CAROLING, CAROLING …. from the Porch

Can I tell you just how much I LOVE Christmas music?  It is the true “happy, happy  joy, joy” songs that make me feel so warm and cozy ….. like a bowl of tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich.  What can be better than that?

I can’t even begin to think about my all time favorite Christmas song … there are so many that touch me in a variety of different ways.  Some are the classic hymns, the soul-stirring Christmas carol, or the just plain toe-tapping fun stuff.

Whenever I hear, “The Christmas Song” by Nat King Cole, I get the feeling of warmth and home spread all over me.  Years ago, in another life where I had a job thingy, the company that I worked for held an annual Christmas dance.  It was a pretty exciting event to attend.  The committee who worked on the planning, staging, decorating, and organizing of this event usually went unsung (sadly).  But, ladies and gents from the past, if you are reading this, you have my utmost gratitude at providing a dinner, dance, and weekend that Luscious and I enjoyed on numerous occasions.  Anyway, during dinner there was plenty of background music being played that matched the Christmas festivities.  However, when “The Christmas Song” was played …. even if we weren’t finished eating our dinner …. Leo would always ask me to dance — 🙂  I discovered that this song was originally called “Chestnuts Roasting Over an Open Fire”, changed to “Merry Christmas to You”, and finally “The Christmas Song”.  It was written in 1944 by Mel Torme (always referred to as The Velvet Fog).  He wrote it on a hot summer’s day while thinking cool thoughts …. and after 40 minutes, a song standard was born that still brings thoughts of Jack Frost, Yuletide carols, and Eskimos.  This easy, breezy song remains one of my all time favorites to this day — 🙂

My grandson, Bobby, has discovered just how much fun singing Christmas songs can be.  His Mommy tells me that every time they get into the car now, he settles himself and then says, “Turn on B101”.  Then, as each Christmas song is played, he belts out the lyrics …. a little off-tune … but with great gusto and a smile on his face.  I had the opportunity to listen to his “concert” the other evening and it just reinforced the spirit of Christmas … it’s all in the children — 🙂  When I was little, my Mom would take us “downtown” to do her Christmas shopping for the family.  I remember one time when we were on the “el” (an elevated train … and one of my Dad’s all-time favorite quips, “Noel, then take the bus”.)  At any rate, as we were riding along, I was listening to the clacking of the wheels on the tracks and it reminded me of a Christmas song that I sang often — “Up on the Housetop” …. reindeer paws and all.  Turns out that this catchy tune is a real oldie but goodie.  Penned in 1864 by Benjamin Hanby of Ohio, it has been record and recorded countless times by folks like Reba McEntire, The Jackson Five, and … my favorite .. Jimmy Buffett.

Speaking of Jimmy, he put out an awesome Christmas album a few years back which included a re-do of another classic, “Christmas Island”.  I was still working then and we were encouraged (not any more!) to decorate our team spaces for an annual contest.  One of those years, I had suggested that we use “Christmas Island” as our inspiration …. and everybody agreed.  So we had flowered leis all over our tree instead of garland.  There was a parrot perched on top instead of a star.  We used seashells, starfish, flamingoes .. all sorts of island stuff … and had the most uniquely decorated space ever.  On the day they came around to judge, we had all decided to dress the part with our flowered shirts, flip-flops and shades.  I even had the song ready to go on the radio that sat on my desk.  We were a huge hit, had lots of laughs — and won first prize — 🙂  As a side note, another song from this album is “Ho, Ho, Ho, and a Bottle Rum” — but that’s another story!

As a kid growing up in Southwest Philly, we spent many a shopping day “up the avenue”.  I can’t even remember a Christmas without snow during those years … and I am always reminded of this whenever I hear the song “Silver Bells”.  Hearing the snow crunch, seeing the kids bunch is forever a part of my life …. along with me holding my mittened hand in my Dad’s while we checked out Santa’s big scene.  My Mom even had paper mache silver bells as part of our Christmas decorations in our home … and that just reinforced my love of this magical song of my youth.

There are a few special songs that my Dad absolutely loved.  His favorite was “Away in the Manger”, but when he heard “The Little Drummer Boy” for the first time, he actually teared up.  I remember him saying to me, “Now that’s a gift from the heart from that little boy”.  That has stuck with me all these years … the simpliest of gifts straight from the heart means more to Baby Jesus than the gold, franchensense and myrhh from the Three Kings.  As for me, I have always LOVED having my family give me such perfect gifts … those that come straight from their hearts.  When they do, I am reminded again and again of that little boy, his gift, and the smile he received in return ….. ahhh, Christmas — 🙂

There are hundreds and hundreds of Christmas songs … some good, some not so much.  My least favorite of the bunch is “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” — what a complete waste of music!  But one of my favorite fun recollection is the year that my sister, our little neighbor girl friend and I decided to go “Wassilling”.  We had NO idea what that meant, but there is a song about it ….. so off we went. The word “wassel” literally means “be you healthy” and refers to a salute (Waes Hail) and the drink of mulled or warmed wine.  Then you would get a treat in the form of some sort of sweet pastry to go with the warmed wine.  Well, we didn’t get any wine, but we got tons of treats as we went door to door singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” at the top of our little lungs.  When I tell you that we came home with pillow cases …. yes, that’s a plural …. you’d best believe it — 🙂

If you want to hear some really great arrangements of Christmas music, then you MUST check out my brother, Bob’s, album.  It’s titled “Christmastime is Near”.  You can hear samples of his music by going to his site … and enjoy!  I remember that we had a player type piano in our dining room in Philly and Bob would spend hours and hours practicing and playing his music.  During Christmas season, it was especially fun since we not only had Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” on the radio, we also had Bob Carey playing carols as well.  One year, as he was playing an especially sweet rendition of a song, Flossie came up behind him and said, “Hey look!!  Bobby’s playing “The Alaskan Fiddlers!”  Needless to say, we kinda did a double-take at his sheet music on which was clearly written “Adeste Fidelis” …. and a new Carey family joke was born — 🙂

When we moved from Philly to Jersey, my sister and I joined our church choir.  During the Christmas season, our rehersals and recitals took up a great deal of our time.  But the rewards of those few years that we participated have lasted well into my life today.  One of the best songs we ever sang was “Oh Come, oh come, Emanuel”.  In addition to being one of my favorites, it was also one of the easiest songs to sing but sounded so complicated.  I have heard it in recent years sung by many artists, but I think that my current favorite version is from Enya …. so sweet, so mystical, so perfect!

