All
the cross stitching is done on the Christmas ornaments. And I found
myself wondering this morning why I was having trouble focusing –
then I remembered finishing up the final ornament last night, with
the lights on, using pale yellow thread on a white background. That
just might have something to do with it!
We
had intense fog again last night – I wouldn't have been able to see
the house across the street if they didn't have a security light. It
was late morning before the fog burned off – and now it's sunny and
somewhere around 60 degrees. We even took a walk outside in the park
this afternoon. Winter returns tomorrow.
Some
of the ordered Christmas gifts arrived today.......now, if the
backordered d-o-l-l (that goes with the d-o-l-l clothes that came in
today's delivery) will only get here!! Otherwise the clothes are
pretty meaningless!!
By
this time of the year when I was young, I would have been busy
rehearsing for Christmas programs. We had a Christmas program at
school, and we would also have one at church. The school program was
always fun. The younger grades would sing songs, often with props.
The band would play several Christmas songs. The junior high and high
school music classes would sing. These school programs were always
attended by the entire community. One funny memory actually occurred
the year after I graduated at the annual school Christmas program.
There
was a particularly ambitious music teacher that year, and she decided
to have the high school choir sing “The Hallelujah Chorus” as
part of the Christmas program. We had just presented sections of “The
Messiah” for our college choir Christmas concert at Missouri
Valley. Part of the learning process for that presentation was
learning some of the history and tradition of “The Messiah”,
including the fact that it was traditional for the audience to stand
during “The Hallelujah Chorus”. I'd never heard that before, and
evidently I wasn't the only one. When the high school choir started
singing that special song, I dutifully stood up along with the cousin
who was in that college choir with me and one another graduate who
had studied music in college. By the end of the next day it was all
over town that we stood up in protest over “The Hallelujah Chorus”
being sung in a high school program! It was, after all, the early
'70's and social protests were still the norm!
Our
church Christmas programs were always fun. It may not have been
politically correct, but Santa always made an appearance at the end
of the program. All ages would sing songs, the young ones would
recite Christmas poems. I was pretty young the year I was selected to
do the “welcome” poem. Even young ones who weren't regular
attenders at our church were encouraged to participate in whatever
way they wanted. The ones who attended Sunday School exchanged names,
and the Christmas gifts were handed out by Santa. Everyone attending
always got a bag of Christmas candy and an orange. It was great.
We
always exchanged names and gifts at school, too. We got Christmas
candy and oranges from the janitor, the bus drivers, and enjoyed our
Christmas parties. The teacher I had for 4th, 5th,
and 6th grades had us bring decorations from home to
decorate our classroom tree. One of those years my birthday fell on
the date of the Christmas party, so she gave me special permission to
bring candy canes to cover the tree and then I handed them out to
everyone in the class during the party. That was extra fun for me.
I
think I need to start listening to Christmas music – my holiday
spirit hasn't really settled in for this season yet.
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