Sure, there were a few challenges thrown at us this Christmas (particularly, the crashing of my computer, frigid temperatures, and a blizzard that brought down 15 inches of blowing, drifting snow to Omaha -- the photo at left shows my buried Oldsmobile with rabbit tracks on the top of the car!) but we managed to have a serene and very enjoyable holiday nevertheless.
Plus, we were able ro re-schedule every one of the Christmas social events that the weather forced us to postpone. It all made for a merry Christmas indeed. And since Claire and I celebrate all Twelve Days of Christmas and Epiphany, we're just getting started!
The first item to be affected by the snowstorm was our traditional Christmas Eve breakfast down in Lincoln. Because the sleet and freezing rain of Wednesday brought travel advisories throughout our area, we decided to skip the 24th and have the breakfast sometime this week.
Then the snow really hit hard. By Christmas morning, Omaha was pretty well shut down. We called off our visit to Mom's nursing home and also our Christmas dinner party for which we had 17 planned. There was just no way to safely pull off either function. However, we were able to schedule Christmas with Mom on the evening of the 26th and the Christmas dinner (with even one more attendee) on Sunday night the 27th. More on those in a sec.
So Christmas Eve was spent quietly here at home. The computer had broken down so we enjoyed reading, music, conversation, and a couple of Christmas movies. On Christmas Day, as we sat between the brilliance of the Christmas tree and the burning logs in the fireplace, we caught up with a few "listening projects" we had fallen behind on. First up was listening to Petula Clark's first-ever Christmas album (purchased just a few weeks ago). Then we played a talk given by James Woodruff at the American Chesterton Society Conference a year and a half ago. Terrific. I had listened to the presentation ("Chesterton and Pascal") once before but it was in the car and so I hadn't got the full effect. I had long had it on the "to-do" list but I'm kinda' glad that we didn't get around to until Friday because it made a really neat part of our Christmas. James' talk was very informative, funny, insightful, and moving. His diction, inflection and timing (being on the radio all those years makes me notice that kind of stuff) was flawless and the ways he tied in these two Christian heroes was fascinating.
But, trust me...you probably don't need the fire or the Christmas tree to make James' presentation really worthwhile. So go on over to the
ACS web site and send an e-mail to Dale Ahlquist asking him how you can obtain James' talk. It will be worth the trouble.
Next up on Christmas Day was listening to the music of my old friend Dave Mirro. These too we had listened to previously but it was in the car on our way to and from Colorado in October so we wanted to have an opportunity to hear them again. Like with James' lecture, the tree, the fire, the scented Russian tea, and the sounds of the blizzard outside made the most splendid atmosphere for listening to Dave's music (mostly hymns and worship songs). We are really grateful to both James and Dave for making our Christmas brighter and more interesting. We were kinda' shut off from the world that day (except for numerous phone calls to family) but your CDs brought a nice warmth of friendship into our midst. Thank you.
The rest of the day involved books.
One of my Christmas presents to Claire this year is to read at least one in the Mitford series that she loves so well. I began with the first one and so far find it very pleasant and touching.
And, oh yes...we had saved "Christmas in Connecticut" for the evening and we loved it every bit as much as the last 2o times we've watched it.
On Christmas Day Two, we had a nice party of sorts over at the Life Care Center, visiting residents and opening presents with Mom. She got new nightgowns, a stuffed squirrel, candy, a cool animal pictue puzzle, scarf, and a few other items from my sister Linda's family in California; food items, notepads, bedspread, stuffed animal chain, and so on from my sister Sherry's family in Kansas; and a few presents from Claire and I. We brought along a tape player and so Bing Crosby sang Christmas carols throughout our visit.
Of course, I should mention that travel on the 26th was still awfully difficult. And we couldn't even get out of our driveway until more than 3 hours of work with snow shovels and my fabulous Yard Man snow blower. I know my Presbyterian friends talk about the "dominion mandate" more than I do -- but until they've taken this snow blower to a snow drift, they don't have a full understanding of what the term means. The accompanying photos will illustrate our driveway and sidewalk experience.
When we got home later that night we found that Chet Thomas had called and left a message asking if church services were still on for the next morning. We called back and said we were sure they would be. But just to be certain, Claire turned on the TV. And, sure enough, KETV was saying that Faith Bible Church would be closed the next morning! We checked a few other news sources: one said the church was one of the many that had canceled services but others (including the religious station KGBI that is usually used for these things) had no such postings. We made a couple of phone calls to other church folks but they hadn't heard anything either. Was it is a mistake then? Yes, the roads were still very bad but we thought it just too strange that the leaders would cancel church and not bother to inform the preacher!