I really could go on and go with this topic …. with songs ranging from “Barnyard Christmas”, from “The Muppets Christmas”, from “The Irish Tenors” and “The Cheiftans” …. but I think that instead I’m going to load up my CD changer and just listen.

BECAUSE IT’S TRADITION … from the Porch

With the Christmas season in full swing … all the shopping, the baking, the visits to Santa, the anticipated visits from family … I am struck by the “why” of it all.  Why do we do the things we do in preparation for Christmas.  After all, it’s the birthday of Baby Jesus and I don’t see his parents running out to the mall for that one perfect gift, standing in the checkout at the grocery store making sure that everything is bought to prepare for a birthday party.  Yet, that is exactly what we do from the time the Thanksgiving table is cleared right up to the most holiest of the Silent Night.

When I was a little girl, I remember how much my Dad loved Christmas Eve …. at least when us kids were older and he had no more bikes to put together, the trees was already decorated and the gifts bought, wrapped and tucked away to be opened the next morning.  During those Christmas Eve’s, my Dad would sit in his chair smoking his cigar, sipping on a cocktail of Scotch on the rocks while Christmas carols could be quietly heard throughout the house.  He always said that this was his favorite night of the year … the fulfillment of a promise made at the birth of the Christ-child.  Now that I am older, I can appreciate what he meant by that …. after I place our gifts under the tree and stand at the door waving as Santa rides by the house on the fire truck, the world seems to take a deep breath and let it slowly out.  The stars seem brighter on this “Oh, Holy Night” as the evening deepens into a peaceful slumber.  This is one of my traditions that I follow even to this day …. to begin the celebration of Christmas with a sigh of love.

There were quite a few traditions that I’ve adopted over the years and some that I’ve created for my own family.  Our life-style has always been a whirl-wind of various schedules …. and it still is …. and I made it a point to try to balance this chaos of timing so that everyone in the family would be able to participate as a whole in a Christmas celebration.  One of the things that I cut out was a “sit-down” meal.  Gone are the days when I spent the morning, afternoon and evening in the kitchen … cleaning up from breakfast so that I could create our Christmas dinner along with all the munchies required during the day.  Now I take the time to do a great deal of early preps and finally create a sumptuous buffet suitable for grazing all throughout the day.  Every year I bless the local dollar store for providing such cute paper plates and matching napkins to that my Christmas table looks sweet, inviting, and festive without me breaking a sweat.  I do have some really nice serving pieces that I use to make the buffet look appealing and like the way it always looks with little decorations of snowmen, votive candles, and a Kitchen Santa.  I’ve been able to see Christmas gifts being opened and squealed over ever since my brain woke up from the fog of someone else’s Christmas traditions.

As you know by now after reading some of my stories, I grew up in an Irish Catholic neighborhood in Southwest Philly.  Our surrounding neighborhoods included many Italian families as well as a fine representation of German and Polish.  All of these ethnic groups held various traditions that were brought out in full force during the Christmas season.  It is my understanding of my ancient culture that the Irish began to merge their beliefs with the Christian cultures of the Romans and missionaries.  After the great Potato Famine brought many Celtics to American shores, they brought these beliefs and traditions with them … and many have been absorbed into the American culture we know today.  For example, a sprig of holly drapped across the front door promises good fortune in the coming year.  Holly bushes were used since it was readily available as it grew wild and even the poorest of Irish could use the berries and leaves as decorations.  Mistletoe was also used by the Celtic people and was believed to have magical powers … and if you ever had a good smooch under this divine vine, you’d sure be able to feel the mystical potency of it.  Christian missionaries, however, felt that it was a “devil root” and actually banned it from Irish cultural practices for centuries (much like the way England banned the Irish from speaking Gaelic!). The Irish Celts were the first to use candles in their windows …. as an invitation for Joseph and Mary to enter the home for shelter.  There is always plenty of room for the Holy Family in an Irish household — 🙂  Feasting on Christmas Eve is also a time-honored Irish tradition …. and this so totally explains why my Mom and Dad layed out a huge assortment of sandwiches, salads and sweets for us to enjoy after we opened our gifts at midnight.  I always went to bed …. around 2AM … with a full tummy and sweet dreams of my new doll and game.

Our Italian neighbors also shared their rich Christmas traditions with all of us.  One of these is the Feast of the 7 Fishes on Christmas Eve.  Those close to me are well aware that I don’t anything that swims, so I tend to snack on cheese and crackers during this meal.  I don’t feel that I am offending anyone …. after all, there would be no extra “clean up on isle 7” since I don’t partake, right?  Anyway, the reason for “7” is because this number is repeated most frequently in the bible.  And the reason for fish is because it is a tradition to fast on the eve of a Holy Day, which Christmas most certainly is.  A typical meal might consist of up to 9 seafood dishes which would include cod, smelt, anchovies, and octopus among others.  Once again, I don’t partake but I totally get the reasoning involving this tradition and respect it completely — 🙂  There is a little bit of Italy that I totally enjoy at Christmas time and that is the wonderfully fantastic sweets.  One of my all time favorites is the pizzelle wafer cookie …. can you say “YUM!”  Top that off with another favorite of tiramisu or a bit of Zuppa Inglese, you will be hearing me say, “Buon Natale” with gusto — 🙂

Even though I married a Polish fellow, I don’t know a lot about Polish traditions at Christmas.  Most of the time, my husband was working so I was pretty much alone to fend for myself … and some of the traditions that my little family follows are a result of this.  Keep in mind that, if you’ve never lived the life-style of shift work, it’s a bit difficult to appreciate the mis-mash of our personal family traditions, right?  At any rate, I did do a bit of research to see just what traditions some Polish Americans enjoy.  Christmas celebrations actually begin in Christmas Eve and is known as Wigilia (The Vigil).  The meal starts with the passing of Oblatek, a thin wafer that apparently tastes like a cross between the Communion Host and those little space ship-shaped candies from our youth.  These wafers are usually stamped with religious figures and comes in a variety of pastel colors.  There is always an empty chair at the table …. to make room for that extra surprise guest (possibly Jesus).  Each person at the table takes part in the toast by sharing a Christmas wish or blessing.  Then the meal begins as a 13-course feast …. this number represents Christ and His Apostles.  There is no meat at this meal …. again, like our Italian brethren, there is fasting before a Holy Day.  However, the variety of meatless dishes include a seafood as the main course, lots of pierogies, marinated mushrooms, brandied plums … just to name a few.  The meal is followed by the singing of Koledy-Polish Christmas songs.  I have never heard any of this music, but I understand from my research that these songs are quite melodious and beautiful.  After all the Christmas Eve festivities, the entire family and guest attend Midnight Mass.  Here’s a funny cross-over into what my Irish family always did … after Mass, the Polish family would visit the Nativity and take a piece of manger straw ….. interesting how some customs have meshed into each other, right?

