Merry Christmas!

The tree at the "new place." Notice the all purple theme - EMAW, suckas!

Luke 2: 8-14

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Just a reminder of the reason for the season.

I'm all about folk art

This is my "ex" neighbor's Christmas present to me - "J" is one of those arts and crafts women whose creativity just can't be stopped. This cross's wire came from the burned out Poor Farm, with some appropriate decoration, and has a place of prominence now at the "new place" on the living room wall.

I love it.

Perhaps Christmas does have it's roots in an old pagan ritual, but that was the past and meanings change. These are symbols of our Christian Christmas heritage now. With all that in mind, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hope today finds you safe and warm with loved ones enjoying the camaraderie and fellowship that follow. I certainly am - I'm at my sister's and it's supposed to get pretty snowy underfoot here real soon. Just the sort of Norman Rockwell scene I generally have to drive through or work in, but not today, so I'm all set to enjoy the show, hang with the family, eat too much, and stare at the inside of my eyelids for a period of time. Hope and pray y'all can do the same.

I Never Think of This Stuff

I've said before how my neighbors rule, but it bears repeating. My neighbors rule. J brought me Easter dinner today - it's not the first time she's supplied yours truly with a holiday dinner. She knows I don't get to see Sis just every special day, and she shares the bounty of their table with this scabby old trucker. Today, it was ham and scalloped potatoes, with a slice of coconut cream pie and a huge sweet roll. Plus this little item.

I'm a guy. I'll always be a guy. If aliens forced me to get a sex change operation, it wouldn't change my wiring. If I was gonna deliver some chocolate foil wrapped eggs, I'd just put 'em in a sandwich bag or something similar. Practical, quick and easy, I say.

In some circles that is heresy. This looks like a bird's nest. It is actually a carefully folded small paper bag with a few twigs attached and "Easter Grass" nestled inside with the goodies. She had to go outside and collect the appropriately sized twigs, find the correct size of sacks, purchase the "grass" and spend some serious amount of time putting all of the stuff together, just to help frame a holiday mood.

Needless to say, I'm impressed and in awe.

Reminds Me

This cartoon really jarred a memory. When I was a child, several of our neighbors were pretty close to our family - not in distance. "Aunt Edna and Uncle Nate" were one of the couples that did love my sister and I as niece and nephew. They babysat us, sent us Christmas and birthday gifts, and looked after our welfare and general well being. Not because it was required of them - just because they liked us and had room in their hearts for a couple neighbor kids.

Nate was a small man with a pretty even temper. Edna was a fabulous cook. I only saw Nate PO'd at her once - Edna had driven a flat tire until it was ruined, and was sitting in said car while Nathan changed her spare. He was furious that she'd destroyed the tire, and she could have cared less. Nate always had a bottle or three of Old Charter stashed in the garage or shed, and Edna listened to our phone calls when we still had party lines. I'm sure they had some serious battles, but the rest of the world never witnessed or heard about it.

What this cartoon reminds me of was this tableu - I was in their basement house one day visiting for one reason or another, and they were both in the kitchen. Edna, who could be a nag at times, was hounding Nathan about something and he wasn't responding in a timely enough fashion for her. "You've got your hearing aids shut off again, don't you Nathan!" she exclaimed in a somewhat frustrated voice. She then looked me straight in the eye and winked. Nate grumbled something unintelligable and cast an eye on me, and winked as well.

It was all an act, and one they enjoyed playing to the hilt. They truly loved each other very much.

Joe Checks Out a Coal Mine (or three)

Some of you may recall me talking about Joe before - he had posted some pictures on his Facebook account about his summer custom harvesting. His captions explaining what we were seeing really added to the enjoyment of the album.

He had just graduated high school and was enrolled for fall classes at Wyotech in Laramie, WY, one of the premier schools for aspiring mechanics in the Midwest, or even the US, for that matter.

Well, our intrepid student and erudite writer is on a job hunt, and Rio Tinto Energy America is interested in him. I'm sure Schlumberger (pronounced slumber jay with a soft "j") and the evil Bushitlercheney Haliburton wants this young man as well. He's done well, has our young Padawan.

Do go and check out his album and read his descriptions. Joe's album speaks for itself, and really doesn't need a bunch of hype from me, so I'll be quiet now! (except to say if you want to go to the first picture and then just hit "next" you can go here)