We eventually learned that an e-mail
had been sent round. But since many in our church don't check their e-mails regularly and since some in our church don't even have home computers, this system isn't very efficient. But we've been assured a phone tree will be put in place to rectify the problem. There probably won't be a need for it for another 20 years...but when more than two feet of snow has already fallen in December, we might need that phone tree sooner than we think.
So no church on Sunday morning. But we felt confident enough to go ahead with our Christmas dinner rescheduled for Sunday night.
And it turned out to be a wonderful evening. Delicious appetizers provided by Allen and Cindy Nelson kept our guests' appetites at bay until we finished our preparations. And then with kids settled in at a card table in the living room (Claire and I sitting alongside them), we squeezed in the adults for a repast of ham, potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, cranberry relish, and pineapple/cottage cheese fluff. Ice cream sundaes with a whole gang of toppings available were served for dessert but only after a lot of conversation and the festive singing of Christmas songs from Burkina Faso (performed mostly in French but one or two in Mòoré). And then coffee and tea, more conversation, some word games, and finally some more serious Christmas reflections and prayers. So Christmas wasn't canceled after all. In fact, the awareness of how close we came to missing it perhaps made our fellowship all the sweeter.
As I mentioned earlier, we celebrate Christmas throughout December and for all 12 days of the Yuletide so we still have plenty of activities before us. The Christmas dinner made the fifth party we've held so far with a few "Santa runs" where we take the party to individual friends thrown in for good measure. We've got a few more of those left on the list as well as 4 more "official" parties scheduled. So...it's been a grand start to Christmas (despite the weather's attempt to snow on our parade) and things look swell for the next round too. Merry Christmas!
Our computer woes continue around here with things really in a mess. We're trying one more source for assistance and then it's on to the drastic step of gutting the computer and starting over.
And just when you thought the cult of Obama couldn't get more absurd, here comes an editorial from Denmark's second-leading newspaper, Politiken. And, no; it isn't satire.
Karen Crouse followed Tiger Woods around the golf course for several weeks this year and wrote two articles focusing on his fatherhood. Crouse described Woods as a new man who had found joy and success as a dad and was so changed by the experience that he was a warmer, more engaging person even on the golf course.
Democrat Senator Ben Nelson will introduce a 30-second TV commercial during the Nebraska/Arizona football game tonight in which he defends his vote for the Obama/Reid "health care" bill. The spot will then run on other Nebraska TV stations for at least a few days.
One of the things I used to hear frequently from people saddened to learn that Claire and I didn't subscribe to cable TV was, "Oh, Denny. With your background and your interests, I'm sure you would absolutely fall in love with the History Channel." I would just smile and, like I do in many awkward situations, say, "I'm sorry but I just remembered I left the hamsters in the oven" and quickly make for the exit.
In a story that will make you want to scream, cry and then head for the hills, ABC News reports on how Muslim terrorists would rather blow up airliners than play with crayons.
For the last several days we have been experiencing tremendous difficulties on this computer: extremely slow going, frequent freezing and shutdowns, interminably long times in re-starting, and regular web pages that no longer "remember" me.
Sure, there were a few challenges thrown at us this Christmas (particularly, the crashing of my computer, frigid temperatures, and a blizzard that brought down 15 inches of blowing, drifting snow to Omaha -- the photo at left shows my buried Oldsmobile with rabbit tracks on the top of the car!) but we managed to have a serene and very enjoyable holiday nevertheless.
So Christmas Eve was spent quietly here at home. The computer had broken down so we enjoyed reading, music, conversation, and a couple of Christmas movies. On Christmas Day, as we sat between the brilliance of the Christmas tree and the burning logs in the fireplace, we caught up with a few "listening projects" we had fallen behind on. First up was listening to Petula Clark's first-ever Christmas album (purchased just a few weeks ago). Then we played a talk given by James Woodruff at the American Chesterton Society Conference a year and a half ago. Terrific. I had listened to the presentation ("Chesterton and Pascal") once before but it was in the car and so I hadn't got the full effect. I had long had it on the "to-do" list but I'm kinda' glad that we didn't get around to until Friday because it made a really neat part of our Christmas. James' talk was very informative, funny, insightful, and moving. His diction, inflection and timing (being on the radio all those years makes me notice that kind of stuff) was flawless and the ways he tied in these two Christian heroes was fascinating.