Now how about our German neighbors!  When I was in school, I only knew of one family who followed their traditions ….. even right down to singing “Silent Night” in German (Stille Nacht).  Most of the traditions and customs of German American families have also been blended into our American culture.  One tradition is the Advent Calendar.  Behind every door was a piece of chocolate (YUM!) and the last door had the largest piece.  A treat a day all throughout Advent in preparation for Baby Jesus …. sweet! — 🙂  As for the Christmas tree, it would be “tagged” but not brought into the home until Christmas Eve …. and the children could not see the tree till a little bell was rung indicating that the tree was ready.  To pass the time, the family would eat shrimp (there’s that seafood again!) and play games.  When it was finally time to see the tree, it was decorated with old-fashioned wooden ornaments and real candles.  The candles were never lit unless the family was in the room … and were NEVER placed on an artificial tree. There is also a glass pickle decoration placed somewhere deep in the tree.  The child who finds this special ornament will have good luck throughout the New Year.  The Christmas Eve gifts that were left by Christkind were opened and admired.  Then off to bed, because now in America, Santa Claus came with gifts as well.  Another German tradition during the Christmas season is the celebration of St. Nicholas Day.  This is on December 6th and children put their shoes outside their doors the night before so that St. Nicholas can leave gifts of candies and chocolates.  The last of the Christmas holiday traditions we can thank our German neighbors for is the Feast of the Epiphany.  This day is celebrated on January 6th primarily in Germany.  It is to honor The Three Kings, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar as they completed their journeys from the East bringing gifts to the Babe in the Manger.

With the blending and meshing of all of our ethnic religious traditions, there must be something to the “Christ in Christmas” thingy.  After all, if cultures as ancient as the Celts, the Germans, the Italians, and the Polish hold Christmas in their hearts, it stands to reason that a country as young as America should be on a learning curve.  Here’s an idea …. instead of trying to eradicate Christmas and all of its meanings, which by the way is nothing but the teaching of pure and unadulterated love … let’s wish us ALL not a bland “season’s greetings” but a heartfelt and traditional

 

CHRISTMAS AT THE CINEMA ….. from the Porch

Once again, Christmas season is upon us.  Amazing that it knows just when to come every single year, isn’t it?  Kinda like trash day — same Bat-day, same Bat-channel each and every year  — 🙂

Along with Christmas comes some pretty sappy holiday movies, especially on the Hallmark Channel (always a “Hallmark” moment) and Lifetime Movie Channel.  Not that I mind sappy stuff … I am such a sucker for a happy ending, but sometimes these little pieces of fluff are just too predictable, especially right after the opening credits.  Give me something that I can sink my teeth into besides the typical he/she falls into passionate love during their first chaste kiss under the mistletoe.

When I was a kid, there was a new technology on the forefront …. stop/motion photography.  I’ll never forget seeing “Nester, the Long-eared Donkey”, or “The Little Drummer Boy”.  There was also short TV shows utilizing puppets like, “The Nativity” or “The Night Before Christmas” …. two stories that I never get tired of hearing or seeing.  Back then, the focus of the season was actually on Christmas during family viewing time (between 8 and 9PM) and not on the crass commercialism we see today.  Case in point is a movie that I’ve only seen once and will most likely never sit through again.  It starred Arnold (The Terminator) Schwarzenegger and was called “Jingle All the Way”.  It depicted two men battling it up so that they could obtain the “hot toy” during a last-minute shopping spree.  I think that this mentality began with people camping out years ago so that they could get the latest Cabbage Patch doll or the “must have” Star Wars battle ship.  I have to admit that I’ve done my far share of running around in order to find the toys that my sons asked for Santa to bring …. but I never took it to the extreme that this movie — or those long lines at Toys-R-Us — showed.  Christmas is more to me than a toy … it is a promise from God that He will send us mere mortals His Son, the greatest gift we’ve ever received.  As a matter of fact, I taught my boys that at Christmas we celebrate the birthday of Baby Jesus and what should we give Him as a gift?  I mean, just what do you give the Son of God, right?  So when we went to church on Christmas morning, both of the boys carried a brand new candy cane …. and after Mass, they would each visit the manger, lay down their little gift and bring back a piece of manger straw, most of which I still have for our home Nativity display to this day.

Over the years, I have seen and have fallen in love with quite a few movies that demonstrate, at least to me, the wonder of Christmas along with its magic and peace.  One of my all time favorites is “It’s a Wonderful Life”.  I know that I am not alone in my feelings for this film since I’ve heard so many people tell me how much they love it.  What’s really cool is that when I do mention this film, their pleasure is instantly written all over their faces …. pretty awesome that this one film strikes the same cord in all of us, isn’t it?  It is the story of “every man” who struggles at the daily grind in order to put food on the table and a roof over the heads of his wife and family, all of whom he loves so deeply.  Taking place during the Christmas season, he suffers a series of bad luck incidents which causes him to wish that he was never born, mistakenly believing that his family would be better off without him dragging them down.  What he doesn’t realize is that his family would be totally lost without him …. that they would just go through lives being merely content, not truly happy …. and they would never completely appreciate just what Christmas is all about without his love.  He finally recognizes, along with the guidance of his Angel in Training, Clarence,  that they truly do all belong together .. no matter what … and he is struck by this simple truth as his daughter’s comment, “Everytime a bell rings, an angel gets his wings”.

I love watching, even to this day, the little kid shows that are offered this time of year … Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and even the Grinch.  These stories are timeless and expose our children not only to Santa but also to the total spirit of giving.  Some us confuse giving with gifts … but I know from experience that giving — true giving — means that we take the time out of our busy lives and share ourselves with those who need help, comfort, or kindness.  I was standing in line at a store the other day waiting to be checked out when I heard a sound behind me followed by, “Oh, no!”  I turned and saw that the woman behind me had a handful of Christmas cards, but that they spilled all over the floor.  Next to her was a cane so I knew right then and there that there was no way that she would be able to bend over and pick up her cards.  My hands were full, also, but I dumped my stuff on the checkout counter and proceeded to lend a hand.  Trust me when I say it was not an easy task since I also have trouble bending over.  But you know what happened?  The man behind this lady also lent a hand to help out …. kinda like the old Herbal Essence shampoo commercial — “and so on, and so on”.  It was pretty cool to see just how contagious a simple act of kindness can be … and that’s the spirit of true giving at least in my mind.  Just think of how our wold would change if every human being on this planet would simply be nicer to each other … how cool would that be?

