I called into a Catholic radio talk show the week before Thanksgiving, and mentioned to the call screener how I had noticed that the local Adoration Chapel was largely empty on Christmas Day last year, so I was planning on spending part of this Thanksgiving holiday in the Adoration Chapel, to personally give thanks to the provider of all our feasts, and I also mentioned that I’d provide dinner to people who had to work that day at my local 7-11. I suggested the station air my comments for the consideration of others, which it did. While I didn’t speak on the air (as I wished not to), the radio show host spoke favorably of my comments --- and mentioned my first name and city. That was enough for a friend I hadn’t seen in a while to guess it was me, and get in contact. It was another thing I had to be thankful for that day.
Another thing I did on Thanksgiving Day was to haul all my Christmas decorations up from the basement. I will celebrate my 74th Christmas this year, the 48th in this house. Some who know me would ask: “So, when are you going to wash the windows?” (I am not a slob, but not a neatnik either.) The artificial tree I assembled is showing its age, and I noticed an ornament dated 1980. When I tested the lights, not a single strand lit, so I purchased all new ones. Perhaps this might be my last year of hauling up all those containers. I haven’t celebrated Christmas with friends around that tree in quite a few years. If I’ve been in town, I’ve gone out to friends or, as this year, spent a goodly amount of time with the person whose birthday we celebrate, at His house. That seems appropriate. Perhaps next year I will purchase a smaller tree, to stand on a table in front of the living room window. It will also be easier to store and haul out each year.
In two of the containers I hauled up from the basement, I found the boxes of the Heritage Village Collection, hand-painted pieces shown below:
You can see, it is about a dozen pieces of the village, along with some characters, including Scrooge. I think I’ve put those on my stairway landing each Christmas for about 30 years now. Know anyone who’d like them? This year I think I will just haul them back to the basement. They remind me of A Christmas Carol, the wonderful play I saw performed at a local playhouse each year for many years, until Covid arrived. I believe they are starting the play again this year, but I won’t be attending. I will ease my cautions at some point, but not yet.
We received a smattering of snow in Michigan today. With the outdoor Christmas lights and decorations already up around my sub-division, I can almost start to hum “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas …” I’ve ordered most of the books I plan to give as presents, my usual gift to friends and neighbors, and their children. And, for the most part, the books are about our Christian faith. They may not get it in school or anywhere else, but the kids I gift will know whose birthday we celebrate that day, and why. Now there’s just the wrapping, and shipping. Oh, and then I have to write my annual Christmas letter, to enclose with the cards I send to long-time friends and relatives around the world, to let them know I am still here and what I’m up to now. (I wonder if any read it?)
Well, that about summarizes my Christmas plans. I’m sure yours are probably more involved. Just remember whose birthday we celebrate that day, and plan to at least say Happy Birthday to Him.
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