Tuesday, December 27, 2011

It is two days after Christmas and maybe it is time to reconnect with this blog.
As a child I loved Christmas and I really loved it well into my thirties. Then it turned somewhat Blue for me but now it is my favorite time of year.
I love it because of the silence. Some folks rail about the commercialization: I read somewhere that if you had not snagged what you wanted by Black Friday, it would be too late by December. I am old enough to remember that Black Friday was the day that President Kennedy was slain but that was a long , long time ago. I have chosen to immunize myself against commercialization. (but in full disclosure I have to say that I did buy an iPad in early November)
So how did we spend Christmas? We is my wife, one beagle, four cats and me. Christmas Eve morning I made Apple Pancakes and then during the day a baked my Cast Iron Pan Bread. My wife works at the local church so she is busier than Santa on this day. She was back and forth but I made her some Spaghetti Bolognese before she was off at five in the afternoon. I also have to gloat (the only word that comes to mind) that I ran 6 kilometers as well, but more on that in future blogs.
I went to the second service of the evening at nine in the evening. The church looked like a church on Christmas Eve - resplendent in poinsettias and light. Although I am increasingly troubled by traditional organized religion there is nothing like the old carol Come All Ye Faithful to starve cynicism in mid bite. I found the net that was cast by the pastor to be exclusive of me, but that to was comforting as really the celebration of the evening is about three losers and outcasts, and in a strange way to be on the outside and looking in, wonderfully comforting on Christmas Eve.
We arrived home at just about 11 pm and lit the tree and the fireplace. That sounds quaint and traditional but of course all I did was flip two switches. We tuned the radio to CBC One and had our bread and two types of cheese. And that was it, a very simple and satisfying Christmas Supper. Oh, but one thing that is turning into a Christmas Eve Tradition for me - a small bag of Frito Lay Ruffles Potato Chips. That is the only time of year I eat them. So bread and cheese and chips while listening to CBC
We opened our presents - three cookbooks and a Heart and Stroke Lottery Calendar for me and a couple of scarves and a book for my wife. A cat calender for both of us. The beagle got some treats and the cats got new catnip toys.
Outside there was a white and pure shawl of snow on the entire country side - a true White Christmas. I felt love , serenity, and peace and my prayer is that everybody in the world could feel what I feel. As many times before my cup runneth over and Christmas truly is the zenith of God's Grace.

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