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 My blog was filled up. I'm too lazy to clean it out. So I started a new one. |
| According to the Bible, the answers: 1/ We don't know. She might have walked the whole way. She may have ridden someone's cart part of the way. It just doesn't say. They were poor. It's not important. They got to Bethlehem from Nazareth somehow. 2/ We don't know. It doesn't say. There was more than one, and not likely a whole convention. We generally think of 3 because three kinds of gifts are mentioned. Some traditions say four. Some say as many as twelve. The Bible does not say or give any names or mention servants or other people traveling with them. It's likely they had a servant or two. 3/ It does not say the angels sang. It says the first angel spoke. then there was a host of angels saying 'Glory...' In fact, Billy Graham, in his book on angels, says that the angels never sing in all of the Bible. It's something we humans like to think of, but there is no indication of angels singing. 4/ No animals are mentioned. We assume that a stable would have a donkey, maybe a cow if the innkeeper owned one. It doesn't say what the shepherds did with their sheep, so there may not have been any sheep with them. It's unlikely any camels were there. We just don't know. A manger is a feeding trough (from the French word for eat. 5/ False.According to the Bible, the angels left before the shepherds decided to go look for the things they were told. So the angles were not at the stable. According to the Bible, the magi didn't show up child was a little older, in a house. Historians think it may have been during his stay in Egypt, which is the result of a warning to Joseph. By the time Herod realized the wise men had not come back to him, almost two years had passed. So the baby was probably over a year old. We can't be for sure. 6/ No. Only the Magi saw the star which moved (the earth moved in its path0 as they traveled. The shepherds found the baby by following the instructions of the angels, and looking for the "signs". 7/ We don't know. It's likely, but there is no mention of camels in the Bible. Secular historians have not determined this either. 8/ We don't know. There is no mention of heat or cold, or season. Popular tradition favors winter.The winter date was chosen to divert people away from pagan holidays to turn to this celebration instead. 9/ We don't know. There is no mention in the Bible. Scholars think she may have been about 13 to 15, the normal age for marriage. She did not have an education or unusual experience working with children. It does turn out that she had good instincts and occasional good insight. 10/ We don't know. Chances are a lot of people were traveling for the same reason. The inns were full. They probably caught up with other groups of travelers on the road. Nativity scenes are not exactly correct. The stable itself might have been a cave rather than a wooden structure. The star was not noteworthy to anyone but the Magi who studied the stars every day. But we don't have a problem with it. It was an extraordinary event. The god of all creation chose to become one of the created, not as a full grown man, but as an innocent baby at the mercy of first-time parents. People were in awe and came to worship, from the lowly to the mighty. Mary marveled at all that happened and treasured it in her heart all her life. We set up our Nativity scenes as symbols only, and we marvel. We can put them all there at once and celebrate like those early worshipers that the God of Love came to earth. |
| Nativity scenes are everywhere. But what do you really know about The Nativity? Answer the following questions according to the Bible, as opposed to myth and tradition. 1/ What did Mary ride to Bethlehem? 2/ How many wise men were there? 3/ Were the angels singing? 4/ What animals were in the stable? 5/ True or false: They were all there at the same time-shepherds, magi, and angels? 6/ Did the shepherds see the star over the stable? 7/ Did the magi ride camels? 8/ Was it winter or summer? 9/ How old was Mary? 10/ Were they traveling alone, or were there other taxpayers traveling and looking for lodging with them? A French tradition has the village peasants at the stable or creche, too. There are two sources of information--one is Matthew, the Jew writing for Jews, who wanted to prove the authenticity for a Jewish audience. The other is Luke, the physician writing for a larger audience. They each add different data. Remember neither was an eye witness to the events. Luke came later, so both relied on the memories of Mary and others. For the quiz, base your answers on the New Testament stories and not the ceramic set you bought or even the carols. Tune in tomorrow for the answers. |