OK — now I’m wandering — LOL!!  During the Christmas season, I love seeing movies that connect families.  One of my all time favorites — actually two — is “National Lampoons Christmas Vacation” and “A Christmas Story”.  I can relate to both of these coming from a large Irish Catholic family.  I so remember my Mom wanting to create a “perfect” Christmas dinner — and many times her imaginations fell short of the realities.  It’s been my experience that whenever more than four people are involved, all hell usually breaks loose, as is evident with the Griswalds.  But for all the tom-foolery and eccentric characters (“I pledge allegiance to the flag ……), the free-loading brother with his own family in tow, this is a story of deep and unselfish love for each other.  This also holds true with “A Christmas Story” and who doesn’t have a dad/uncle/friend like Darren McGavin (the Old Man)?  Most of his complaints came across the screen as gibberish as he cussed out the heater, the next-door dogs, and the car.  Of course, Ralphie (as the narrator of this story) did state that his Dad used “the Queen Mother of All the Words” while changing a flat tire.  And who of us has heard the immortal words, “You’ll put your eye out” — just like the Parkers AND Santa told Ralphie when he asked for a Red Ryder BB Gun.  Couple all of this with those pink bunny pj’s, the “Fa-ra-ra-ra-ra” after a destroyed Christmas dinner and you have memorable holidays of our past — maybe not as extreme as these stories, but I know that we’ve all had Christmas celebrations that were a little “left of perfect” — 🙂

All in all, most of my favorite Christmas movies deal with the core of the holiday season …. family.  From the Holy Family (The Nativity) to the Griswold’s (Oh, Sparky!) to the Muppets Family Christmas (Watch out for that slippery spot!) to A Christmas Carol (God bless us, everyone) — family and the love we share together is the building blocks of our Christmas’.

And, in the words of Kermit and his little family of Muppets, let’s all make a huge attempt to “Keep Christmas with You, All Through the Year” — 🙂

Merry Christmas, kiddies …. and have a fabulous New Year filled with lots of love, hugs, and family.

OH TANNENBAUM …. from the Porch

Just a few days ago, I saw a post on Face Book from one of my nieces.  She showed a photo of her Christmas tree for this year.  When I saw it, a huge rush of memories flooded my brain since I recognized that tree right down to the last tinselly branch.  She had purchased a 50-year-old aluminum tree, decorated it with multi-colored Christmas tree balls and now has it proudly displayed in her home for all to enjoy — 🙂

When my family moved from Southwest Philly to Willingboro (Levittown), New Jersey, my Mom wanted everything new.  I can totally understand that — this was the very first time that my parents had a new home …. one that was built from the ground up in a community that they felt was a great place to raise their growing family.  Our old neighborhood was beginning to show its wear and tear …. and my folks didn’t feel that it was a safe environment for us to be in anymore.  So off my parents went to the various stores to purchase new furniture, new pots and pans for the kitchen (which was turquoise, by the way, so Mom picked out turquoise Club Aluminum cookware), and various other items for our new home.  Mom made it her life’s mission to create a perfect “Donna Reed” sort of environment and she did a great job from our French Provincial living room to our new bedroom furniture sets.  For our first couple of Christmases we still had live trees like we had in Philly.  I remember so well just how the house smelled once that tree was settled into place, the old glass decorations carefully added and the tinsel — oh, the tinsel — which was drapped strand by strand on the branches.  One year when Christmas time came around, Mom did not want the traditional live tree …. those falling needles were a bane of her existence not matter how much sugar-water my Dad used.  Mom was tired of the “make do” attitude of her past and wanted to take a giant leap into the ’60’s.  So off to Sears my parents went and brought back our very first fake Christmas tree. I remember thinking, “What the heck?  I don’t remember the Tannenbaum song referring to the light reflecting alien that was sitting in our living room!”  But leave it to my Mom’s and Dad’s creative genius as they spun their special Christmas magic around this Alcoa monstrosity.  They recognized that there could not be any strings of lights on the tree …. a total fire hazard …. but my Dad did buy a rotating light wheel.  It had panels of different colored primary colors and when it did rotate, it bathed our tree in pretty Christmas colors.  It wasn’t the same feel as our old lights brought, but the differences made it unique to our new lives in South Jersey.  My Mom had a pretty good decorating eye and she just knew that silver and royal blue were a perfect match.  So out they went to Sears again and snagged up as many royal blue, satin wrapped Christmas balls they could find.  The total effect of the rotating light wheel and the royal blue decorations was magically pretty.  My Mom was happy since she didn’t have to vacuum dead pine needles every day.  My Dad was happy because my Mom was happy.  And us kids were all happy, too, because we discovered that a lot of our friends had aluminum trees as well …. 🙂

I got to thinking about some of the Christmas trees of my past.  For the most part, our Christmas tree was not actually in our house.  My Dad positioned it out on our front porch where is was quite cooler and the trees “lasted” longer.  In those days of my youth, most of the neighbors who had closed in porches like ours put a great deal of their decorations “outside” as it were.  We lived in a row home and although the rooms were a decent size, most of the furnishings were quite large as well.  During Christmas season, with all the additional clutter of decorations and gifts, there simply wasn’t enough room to move about. I do remember a tree in our living room at some point …. I can still hear the needles falling, sounding like little bugs, onto the Christmas tree skirt …. but soon the tree was delegated to the front porch.  In all honesty, I loved it there.  When I was coming down the street as I walked home from school (uphill both ways in 5 foot drifts of snow — LOL!!), I loved seeing our tree all lit up, sparkling with tinsel and decorated with glass ornaments.  It was colorful, fun and so welcoming.

