What is Christmas in 2013.

All 6 can say is you better be there by now!  This past weekend 6, 6A and 61, made the annual trip to the mall, 62 was not there this year, 6 thinks that she was making a little to marry on Saturday night. It was really a great trip, as you might expect the stores were packed, the parking garages were full, and the people sure had no idea what Christmas is all about. Speaking of that 6 saw a poll the other day, and for the first time, more people in the USA think Christmas is a national holiday, and not a religious holiday. Given that nice piece of information, lets us do a “REALITY CHECK” look at the secular side. The goal is for retailers to get into the “Black”. Think about this, starting around Halloween we are subject to nonstop advertizing products, from new fangled hair removers (I still say it look like a cell phone) to Audi commercials (what a slap in the face to the Salvation Army, and the meaning of Christmas) to that stuffed animal with all of the pockets. The frenzy of advertizing reaches its peak, right before Thanksgiving, and depending on the number of retails who made it into the BLACK on Thanksgiving, it may wane, or even pick up. Given those fact this is what Christmas means: A month filled with extreme pressure to buy things, so that we can give things, because people might give us something. The people in the retail industry and delivery are now working 24 hours a day, to keep up with demand, based on the true reason getting the retailer in the BLACK. This means people are at the stores or on their tablets, getting prepared for the disappointments ahead of them.  The secular measure of success is simple: who can spend the most money on, things, decorations, food, party items, and most of all rot gut liquor.  This all translates into; wonderment is of how you are going to pay for all of the giving, Joy is finding a parking spot, mystery is how many early gifts that you will be able to re-gift, spirit is talking to random friends and trying to look interested, Hope bill collectors won’t call while at the same time you are holding your holiday party, Love is purchasing that special item just for yourself. The old saying “Peace on Earth Good will towards men” translated into 2013 terms means: If you do not provide your fellow man the material “items” they want, then there will be no peace for you. Let’s face it; if you are not politically correct then you will be scorned, Happy Holiday’s, Sparkle season, XMass, Holiday Season. What the heck does this mean, have we gone so far away from our country’s founding principles that we cannot wish someone a Merry Christmas. Our country is about standing up and taking a side.. Revolutionary war, civil war, or another way to put it is tea is no good at room temperature; it is either drank, hot or cold. Stand up for what you believe if you believe that it is Holiday season then say it, if you believe that it is Christmas, then say it… do not give in to “political correctness” and compromise your principles and say Holiday season, if your heart is telling you that it is Christmas! If you even have the smallest glimmer of TRUE Hope, Love, family, Joy, mystery, wonderment and spirit in your heart, then keep the light burning and call it Christmas. For that is why we all received the best gift on Christmas morn some 2000 years ago.  Now that is what Christmas is really all about!

If you remember I started this thing out at the mall, so I am going to get back to that. Well I found the perfect parking space, it was on the top floor of the structure, and at the other end furthest away from the door, but I was not going to have any problems getting out of the garage. We made it into the store and I found the item that I wanted to purchase, within 20 feet of the front door, so at this point I was done and ready to go home, but being in the spirit, I decided to bring my packages to the car and meet 6A and 61some place in the mall. On my way back in from the parking lot, I saw a rather large man and suitable wife, I think it was Booooob’s brother and sister in law, waddling to the door. I went in and looked at a couple of things and determined that it was time to find the girls. I headed to the escalator, and to my surprise, the same couple was in front of me. This time I got a closer look, they were well matched, and she must have laid out their wardrobe before they went shopping. Both had on a Blue coat, Blue jeans that made stone wash jeans look like blue jeans, and yes the both of them were strutting in a nice pair of white leather tennis shoes with that distinctive blue “N” Hot damn! It even gets better, the guy had a blue ball cap on and had that distinctive few strands of gray hair protruding out of the space between where you make the size adjustment and the hat, that is one of my favorite old man pet peeves! They were dressed in Blue and White from head to toe. As we reached the bottom of the escalator and he made his turn what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a weight challenge person with a blue ball cap and on it appeared a white embroidered lion and a big bold PSU across his chest. I could not have been so proud!

