Tuesday 4: Merry Little Christmas

 A Merry Little Christmas

Thank you for joining in for Tuesday 4, begun by Toni Taddeo and kept in her memory.  

Christmas is fast approaching for millions of people...

1. Do you have a favorite Christmas carol and if so is there a particular version you especially like? 

It is hard for me to choose just one Christmas Carol that I like. I love them all. One tradition that my hubby and I like is to listen to Handel's Messiah (the first part) during the Christmas season. We try to save the second part for Easter, but we usually listen to the whole thing both holidays at some point. Hubby also loves to listen to some of Mozart's Christmas music. Of course we love ALL the traditional Christmas Carols. I honestly cannot narrow it down to one. We have CD's with music that we listen to during the week of Christmas in particular, and the Christian radio stations play Christmas music all month long, so I listen to that if I happen to be in the car by myself. (Which doesn't happen very often anymore since I retired...)

2.Do you have a special dinner for the holidays? What foods are included? 

We vary each year on what we have on Christmas day, but more often than not we have ham or my Grandma Mursch's ham loaf recipe. This year my daughter in love is baking the hamloaf for us, and a friend is coming to join us and is bringing a wonderful seafood casserole over rice. We will have a green salad and some other vegetables and of course pies for dessert. Probably a pumpkin and a chocolate cream pie, and maybe apple if I have time.  A couple of years ago we had lasagna for Christmas dinner, and that was a big hit too. When my mother in law was still living, we would always have a "fresh ham" for Christmas, which is a big pork roast. That was always delicious, but it isn't always easy to find.   

3.Holiday movies: which do you like to watch? 

I love to watch "Miracle on 34th Street", "The Bishop's Wife" (the old version with Cary Grant and Loretta Young and David Niven),

A Christmas Carol, (the 1938 version with Reginald Owen as Scrooge, and Gene Lockhart as Bob Cratchit) , and also the newer movies of "A Christmas Story" and "Christmas Vacation" for a good laugh.   

4. What traditions do you continue to keep year after year for the holidays?

As was true in my family growing up, we do not put any gifts out under the tree until late Christmas eve, when any of the "kids" who may still be home have gone to bed.  Our "kids" are all adults now, but that is still the tradition. No one sees any gifts until they get up Christmas morning, and that saves from having people shaking and rattling and peeking at gifts to try and determine what is in them. We also have stockings for every member of the family. They usually are filled with candy, fruit, nuts, and/or small gifts.

Here I am with my sister and two brothers. I am the littlest one on the left. This was our first Christmas in our new house that my Daddy built in 1957. Our stockings weren't very big...I'm not sure if "Santa" brought us bigger ones filled with goodies that year or not. 

And this is me on Christmas morning. I got what I wanted...a Doctor kit! Can you tell I was happy? Again, this was our first Christmas in this house, and we didn't have any rugs on the cold concrete floor yet. The concrete block "brick" walls were still unpainted . That fireplace in the previous picture was our main source of heat, except for a small propane wall heater back in the hallway near the bedrooms, and it was COLD, even in Florida! That little chair behind me made of pine logs was part of a set my mother bought from some Seminole Indians who were out peddling their wares from the back of a truck.  We didn't have much furniture in the house yet and she wanted something to sit on and this was cheap I guess so she bought it and a little settee for two.  It wasn't very comfortable and kind of ugly, and it seems like I remember my father not being very pleased with her purchase, but it eventually became porch furniture outside. Our tree was one someone brought us from out in the woods, and I guess my Daddy didn't have time to put up the train under the tree that year.  But even though things were a bit cold and bare, we had a wonderful Christmas and this little girl was very happy.

A few years later, when I was 13, I wrote this acrostic poem for the "Christmas Holidays".  I hope you can read my writing and excuse my scratching out of words. I don't think this was the final version that was graded... Poetry has never been my strong suit. LOL.

And just to finish this off, were you able to see the "Christmas Star" in the skies last night? (Monday night).  I tried to get some pictures, but my camera can't zoom in on the night skies very well. Here's a few examples of what I was able to capture on my cell phone and then on my regular camera:

First attempts before it was really dark. See the little bright dot in the sky over the trees?

I thought these were kind of interesting. I had to fill with light when I edited the photo from my regular camera, and this is how it turned out:

(these first two were the result of my camera moving I think. Not sure exactly what caused this)

But this is what happened when I edited my photos by filling with light:

I put this on Facebook last night and someone said it looked like the "Covid 19". I said I hoped that meant it was all gone to Jupiter!!!

I thought those were very unique. I am sure there will be those who will post pictures through their telescopic lens, and I can't wait to see them. I wish I had some more sophisticated telephoto equipment, but that is something that is a bit beyond my budget at this time, so will just enjoy whatever anyone else shares. I do hope there will be some!

This reminds me of several Christmas songs about the Star of Bethlehem that I do love:

Beautiful Star of Bethlehem

And "We Three Kings of Orient Are"

And another good one, "When They Saw the Star They Rejoiced with Great Joy"

I hope that you will have a very "Merry Little Christmas"...and that you will rejoice with great joy at the Birth of Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, "God with us", Wonderful Counselor, The Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace...

Jesus said in Revelation 22:12-13, 16

"And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, 

to give to every one according to his work.

13.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last."

16 "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star."

Have a wonderful Christmas week!   Now please go visit over at Tuesday Four and see what others are sharing about their Christmas traditions.  Thank you to Annie from Cottage by the Sea for keeping this going each week.

Sharing also today with Rose Chintz Cottage "No Place Like Home" party.  Please go visit Sandi and our other friends when you have time!! It's wonderful to make new friends at Christmas!