One of my Christmas presents to Claire this year is to read at least one in the Mitford series that she loves so well. I began with the first one and so far find it very pleasant and touching.
Of course, I should mention that travel on the 26th was still awfully difficult. And we couldn't even get out of our driveway until more than 3 hours of work with snow shovels and my fabulous Yard Man snow blower. I know my Presbyterian friends talk about the "dominion mandate" more than I do -- but until they've taken this snow blower to a snow drift, they don't have a full understanding of what the term means. The accompanying photos will illustrate our driveway and sidewalk experience.
As 2009 comes to an end, so does the delirium of “Darwin Year.” From “Darwin Day” on February 12 (Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday) to November 24 (the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species), Darwin’s disciples spared no expense (using mostly taxpayers’ money) in their exuberant celebrations, even though most of Darwin’s ideas were mistaken and his contributions to science were insignificant compared to those of hundreds of others—including (to name just a few) Isaac Newton, James Clerk Maxwell, and Albert Einstein in physics; Robert Boyle, Antoine Lavoisier and Willard Gibbs in chemistry; and Carolus Linnaeus, Georges Cuvier and Gregor Mendel in biology.
Though only 44 years old, Charlie Sheen has created quite a resumé. He is, for instance, the highest paid actor on television, receiving somewhere about $20 million annually for his part in a sleazy sit-com. He has won awards for his acting, established lucrative endorsements with companies like Hanes and created his own profitable line of kid's clothing.
The impending storm is causing a few jitters for those of us here in Omaha and, quite likely, for many of you in other parts of the country. But we're still hopeful that travel will be do-able here in the area and our plans for our traditional Christmas Eve breakfast down in Lincoln and our Christmas Day dinner here (with, at last count, 12 guests) will be realized.
Here, for your kids and grandkids (as if you're not going to read through them too!) are a few Christmas jokes. They're silly but we've often been told this page is among those most appreciated from our "Making the Most of Christmas" packets.
"I believe our nation is at a crossroads and I can no longer align myself with a party that continues to pursue legislation that is bad for our country, hurts our economy, and drives us further and further into debt."
Are you thinking that Team Obama's unprecedented power grab with the so-called "health care reform" bill is the end of the road for America?
When the windows of the Democrat Party headquarters in Denver were smashed last year during the party's convention, Democrats were quick to scream about Republican hate, racism and dangerous violence. And the media dutifully played up the story from this angle.
Of course, the MSM will try and treat this story as an example of Republican obstruction and vindictiveness but the attorney generals of 7 states talking about the possible illegality of the "Nebraska compromise" (and, by implication, its unconstitutionality) is nevertheless an excellent move.
Christmas Quiz --- Number Three
Robert Costa over at NRO's "The Corner," has a very sobering post quoting Republican Senator Judd Gregg on the ugly "New American Era" that we've been shoved into.
Back in October I gave you a post (A New Environmental Wacko Target? Dogs!) dealing with a wave-making book with the uncomfortable title, Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living.
But the best way of compensating for that paw or clawprint is to make sure your animal is dual purpose, the Vales urge. Get a hen, which offsets its impact by laying edible eggs, or a rabbit, prepared to make the ultimate environmental sacrifice by ending up on the dinner table.
"I try to avoid hyperbole, but I think Obama is possibly the most dangerous and destructive president we have ever had." (Nat Hentoff)
In a post from last week ("I've Got A Bad Case of the Post Office Blues"), I described a few of my pet peeves with the modern U.S. Post Office. Here's one I hadn't heard about:
Nickelodeon, the children's media empire, is promoting sexualized and violent video games to children as young as preschoolers. Its popular gaming website, Addictinggames.com, features games such as Candy the Naughty Cheerleader, Bloody Day ("Back alley butchering has never been so much fun. . . . How many kills can you rack?") and the Perry the Sneak series, where gamers take the role of a peeping Tom trying to catch revealing glimpses of scantily clad and naked women. Nickelodeon promotes, and links directly to, Addictinggames.com on its Nick.com website for children and even on NickJr.com, its website for preschoolers.