When you awaken on Christmas morning, take a few minutes to think about the meaning of the following words; Joy, Love and Peace and how they pertain to you. When you have completed your contemplation, make your way down for your first cup of coffee and absorb everything that your senses have to offer. This will enable you to find out what Christmas means to you!

12 Days of PRE-Christmas

On the first day of Pre-Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Uncle Byron in a RV

On the second day of Pre-Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Two Condo’s in Kiawah
and Uncle Byron in a RV

On the third day of Pre-Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Three Beautiful Children
Two Condo’s in Kiawah

And a Green egg in my back yard

On the fourth day of Pre-Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Four Growling Gators
Three Beautiful Children
Two Condo’s in Kiawah
and Green egg in my Back Yard

On the fifth day of Pre-Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Five Cases of Rex
Four Growling Gators
Three Beautiful Children
Two Condo’s in Kiawah
and Green egg in my Back Yard

On the sixth day of Pre-Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Six cans of Meister Brau
Five Cases of Rex
Four Growling Gators
Three Beautiful Children
Two Condo’s in Kiawah
and Green egg in my Back Yard

On the seventh day of Pre-Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Seven days of vacation
Six cans of Meister Brau
Five Cases of Rex
Four Growling Gators
Three Beautiful Children
Two Condo’s in Kiawah
and Green egg in my Back Yard

On the eighth day of Pre-Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Eight Children Laughing
Seven days of vacation
Six cans of Meister Brau
Five Cases of Rex
Four Growling Gators
Three Beautiful Children
Two Condo’s in Kiawah
and Green egg in my Back Yard

On the ninth day of Pre-Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Nine Beach chairs waiting
Eight Children Laughing
Seven days of vacation
Six cans of Meister Brau
Five Cases of Rex
Four Growling Gators
Three Beautiful Children
Two Condo’s in Kiawah
and Green egg in my Back Yard

On the tenth day of Pre-Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Ten Doritos’s smashing
Nine Beach chairs waiting
Eight Children Laughing
Seven days of vacation
Six cans of Meister Brau
Five Cases of Rex
Four Growling Gators
Three Beautiful Children
Two Condo’s in Kiawah
and Green egg in my Back Yard

On the eleventh day of Pre-Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Eleven Regulars sitting
Ten Doritos’s smashing
Nine Beach chairs waiting
Eight Children Laughing
Seven days of vacation
Six cans of Meister Brau
Five Cases of Rex
Four Growling Gators
Three Beautiful Children
Two Condo’s in Kiawah
and Green egg in my Back Yard

On the twelfth day of Pre-Christmas
my true love sent to me:
12 million dollars
Eleven Regulars sitting
Ten Doritos’s smashing
Nine Beach chairs waiting
Eight Children Laughing
Seven days of vacation
Six cans of Meister Brau
Five Cases of Rex
Four Growling Gators
Three Beautiful Children
Two Condo’s in Kiawah
and Green egg in my Back Yard

I had no idea of the words to the song so I had to find them. A couple years ago 61 sent me something on this songs history, and here is what this song actually means, the old version and mine in red.

1 True Love refers to God
2 Condo’s in Kiawah refers to the Old and New Testaments (the originals, with the new comers make one big happy family)
3 Beautiful Children refers to Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues (you all have to guess which one is which)
4 Four Growling Gators refers to the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists (Tell me you are not going to react and listen to growling gators)
5 Cases of Rex refers to the first Five Books of the Old Testament, the "Pentateuch", which gives the history of man's fall from grace. (It sounded like it was a good time back in the day, but just like anything you have to pay for your good times.)
6 cans of Meister Brau refers to the six days of creation (you will be doing a lot of creating after 6 cans! Furthermore it was probably around back then.)
7 days of vacation refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments. (Each day has it virtues, including the last day i.e last rights “do not cry because it is over smile because it happened”!)
8 Children Laughing refers to the eight beatitudes (Live this and we will all be together again.)
9 Beach chairs waiting refers to the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit. ( the 9 qualities (personality and character traits) that we have to live by or we would end up like the fighting couple on the beach last year)
10 Ground rules posted refers to the ten commandments (These guidelines get followed much less than the real ones: now that is a good thing)
11 Regulars sitting refers to the eleven faithful apostles (each day not necessarily all at once, there is a core group that sits on the beach)
12 million dollars refers to the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed.  (it was the biggest number)

Tree's (BTW no one has sent me one story yet!)