Some of the most unusual trees from my Christmas past came from other family members as well as friends in our surrounding neighborhoods.  I grew up in an Irish Catholic area but there were also Italian, German, Polish and non-Catholic families in our immediate area.  There was one family who moved into the house across the street from us …. the Carrea’s … who were Italian.  Mrs. Carrea was very fond of the color pink and all of the Christmas tree decorations reflected that love.  I never saw so much pink in my life!  Even her wedding gown was a soft shade of pink … she really did love that color.  Looking back, their family tree wasn’t awful, just different.  As I grew into a sort of mature adult (remember, kiddies — God is not finished with me yet, so I’m not quite fully grown — LOL!), I came to realize that different should never be associated with “wrong” ….. it’s just different.

Later in life, I ran across a friend whose Mom was in LOVE with cardinals.  They were everywhere in her home … little ceramic ones, lots of glass ones, totally feathery ones …. and her love of these sweet red birds was more prevalent during Christmastime than at any other time of year.  Her tree was literally weighed down with hundreds of these winter birds in all sizes and textures.  While I have grown to appreciate the differences in people’s decorating preferences, I gotta tell ya’ — this lady went way outside the box with her tree.  She had cardinals in nests, cardinal shaped lights …. cardinals on the tree skirt and all over her curtain rods.  I can’t even look at a cardinal now without thinking of all those birds in one little house ….. Alfred Hitchcock would have had a field day in there — 🙂

There are quite a few people who have “theme” Christmas trees.  Some have everything gold.  Some have everything silver, or red, or blue, or whatever.  As for my Christmas trees over the years, I just kinda put whatever decorations are in my hands at the time.  I always put our sons first Christmas decorations on the tree along with decorations that they’ve made.  Unfortunately, I am now down to two — a pine cone from Bobby and a candy cane from Billy — but up they go on whatever branch is in front of me year after year and I cherish them — 🙂  Years ago in our first apartment there was a fire in the basement.  Sadly, all of our first year decorations went up in smoke, but we did manage to rescue a Snoopy decoration that is Leo’s favorite.  We call it “the Un-Cola Reindeer” and it has Snoopy wearing reindeer antlers and it looks like he’s flying.  We also rescued a little ball with an angel inside of it … and both of these decorations have an honored spot on our tree.  Over the years, Leo and I decided that our tree needed to reflect our personalities more.  Along with the help of our daughter-in-law, Melissa, and after a visit to Longwood Gardens where there was a display a various decorated trees, we decided that our tree should represent stuff that we love.  Each year, now, we add a new decoration or two that depicts something that we’ve done together or a particular vacation that we both enjoyed.  Melissa started us up with some gorgeous glass shell decorations and we’ve added from there — a pop-up camper representing our two-week vacation in the Florida Keys to our more recent addition of a lighthouse representing our last vacation to the OBX.  It is quite uniquely us and we just love it — 🙂

Over the years we’ve had some rather interesting experiences with our Christmas trees.  I remember our first Christmas in our home.  Billy was only a month old and I was so excited about being a new Mom in our new home-sweet-home.  As we all know, what we visualize in our mind doesn’t quite come out the same in the real world.  Our front yard was full of Colorado Blue Spruce trees, so we decided to top one and bring it inside.  There were so many trees that we told people in the family to come and help themselves since they were all going to be cut down — our front yard is quite small and these trees were overpowering.  One was so close to the house that we had to move it to get inside …. and there was one in the corner at the end of our driveway which caused us not to be able to open our gates completely enough to get the cars up the drive.  Anyway, the one that we selected looked to be just perfect ….. so we had the tree “topped” and we brought it indoors.  Well, here’s the incorrect visualization part — this tree was so wide that when we put it up in a corner of our living room, only one person at a time could pass from that room into the kitchen.  And try to find enough decoration, garland, and lights to do it justice.  To fill it in, I even went out into the yard and scarfed up a bunch of pine cones, used lots of ribbons and bows, and it still looked bare of decorations!  I am sooooo glad to this day that Billy was only an infant and didn’t recognize how screwy his parents were — LOL!!

I am sitting here laughing because over the years, our choices of trees didn’t seem to get much better.  Here is a perfect example.  As a very young child, my parents didn’t decorate our Christmas tree, wrap our gifts, or put together our bikes until we were fast asleep with visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads.  I thought that we such a wonderfully magically practice that we decided to carry that through with our own little family.  Of course, my Dad worked an 8 to 5 job, was off nights and weekends and was available to help out.  My husband, on the other hand, worked a rotating shift, was rarely home nights and weekends, AND had off every 7 years for Christmas …. so I think that you can figure out who Santa’s helper was all that time.  But on one of the years that he did have off, we decided to wait till he got home and we would decorate our tree together just like my parents did when I was little.  Before he left for home, he gave me a quick call to let me know that he got our Christmas tree and would be arriving shortly.  Billy was about 3 years old by this time and he was already sleeping soundly.  I dragged up all the decorations we had and waiting for Leo to come in with our Christmas tree.  I heard him pull into the driveway, get out of the car and unwrap the tree while it was still outside.  I peeked out the door and told him, “Give it a good shake before you bring it in so that any loose needles will fall off.”  He looked at me and said, “I’m kinda afraid to do that.”  I had absolutely NO idea what the heck he was talking about and just said,”Go ahead.  It’ll be fine.”  So he gave the tree a shake and guess what?  Almost the entire tree landed on our front sidewalk.  At this point, I just kinda stared and didn’t say, “What the heck?” this time …. the words were a bit more firm.  In the house he came, half-tree and all and sheepishly began his story.  It appears that he forgot to pick up a tree on his way to work.  But, lucky Leo, as he was crossing the bridge on his way home, a Christmas tree truck was in front of him.  Adding to his “luck”, one of the trees fell off the back of the truck.  Of course, he proceeded to run over it with his car, but did manage to stop, back up over the tree again, and then picked it up.  He lashed it to his car ….. and brought us home this casuality of the holidays as our family Christmas tree.  By this time, there was not a damn thing to be done except to take the stupid tree, lean it into a corner, drape the garland back and forth across the front, arrange as many decorations as possible and hope for the best.  Sometime around 3:30AM, we managed to drag ourselves into bed and prayed that Bill would be more excited about his Christmas gifts and not notice our “Charlie Brown” tree.  As luck would have it ….. well, we ran out ….. as we heard Billy get out of bed and tip-toe down the hall.  We heard him stop walking and then he said, “Huh” as he ran back up the hall and into our bedroom yelling, “Mommy! Daddy! Santa Clause did something bad to our tree!”  Needless to say, that was the last year for a live tree in our home, which wasn’t too bad in retrospect since I was able to take care of it myself since it would be yet another 4 years before Leo was home for Christmas — 🙂

Let’s face it, kiddies.  The Christmas season truly is not whether you have a perfect tree (good thing for us), or the most elegant gatherings (yet another good thing).  To us, Christmas is our “one more chance” to do the right thing — to see the sparkle and magic of the season — to recognize that the Good Lord has deemed us all worthy enough to celebrate once again the birth of mankinds most precious Son.  All the other trappings are our puny way to try to make the Birth of the Christ-child even more special … we’ve added Santa Clause, receiving gifts and being disappointed when we don’t “get” what we think we deserve.  The real truth of the matter is that our real gift is the ongoing promise of “peace on Earth to men of good will” …. 🙂

So, in the words of one of our greatest poets, “Imagine” ….. and we will all “get” peace.

