New Year - Day 5 - 12th Day of Christmas

Not a Cloud in the Sky - January 5, 2011

 

Today was  the 12th Day of Christmas.  When these words are posted to my blog, it will be January 6, The Epiphany.  The Christian denomination of which I am a member observes several church "seasons," beginning with Advent, followed by Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost,  and The Season after Pentecost, with other special days in between.  Then comes Advent, again.

I was born into and raised in the Southern Baptist Church and remained a Baptist for almost 54 years. My father was a graduate of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth and an ordained Southern Baptist minister. Insofar as I remember, Southern Baptists don't officially observe any of the above mentioned church seasons, at least as such.   Nevertheless, in all my days under my father's roof, we did not put up the Christmas tree until December 24, and it was taken down not a day before the morning of January 6.  Thus it was all my growing-up years, and I continued the practice after I married and had children.  Christmas was special, but didn't start until Christmas Eve, and it lasted through January 5.

My children's father and I separated and were divorced in 1962.  Several years later, I met a man who, despite my having four young children, wanted to marry me -- and so we did, on December 2, 1968.  The children and I moved into his home and he almost immediately put up a huge Christmas tree, waaay before December 24!  A minor disagreement ensued, but I gave up my side of the argument because I saw that I was not going to win.  Another, slightly more vigorous argument ensued when, on the morning of December 26, he started taking the tree down!  I didn't win that one, either.  We were married almost 21 years before he died and, until the last Christmas before his death, the tree went up around December 1, and came down on December 26.   No Twelve Days of Christmas for us.

I moved to a much smaller home on December 14, 1990, and put up a Christmas tree that same day --- but only because I was hosting a pre-Christmas party for my coworkers in my new home.  Even though it was artificial,  I loved that tree, which was beautifully and lovingly decorated by my elder daughter.  I loved it so much that I left it up until February!

Then, I took the tree down, separated and divided all the ornaments into four boxes, and gave them to my by-then-adult children, being sure that each one had a several  of the ornaments we had used during the time they lived with me (the baby joined the Air Force in 1981.)  I gave the tree away, too.

From time to time, I attempt to decorate my home for Christmas, but my heart is not in it anymore.  Two years ago, I festively decorated my coffee table with a large candle and a bunch of Clementines.  I did have a beautiful front door wreath this year, made by Gardening Daughter, but otherwise my house was bare of decoration.   I save my energy for decorating the church for the Christmas Eve service and the Twelve Days of Christmas -- and there's plenty of that to do.  Also requiring energy is the taking down of the decorations, which we did following the service tonight.  After all, tomorrow is The Epiphany, and Christmas is over -- except for the work of Christmas, which, if you missed it, you can read about here.

Tomorrow is also a day.

A Special Christmas Gift

My youngest daughter, who retired in December, 2009 after serving 30 years in the United States Air Force, is keeping herself busy learning how to act like a civilian, and is quite enjoying it.  She has turned into "Susie Homemaker," cooking and decorating, and gardening, etc.

Daughter is highly proficient at cross-stitch, having produced some very lovely and intricate works of art over the past twenty years or so.  However, one of the crafts/skills that she has not practiced for thirty years is any sort of general sewing.  She raised two boys and found it easier to buy their shirts and trousers ready made, rather than attempt to make them at home -- besides which, sewing well takes time and effort, and her responsibilities in the Air Force left little time for that sort of thing.   A seamstress she was not, although she owned a small sewing machine which she used to patch her boys' jeans and mend tears, etc.

One of the delights she discovered in her new home town in Nebraska was a fabric shop (which I visited with her during my trip in July - she was trying to make "vintage aprons" at the time) replete with hundreds, if not thousands, of bolts of lovely fabrics, wonderful patterns and other "sewing stuff," and staffed by friendly and helpful people who also teach classes in quilting, from beginner through advanced techniques.  Even though Daughter didn't really know much about even basic sewing, she signed herself up for Quilting 101, the classes for which began in mid-October.

Around the middle of November (last month), she told me that she was making a quilt for my Christmas present, and hoped to have it finished by that date.  I was pleased that she would make this effort for me, but had no idea what to expect from a fledgling seamstress.  My gift arrived on Monday before Christmas, with instructions to open immediately, which I did and -- what to my wondering eyes should appear but this:

 

About all I could utter was "amazing!"  This beautiful quilt was made by a daughter that had called me only a few months ago to ask me how to find 3/8" on a ruler!!

I think she did a wonderful job on her first large quilt (it measures 50" x 70").  It has thirty blocks, she told me, each containing 14 different Christmas-themed fabrics, with a total of 30 different fabrics in the quilt. The pattern is named "Tree's Up! Lights On!" and was designed by Sandy Gervais (anyone who quilts is probably familiar with her fabric designs and patterns.)

The back side looks like this:

so it's beautiful from either side.

To make it even more special, she has embroidered "secret messages" for me into some of the quilt blocks, and signed it at the bottom --

How special is that?!

At this writing, I'm trying to decide how and where I can display this very, very special gift so that I can see it all year long.  It probably will go into my bedroom for most of the year and come out into the living room at Christmas time.

In the meantime, it's chilly in my house, so the quilt is a cuddle-cover, me beneath, cats on top, as I watch TV from my recliner.

The Work of Christmas

When the song of the Angel is stilled,
When the Star in the sky is gone,
When the Kings and princes are home,
When the Shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To Find the lost - To Heal the Broken - To Feed the hungry -
To Release the prisoner - To Rebuild the nations -
To bring Peace among brothers and sisters -
To make music in the Heart.

- Howard Thurman

My Christmas wish: May all the blessings of this day be with you and those you love.

A Happy Christmas to All

Sending warmest wishes for a wonderful and joyous Christmas Day!

I have put up a small tree and a few seasonal decorations in my living room. Amazingly, the cats have left them alone, for the most part. The tree is on a small side table by my reading chair.  Each morning, I expect to see it on the floor, but it has stayed put.  Perhaps they are on their best behavior, waiting for Santa Claws to bring them some treats.

Rain, rain, rain!  Since midnight, December 23 (only yesterday), the official weather service has recorded over 7 inches of the liquid sunshine.  My own rain gauge is FULL and running over, and it tops at 8". We're on our way to setting a record for the wettest December since the Weather Service started keeping records. 

On the bright side, it's supposed to turn much colder tonight, so perhaps when I leave the church after our Christmas Eve service, which starts at 10:30 p.m. and lasts until after midnight, there will be a few snowflakes in the air and on the ground.  Snow on the ground would make Gardening Daughter happy. For some unfathomable reason, the child loves snow!

I'm off and away to take care of last minute details, of which there are more than I care to admit.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

The Wish is Old, But the Wish is True...

... a Merry Christmas, my friends, to you!

A Special Christmas Story

I invite you to visit and read a very special essay by one of my favorite bloggers, David McMahon, of authorblog. The story is not on his own site, but worth the visit here. Enjoy!

Christmas Spirit?

Lord, have mercy.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081128/ap_on_re_us/wal_mart_death