The tradition of the family Christmas tree.

The tradition started about 50 years ago, before that who knows and better yet who cares. Those were the days, when things were simple.6A was remembering when  we waited all year for that  final week before Christmas, to watch all of the Christmas shows: Charlie Brown’s Christmas, Mr. Magoo Christmas, Frosty the snow man, Rudolf the red nose reindeer, The Grinch, It’s a wonderful Life, white Christmas and of course National Lampoons Christmas vacation!  Today you have 25 days of Christmas the hallmark channel, and others playing the same movies over and over, and not one of them will bring the little tear to your eye like Clark standing in front of his house at the end of the all time classic. To continue every radio station now plays Christmas music starting just after Halloween 24/7, when back in the day, you listened to vinyl on the old Hi-Fi. Well this has nothing to do with trees so I will bet back on topic.  Imagine the concept of putting up your tree on Christmas Eve! For the first few years of (CT) Christmas Trees, we (6) would spend all day helping mother clean the house, 6’s first job was to wax all of the hard wood floors, and when he got a little older he was able to clean the majestic chandler that hung over the dining room table (oh the joys of growing up) . Late afternoon finally arrived, and father returned home from work and their annual Christmas Party. He and 1 and 2 would go out to the local tree selling place, actually I have no idea where they went, but they always came back with a tree. It must have been close, because I can remember years where the tree that they choose was not the perfect tree for our house and they had to go back and try again. One year really stands out in my memory, because we had two trees. As the story goes, father and his gang returned home, put the tree up, and father gave it a nice coat of white snow, oh it was a beautiful sight, but the next thing 6 knew, as tradition foretold, they went and got a new tree and this one was just a green pine tree. As 6 got a little older the tradition changed, we got up early the Saturday morning before Christmas, and load-up the light blue station wagon, and headed out to the tree farm to cut our own tree. Now it was 5,6,7,&8’s turn to choose a tree. Man we really got some Fine looking trees. We walked for miles out in the snow, to choose the perfect tree, loaded her up on top of the wagon, and headed to Denny’s for some breakfast. As a side note, it was about this time in my life where I was introduced to my first artificial CT. It was over there on Bossert Street, they had an all silver tree that had a light that shined different colors on the tree, it was truly magical! (Hey number 3, I sure hope that you did into dump that gem in the trash! That is a quality item, and would look real good in the family room at our Chrithmas party). It was about this time where the tradition changed and we decorated the tree prior to Christmas eve. As time progressed and 6 moved to the gateway city, and had a family of his own. 6 and 6A loaded up the tiny children (61,62,63), into truckster #1 and headed off to the tree farm, in Chuck Berry’s home town. It was like we could never find a tree that was close to the parking lot, we would once again walk for miles look at 100’s of trees before we settled on the perfect tree. We would cut it down, and then drag the CT over snow mud and ice and by the time we made it back to the car, it looked like Charlie Browns CT. We moved back east and then broke down and got an artificial tree, all the fun was gone, but it sure made life a little easier, and a lot less festive. Yes the tree is a wonderful thing, but it still comes from nature, so there is no perfect tree. They are bald, crooked, messy, hard and heavy. It takes you hours to get them in the tree stand, you are never warm, you get pine needles all over the house, and you put marks on the walls and ceiling, you are forever putting water in them, and worst of all they fall down and you start the process all over again. Even if you get an artificial tree they still fall down out of you crawl space and onto your car. In the end it is all worth it, for on Christmas morning, when the lights are on, and the gifts are under the tree, can you think of any thing better.