Merry Christmas, kiddies …. stay focused on the reason for the season — oxoxo

YELLOW RIBBON GREETINGS — from the Porch

I was watching my all time favorite television show, “Sunday Morning”, this AM.  Unless I am sick in bed, I never miss this news magazine.  I love the variety of stories that are shown and appreciate that they are all presented with such finesse, candor, and intelligence.  Whenever I watch the show I come away educated and entertained, not insulted.  I am especially fond of the last segment where a peaceful or powerful or simply amazing short video is shown with only natural sounds to support it.  No talking head, no corny background music — just a little treat for the mind and soul that I take the time out to view before I get back into the hectic pace of my own life.

Today, there was a story on called “Operation Gratitude”.  It dealt with a woman from California who, shortly after 911, took it upon herself to gather materials and products to send to our troops.  Her project began in November of 2003.  She had no one physically involved in the war on terror — she just felt that it was something that she needed to do to show her support and love of America.

It reminded me of a little project that I began when my youngest son was first deployed in 2003.  I had asked a dear friend of mine if she would be interested in helping me send out a care package or two to Bob.  She said, “If we can do it for one, why can’t we do it for others?  We could do something here at the office.”  It was a really good suggestion and it caused me to stop and think, “Yeah, why not?”  So, I put on my thinking cap and contacted my son.  He advised that I would have to get approval up the chain of command — and he actively pursued that angle for me.  It turned out that we have been given the go-ahead along with a contact name on board the ship.  That way, all our packages would be given to the correct ship’s division.  It was all so very organized and totally awesome for my son and his shipmates. 

Then I worked out a plan for the office, presented it to my boss, received approval to move forward, and thus was born “Yellow Ribbon Greetings”.  At the time, I was employed as a Customer Service Representative for a laboratory supply company.  Our customer base ranged from universities, large hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, chemical companies and a large assortment of smaller venues who required the use of various types of lab equipment.  We sold everything from beakers to test tubes to incubators to lab furniture — anything that you can think of that would be used in a clinical setting was all part of our inventory.  We also had numerous contractual agreements with what is known as “third-party”.  Since my company did not manufacture product, we relied on our partners for some of our more sophisticated items. 

Our department was assigned to support some of the larger chemical manufacturers.  We were separated into teams, and each team would be responsible for all the aspects of customer service for a specific account.  Depending on the volume of business, some teams only had one associate, while others would have as many as six or eight.  Regardless, our primary duties involved a very heavy phone volume because our customers would make call to us and we would handle whatever service issue they required.  Because of the large volume of phone work, there was very little time during the course of the business day that we could leave our desks unattended.  Our start and end times were staggered as well as our lunch and break times. 

Working out a type of schedule to support my idea of the Yellow Ribbon Greetings campaign would have been relatively simply — if I only included the associates on my team.  But keep in mind that in 2003, the heavy wounds of 911 were still exposed.  People were confused, frightened and mad as hell — and they wanted to do something, no matter how large or small — to support our nation and our troops, so I also wanted my plan to include our entire Contact Center as well as our warehouse building associates in this project. With the Contact Center, it was easy to set up.  I asked each team to provide a representative who would hold a box at their location.  That way, the associates on each team could fill up the boxes with their donations of supplies, goodies, games, books — an entire array of stuff that we knew would be utilized and appreciated by our troops.  Then, at the end of each week, my friend and I would gather up the boxes, go to our mailroom and pack it all up to be shipped out.  We completed custom forms and address labels for each box we sent.  For our warehouse associates (these folks worked shift-work), people placed empty boxes at the time clock areas.  Then volunteers from some of the offices there would gather up the boxes and bring them over to me at the mailroom.  It was a smooth flowing operation that enabled each associate who wanted to participate to do so — and it had NO impact on the daily business at hand.  The entire process was a good and beautiful thing — 🙂  Along the way, we were also given names of other sons, daughters, and brothers from some of our other distribution centers across the country — and we happily included them in our growing list of American troops.  By the time we were done, we supported two Naval ships, a nursing staff, a Marine brigade, and various individuals.

I remember when we first started our Yellow Ribbon Greetings campaign, I had only a passing association with my local dollar store.  As time went on, we became very, very good friends — 🙂   There was a time there that we packed up boxes more than once a week since they became filled to overflowing.  Our associates were excited and proud to be part of this very special project.  During the course of our first year, we even had “theme” boxes — Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter, St. Paddy’s Day — and we filled a box or two with the appropriate goodies.  At Christmas time, we would hang large stockings in a central area so that people could fill them with CD’s, gum, mints, books — anything that would fit.  As the years went on, however, it seemed that our burst of patriotism began to fade.  Even in my neighborhood, there were not as many flags flying or yellow ribbons tied around trees.  It seemed that once we got over the initial shock of 911, those things just weren’t important enough anymore.  Did we become the “sunshine patriot” of the Revolutionary War era?  With the capture of Saddam Hussein, it seemed that people became complaisant — again — and let go of the outward appearances of “I’m proud to be an American”.

As I am sitting here writing this, I can see the full moon floating up in the sky — high, bright, and beautiful.  I can’t remember how many times I looked into the night sky and sent my thoughts, love, and prayers over to my son.  I knew that we would be looking at the same moon and I liked to imagine that he felt me give him hugs and kisses, just like when he was a little boy.  I could protect him so easily then — but he’s a grown man now with a son of his own.  I can’t help thinking about all the other moms, sister, brothers, daughters, sons, and wives who are looking out their windows at this same glowing moon tonight.  Are they doing the same thing that I was doing when my son was so far away?  Do they miss the way their loved ones feel?  Do they miss their scent and the touch of their hand?  I think, “Yes! They truly do!!” 

