Devine Cathedral.....the largest in the WORLD! WOW! We had a wonderful time, and got an open invitation to sing with Paul anytime! What a gift. He said he wants to perform with us again in 2013, so that is something very exciting to look forward to. 

"It's a Wonderful Life" When you Have your Own Skidder

DO NOT read this story before you have read “Christmas in Maine” by Bette Bergeron. Otherwise, you won’t know what I’m talking about.

It’s funny in this blog business how sometimes one story leads to another. The poem “Christmas in Maine,” by my niece, Bette, came to me via one of those wonderful newspaper clippings I’ve received in the mail over the years from either my mother or my sister-in-law, Kay. Kay is Bette’s mother. I’ve hung onto this particular clipping for 24 years.

As I reread the poem I came across the word “skidder.” I wasn’t sure what a “skidder” was, so, of course, I googled it. Here’s a description and a brief history I found on Wikipedia:

"A skidder is any type of heavy vehicle used in a logging operation for pulling cut trees out of a forest in a process called "skidding", in which the logs are transported from the cutting site to a landing. Here they are loaded onto trucks (or in times past, railroad cars or flumes), and sent to the mill. One exception is that in the early days of logging, when distances to the timberline from the mill were shorter, the landing stage was omitted altogether, and the "skidder" would have been used as the main road vehicle, in place of the trucks, railroad, or flume. Modern forms of skidders can pull trees with a cable/winch, just like the old steam donkeys, or a grapple or a clam-bunk.

History

Early skidders were pulled by a team of horses or mules. The driver would straddle the cart over felled logs, where dangling tongs would be positioned to raise the end of the log off the ground. The team pulled the tongue forward, allowing the log to "skid" along between the rolling wheels. These were known as "slip-tongue wheels" Starting in the early 1920s, animals were gradually replaced by gasoline-powered crawlers, although some small operations continue to use them. In other places, steel "arches" were used behind the crawlers. Similar in function to the slip-tongue wheels, arches were used to reduce friction by rising up one end of the load, which was dangled from a cable which in turn ran down the back of the arch, & was raised or lowered by the crawler's winch. Another piece similar to the arch was the "bummer", which was simply a small trailer to be towed behind a crawler, on top of which one end of the log load would rest."

I think this is what Bette meant in her poem. The very oldest picture of a skidder I found that would have been drawn by horses came from the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio, Texas. The photo below is credited to Larry D. Moore.

This, however, is a picture of a modern day skidder, although it looks a bit rusty to me.

OK. So picture this modern day skidder minus the motor with a “herd of moose” hitched up to it. Now imagine that this scenario is real. A skidder pulled by the moose and driven by “you know who” skids over the ice in the harbor; lands in a snow drift in front of your house; and then the moose “fly” with the driver and the skidder up to the top of your roof.

I hope you have your insurance company on speed dial if this should happen to you. What would you tell the agent in that phone call?

The plot thickens, so to speak, when I came across a tribute to Eddie Nash, pictured here sitting on one of his tractors. The tribute was originally written by Colles Stowell, a Globe correspondent, which I assume is the Boston Globe, because Nash Equipment, Eddie’s company is located in New Hampshire. It is still a company even though Eddie has passed away.

Now tell me that Eddie doesn’t look like Bette’s “skidder driver.” Right?

Come to find out, our Eddie led a life very similar to the hero in the Hollywood film that has become a tradition for many of us, as we watch it every year on TNT. “It’s a Wonderful Life” starred Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed and tells the story of George Bailey. When he is about to commit suicide, his guardian angel shows him all of the lives he has touched and the contributions he has made to his community.

Nash gave up farming because it was too hard. He ended up establishing a company which buys and sells new and used farm equipment, including skidders. Very much like the spirit of George Bailey, the tribute story says:

“About half of their customers are individuals with only a little money, willing to risk most everything they have to buy a big machine on the chance that they can make a lot. They go to Nash and Sons because they will provide the kind of in-house financing that many banks won't offer when someone with no experience wants to buy a skidder to get into forestry work.

With $1,000 to $2,000 down, for instance, someone can try the forestry service market, which could yield $2,000 to $3,000 a week. But it's not easy work, and it's tougher to make a profit if you don't have buyers for your wood. Before you walk away with a Nash machine, they make sure you can operate it, and if you're breaking into a profession, that you have a market.

Nash accepted animals, snow machines, motorcycles, and cars as collateral. Only occasionally did he have to keep the collateral. "I like to see a guy make it. You understand how a school teacher feels when a student grows up to be great," he said.”

Doesn’t that sound like George making a low interest home loan in hard times to those in his community who really needed a helping hand?

Eddie Nash was a symbol of all that is good about New England folks. Yes he was a Yankee Trader in New Hampshire. He could just as well be a Maineiac. New England people help each other out in times of need to help their fellow citizens and their community. They deal fairly and with a heart in their business dealings. George and Eddie remind us of what “the Spirit of Christmas” is all about.

A NOTE about the skidder video from News Center, WCSH6 in Portland, I think. They did not identify the station in the video. Do you hear that wind in the mike of the reporter? I suspect he was low man on the totem pole when it comes to covering news outdoors in winter in all kinds of frigid weather. Those guys working on that ice sure look cold. Do you think they ever got that skidder out of the drink? The reporter warns you to check the ice depths before you venture out onto the ice. Really? I guess no one checked before they drove that heavy old skidder out onto Longfellow Lake up there in Aroostook County on Rt. 1.

I’m afraid that ice house is a goner come spring when the ice “goes out” unless they can find a less heavy vehicle that is safe on the ice to pull it out.

So there’s your story about everything you ever wanted or didn’t want to know about “skidders.” Stay warm up there in Maine this winter.