Lennytown opens the season

You know there is a lot to be said for tradition. For those who don’t know what it means I looked it up for you in dictionary.com a :  an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior (as a religious practice or a social custom) b :  a belief or story or a body of beliefs or stories relating to the past that are commonly accepted as historical though not verifiable :  the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another without written instruction :  cultural continuity in social attitudes, customs, and institutions characteristic manner, method, or style <in the best liberal tradition> . Given this as the background, I want all of you to send me (a belief or story or a body of beliefs or stories relating to the past that are commonly accepted as historical though not verifiable) you fondest Christmas tradition! As you all know, every blog or story that I post might not fall into this definition, because mine are all VERIFIABLE! Just send it to me in an email and I will post it to the blog, as the countdown continues, we could have several TRADITIONS posted. Let me get the ball rolling! 6 Knows we all dream of a white Christmas, and back in the day, they were all white! (Little white lie). The story begins on an early frosty morning Dec 24^th. As it was the tradition, 6 would gather all of his hard earned “tip” money from his paper route, and meet his friend (yes 6 had friends, and at least one of them was real) at the bus stop on to “top the hill”. After walking up hill for miles in the driving snow, 6’s friend and as well as the bus arrived, and we boarded. It was standing room only, as we made stop every 100 yards, more and more people boarded, but that did not matter, for it was the season of” good will to all”. As we picked up the final boards in Etna, 6 began to notice the scents of the season, and no it was not pine, and homemade cookies, it was diesel fumes, and stale beer,  even that did not spoil the tradition, after all Tis the season to be Merry!  As we made our final stop in the Nor Side by this time 6’s face was smashed against the window, 6 noticed a elderly gentleman noising in the trash can eating his breakfast he had some left over McDonald fries, in one hand and a box of corn flakes in the other, 6 could not help but thanking God, for all he had. The bus crossed the 10^th street Bridge, and made it way towards Liberty Ave, where we were greeted by the women of the night. The next several hours were spend spending tip money, purchasing gift for all of 6’s loved ones. 6 then came to the realization that he was hungry, and had not money for the bus ride home. (No one ever said that 6 was smart, just you’re above average intellectual). Using superior intellect we went to beg for some money from 6’s friend’s dad. Not real sure he was happy about that, but 6’s tummy was full and there was bus fare in our pockets! Soon enough we arrived home wrapped all of the presents, delivered the papers, and sat down to eat the traditional Christmas eve dinner, clam chowder. 6 was a devout  Christian back in the day as demonstrated by going to church twice on Christmas eve. The first event was at the little church at the bottom of the hill, and second was midnight mass at St. Bonnie’s.  Now there was a reason that 6 had to go twice, and that was because he had a lot to repent about. Let me explain. While 6’s friend’s parents keep the tradition of going to 6’s house for some holiday cheer, 6 and 5’s friends all meet at 6 and 5’s parents’ house for some Holiday cheer of their own. Now think back to a couple blogs ago, and the review of the tasting at the tea place on Kiawah(see I got Kiawah in there again). The next thing that 6 can recall was sitting in St. Bonnie’s in a pew with his real friend, and Fr. (got the face but don’t got a name) asking him all kinds of questions. I bet Father knows all about the tea in Kiawah! Believe it or not 6 remembers his sermon. I will paraphrase it was about a white dove in a barn on a snowy Christmas eve from his past. To this day 6  still has no idea what he was talking about, 6 must have missed something!  I did notice 5 and his friends standing out in the lobby of the church, they told us that they would meet us there after mass for our ride home. All was well… After mass 5 and his friends were nowhere to be found I bet they brought us there, picked up a bulletin to prove they went to mass, and left us high and dry. What he did was “Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave us for dead” No we were just doing fine! All we could do was to walk home. While we were in church for the past 3 hours, the snow came and the temperature dropped. It was now about 10 with a -10 wind-chill factor, with 3 feet of snow, but 6 was fine in his nice new suit and tie, no gloves, no hat, no coat no boots! Clark, Audrey's frozen from the waist down. That's all part of the experience, honey. So you now know why 6 had to go to church twice. After the fist service, we fell to pressure from 5 and his friends, went to the second mass, Fr. Called us on it, so we had to confess what we did, and the walk home was our penance!

Next week: The tradition of the Christmas tree

Words of wisdom: "Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home!" ~Charles Dickens