To me, as long as any American troop is far from our soil, helping to spread the ideals of freedom, keeping my homeland safe, I will continue to send out care packages.  So, during this time of year — the time of gift giving — how nice would it be for a troop to receive a box filled with cookies, socks, baby wipes, gum, and books. 

Remember that our troops are give us something much more valuable.

EVERGREEN — from the porch

Oh, Christmas tree/oh, Christmas tree/thy leaves are so unchanging.  That’s the opening line of a song that pays honor to one of our symbols of Christmas — the ever popular Christmas tree.

You should know me well enough by now to realize, “Well, I guess she got to thinking about the whys and hows of Christmas trees”.  And you’d be correct. 

It seems that the custom of bringing a tree into our homes, decorating it with tinsel, lights and all sorts of adornments, originated in Germany around the 15th century.  At first, the trees were only displayed in churches, until the tradition was adopted by non-Christians in the 16th century as a counter-part to Christmas Cribs. 

The lights on the Christmas were, at first, in the form of candles, which symbolized the light of Christ.  In addition, there were apples placed on the trees. They symbolized the Garden of Eden.  There were also wafers, which symbolized redemption from the original sin that was committed by Adam and Eve and caused them to leave Paradise.  There is a modern tradition that the tree should not be decorated until Christmas Eve, which has been referred to as the feast day of Adam and Eve.  By the time the Christmas tree came to America, its traditions became blended with our vision of Santa Claus.  When I was a child, I was always told that he was the one who came to my house on Christmas Eve to lay out my gifts and to decorate our tree.

I remember our Christmas trees pretty well from my youth.  We always had a real tree — at least while we were still living in Philly.  I don’t have a very clear picture of the decorations, but I know that my Mom saved all the ones that us kids made.  She would faithfully put them on the tree every year.  I kinda remember that there were a lot of fancy glass ornaments because I remember seeing some broken ones in the trash can.  But these were not simply decorations. They were truly works of art.  Some were round colorful balls of glass, while others were amazing displays of creation.  And the lights on our tree — today, I call them “Jimmy Buffet” lights — were the large tear-drop shaped numbers that screwed into their sockets just like a regular lamb bulb.  These babies would get really hot and when one burned out on the string, they all blinked out.  This caused my Dad a great deal of anguish as he searched for the bad bulb.  Heaven forbid that when he found it, he could just put any old replacement bulb there. Oh, no!  It had to follow the rotating color scheme of the rest of the string.  Do you remember the movie, “A Christmas Story” when the dad had a lot of colorful expletives about a flat tire?  Well, that was my Dad with a burned out bulb on our Christmas tree.

There were so many kinds of decorations on our tree I can’t remember them all.  But about 2 years ago, I had the opportunity to go to the National Christmas Museum.  It is located in Lancaster, PA, and is loaded with all sorts of stuff.  There is a totally cool Santa village, lots and lots of trains, rooms that depict Christmas Around the World celebrations — and on, and on, and on.  There is even an old 5&10 which has so many old toys — doll houses, fire trucks, tea sets, dolls and cowboy gear.  They even have a display of old fashioned decorations — paper mache silver bells, bubble lights, tin light reflectors (we had those!). The inventory is a long a Santa’s “I’ve been a good girl” list.  One of the decorations that I will never forget is tinsel — long strands of skinny, shiney aluminum.  This was to be draped on the tree, piece by skinny piece and a pox on you if you just put clumps of it on a branch.  And this stuff gets everywhere!!  It got stuck to your clothes, your shoes, you hair — but, boy-oh-by! — didn’t that tree look grand?  Hint: it actually did — LOL!

When we moved to Jersey — new home, new life — along came some new attitudes about a traditional Christmas tree.  At first, we did go out and pick out our trees.  But one year, my Mom decided that she wanted to be like everybody else on the block.  Thus was born our first — and last — aluminum tree.  Gone were the days of a real tree, glass ornaments, and tinsel.  This baby was its own tinsel complete with puffed out tips at the end of each branch.  My Mom put blue styrofoam balls all over the tree. These balls were covered in some sort of material that, if caught on your ring or just about anything else, it would start to unravel.  At any rate, the tree actually did look kinda nice in a cold sort of way.  The vision was not complete, however, without the spinning color wheel — and we really did “oooo” and “aahhh” over the effect, especially when it snowed.  Our aluminum tree would be placed at our back window, which was filled with little panes of glass.  When it did snow, the reflection from the light and tree were mirrored in the white of our back yard.  It was pretty, but, to me at least, it just wasn’t Christmas. That baby didn’t last long and we soon got a green tree — artificial, it’s true — but at least it was green.  My Mom, once again, got a whole bunch of new ornaments, my Dad was thrilled with not having to keep watering a tree in his living room, and all was well with the world.

We had a discussion recently with our son, Bob, about what goes on top of the Christmas tree.  The choices he presented were a star or an angel.  Well, as a kid, we had this glass star looking thing — a tall, pointy piece that had a star cut out in the center of it.  But when we moved to Jersey, we had an angel that lit up.  So, I told Bob that we had both as kids — and today my tree is topped with an angel holding a star.  How’s that for compromise? — LOL!! — 🙂 I’ve seen trees topped with angels, stars, Santa hats, Santa Claus, Elvis — the list is endless.  But I think that if you want to keep with some sort of Christmas tradition, establish it early in your home with your own tree.  I’ve had just a star on top of my tree and it represented, to me at least, the Star of Bethlehem.  Now with my angel holding the star, it shows me the light to guide the Magi as well as the angel’s songs heard by the shepphards — the best of both worlds — 🙂

Truth be told?  I don’t think that it’s important to have any one type of tree, ornament, or topper.  To me, it’s the family traditions that carry on from one generation to another.  Some of these traditions get tweeked a bit along the way — at one point in time, I had a little table top tree and my angel was actually in the shape of a mermaid.  I can’t help it — I love the sea and everything in it — so why not have that as part of our Christmas tradition.  My husband was fine with my idea and we’ve never looked back.  Even to this day, there are many ornaments on our tree that represent our likes, our family history, our vacations, and just plain us — and that’s a good thing.  It’s what makes our Christmas unique to us and us alone.  Not everybody shares our tastes, but that’s OK, too.  After all, the tree that is our living room is our tree, and the decorations in our living room are our decorations. But the feeling we get at each and every Christmas is shared by millions of our fellow human beings.  We love the sparkle and magic of the season.  We love the promise of peace that is given to us year after year, in spite of the emotional condition of the world.  It is one of our life’s constants knowing that we will continue to be blessed with a tannenbaum parked in a corner of our living room, alive with colored lights and the special decorations that mark our life’s progress.  We will keep our angel with her star, fill the branches with sealife, pluck from the storage boxes the decorations from our sons first Christmases and hold close to our hearts their contrubitions to our legacy.

Not only green when summer’s here,

but also when ’tis cold and drear.

Oh, Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree

Thy leaves are so unchanging!

 

DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR? … from the Porch

What is it about Christmas music that makes me smile so much?  After all, some of them are downright corny like, “Baby, it’s Cold Outside” or “Santa Baby”.  Some of them are gloriously soul-stirring like “Joy to the World” or “Silent Night”.  Some are just plain “what were you thinking”, like “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”.

Just was is it with these songs??

When I was a little girl, my Dad’s favorite Christmas carol was “Away in the Manger”.  When that song came on the radio, he would usually stop what he was doing and say, “Just listen to this song.  Hear the words.  That’s our Savior that is being sung about, sleeping in a manger”.  And you know what?  If you do take the time to just close your eyes and listen to this song, you can almost picture that tiny little babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, sleeping the sleep of the innocent.  Baby Jesus, the Son of God, all cozy and comfy with the sheep, the cows, the horses, and his Mom and Dad watching over Him as He snoozes.  That’s quite a picture, especially when we believe, as I do, that this little baby will save all of mankind from itself.

We had a record album that we played year after year after year and never got tired of it.  It was a collection of Christmas music from Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians.  One side had the usual selection of the popular songs and carols.  The flip side — which was the most fun — told a rather fractured tale of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.  This was such a fun take on this children’s classic.  It was filled with sound effects in shades of the likes of Spike Jones, who specialized in enjoying a satirical spin on the popular music of his time.  His music was always punctuated with sounds of gunshot, whistles and bells.  His band, Spike Jones and the City Slickers, were a big hit across the nation during the 40’s and 50’s.  Anyway, Fred Warning — affectionately known as “The Man Who Taught America How to Sing” —  created his version of Rudolph on his album, “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”.  To this day, I laugh out loud whenever I hear it.  Also on this album is a nifty take on “Jingle Bells” and a special rendition of the Clement Clarke Moore’s’ classic story of Christmas.  If you have the chance, Google “Rudolph and Fred Waring” — you are in for a real treat — 🙂

I got to thinking about Christmas carols and wondered when they began.  I’ve heard that a Christmas carol is also known as a “noel”.  My Dad used to make a joke every time the song “The First Noel” came on the radio.  He would always respond with, “Then take a bus”.  Being a city family, we all cracked up at that — get it?? — no “el”, take a bus??  LOL!!!  OK — back to what I was thinking about.  It seems that we can trace back to about 4th century Rome the singing of what we can refer to as “Christmas” hymns. They were all sung in Latin.  This music was very austere and dealt primarily with Church doctrines and not necessarily the birth of Christ.  It wasn’t until the 13th century, under the influence of St. Francis of Assisi, that Christmas music began to be sung in native languages.  In 1426, there was a list of 25 “caroles of Cristmas” that were sung by “wassailers” going from house to house — “Here We Come A-Wassaling” — 🙂  After the Reformation and well into the 18th century, Christmas music became more and more popular.  The distinction between hymns and songs generally depended on the beat of the music and the content of the lyrics.  However, that line has been blurred over time so that, even songs like “White Christmas” and the country song, “Blue Christmas” are considered by some to be hymns.  Regardless of the category of the music, I think that it is best to accept the music for what it is — a “putting into words” the feelings that we all experience and some brief little stories about this time of year — and just go with the flow.

I usually start listening to my Christmas CD’s during Thanksgiving weekend.  Some radio stations play the songs earlier than that, but I like to enjoy my Thanksgiving before I jump in the hectic days of preparing for Christmas.  I drag up my music from the basement along with the rest of my Christmas decorations and paraphernalia.  Then I pop the music into a 5-changer CD player that was a Christmas gift years ago and get the ball rolling with about 6 hours of songs to keep me company.  As I’m listening to the songs, I start putting out our decorations.  Each time I open one of the boxes, I feel like a kid again as I see the treasures that I had carefully put away from the year before.  I pull out my Santa Claus statues — all of which are dressed in tropical wear — then add my Snowmen to the scene.  These are also in beach-wear with bathing suits, swimming fins, and beach umbrellas.  Needless to say, I am a “beach bunny” and these make me smile on snowy Christmastime days.  One of my favorite Christmas CD’s is Jimmy Buffet’s “Christmas Island” — how’d you like to spend Christmas on Christmas Island?  I’ve even got my grandsons turning into Yuletide Parrotheads — I’ll work on them again through the summer months since there is no time off from having Buffet fun — 🙂

I’ve accumulated many albums and CD’s over the years filled with Christmas music.  I have the always popular Perry Como, Johnny Mathis and Nat King Cole, who sings my very favorite “The Christmas Song”.  When I hear it while decorating my home so that it looks like the Christmas elves went a little crazy and Leo is around, I always say, “Wanna dance?” and he say’s “Yes” as he takes me in his arms and spins me around the living room just as he’s done for the past 4 decades. Then there’s all of my Christmas hymns like “Adeste Fidelis (or as my sister would say, “The Alaskan Fiddlers”), Silent Night, and my favorite “What Child is This?”.  Over the years, there have been a slew of newer songs that strike the heartstrings this time of year.  “The Little Drummer Boy” — originally called “Carol of the Drum” and written by Katherine Davis in 1941 — was first sung by the Trappe Family Singers.  It was further made popular by the Harry Simeon Chorale in 1958.  It instantly became a staple in my childhood Christmas festivities and is a part of my adult experiences as well. 

So, here’s my point.  Christmas music is only played on our radios, CD players, or downloaded onto our iPODS and Shuffles for a short month out of the year.  Enjoy every last note as most of these songs are deeply uplifting to our spirits.  They put us in mind of this magical time and the promise of peace on earth — a time when the simple pleasures of our lives so totally outweighs the needs of Madison Avenue.  Listen to them with your eyes closed and your hearts open.  Whether it’s “Ho, Ho, Ho, and a Bottle of Rum”, or “Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem”, hear the messages that are loud and clear. 

No matter where you are or what you are doing, it’s Christmastime the world over  — so “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” or as they say in Hawaii,