| I went to a church Christmas dinner tonight. Now that I'm retired I can do that. I took my dad, too. They served ham and turkey and lots of sides. We have a ministry to the housing complex near us. The parents were invited to this dinner, and an unrehearsed play took place afterwards. The play was cute. Someone read the very serious Christmas story, while two adults helped the kids enter at the right time. They had some simple costumes and some toy sheep to carry. They had studied the story for two weeks previous, but had not assigned parts or walked through any of it. This was to keep it stress free. Whatever happens, happens, like that night in Bethlehem: it just happened. Well, most kids did well, standing at the right place or kneeling by the manger. The two young sheep (I guess they were sheep. They had sheeplike skirts and floppy ears, like a dog's ears.) hopped all over the place and examined the Christmas tree. At one time, one of them was hanging off the handrail with her feet on the wall. The narrator worked that into the summation about that night in Bethlehem with "sheep running all over the place". (My dad wondered if his great granddaughter was up there in a sheep outfit.) We sang carols with them at various points in the story. A lot of the kids were Hispanic. One of the fathers brought us Mexican hot chocolate in a crock pot. Oh my, how good was that. I figured it would have red pepper or something spicy. But it was delicious and very thick. Not diet food. So I had to look it up. The Barefoot Contessa has a stove top version that involves cayenne and sounds simple. I want to take a larger batch to an outing, so I looked up the crock pot version. It calls for chili powder instead of cayenne. It also requires cocoa as well as bittersweet chocolate, chopped, and condensed milk instead of brown sugar. I have to try this. Apparently, the unrehearsed play is a new fad. Not only did my family dream it up for us, my brother's neighborhood did it in another city for their annual children's party. They were assigned roles, but had no rehearsal or costumes. This one at the church has been done for several years, but I was always working and didn't see it. A good fad. Especially, with all that food and chocolate. |
| You know Santa has a naughty list. Just for the record, I am not on it! However, I heard a remark on a Christmas show on TV last night about a weakness. It occurred to me that I have a few of my own, making a different kind of naughty list. Of course, I'm referring to food weaknesses, not addictions like alcohol or gambling. I can't remember that character's "one" weakness, but I have quite a few. Number one: Creme Brulee. Fortunately, I hardly ever encounter it. It's made with whipping cream and half and half, not to mention the caramelized sugar, which actually has fewer calories than the dairy parts. Next, I'd have a whole group of things involving pecans. Pralines--that's just pecans in melted butter and sugar. You can add other flavorings, but as long as you don't burn the butter, they are all great. Then, there's turtles--pecans, caramel, and chocolate. Next is homemade or bakery made pecan pie--not the kind that comes from the freezer case at the grocery. Other weaknesses that will break all my resolve include hot fudge on Breyer's coffee ice cream, chocolate chess pie, and /or cheese grits. I did not grow up on grits. I learned about those after I got out of college when I was visiting North Carolina with some other students. They couldn't believe I didn't know about them. We just had them plain with butter. I was introduced to the cheese version many years later. I have to mention hot crab dip, another item I hardly ever encounter. It's served warm, with a cream cheese base. The main ingredient after cream cheese is crab meat. Serve with any kind of cracker strong enough to hold it. I'm not a picky cream cheese person. Low fat or fat free are just as good. Cheesecake almost makes the list. I've had enough varieties that weren't very good that I'm wary of cheesecake. But if it turns out to have quality ingredients in a good combination, I might not be able to stop. Actually, a good Philly steak and cheese is hard to resist. But no sides to avoid the stomach ache later. My personal naughty list is probably longer than most people's. My "one" weakness is multiple stimuli. I'm headed to the grocery store, but none of these items is on my shopping list. |
| We have a large barn, or my niece does. There is one half door in a section, which could serve as an inn for our play. We-the grandfather, aunts, uncles, etc., want to use the children to act out the nativity scene in a mixture of truth and tradition. I have made angel wings, like June Cleaver did for the Beav, with silver cording to tie them on. I finally found some white tinsel to use as halo headbands. You get the idea. It's going to be an outdoor, homey, cold crude play with a long of winging it, I've written a narrative with directions for movement and spotlighting. Only the angels need to speak.We plan on doing each year. As they get older, more speaking parts will be introduced. We'll be able to adjust without rewriting as we add props and costumes. For now, the narrator tells the story, and people will go through the motions. We have some adults, and six kids. We could use more wise men and a King Herod. A woman is going to play Joseph with a party store beard. The audience will be small: a great grandfather, a few nana's, and maybe some others. We have electric lights for the roof of the barn, and a big electric star to put over the stable. I'm making a shepherd boy's robe out of upholstery fabric scraps. Afterwards, we'll have chili, hot cider, and Christmas cookies. Weather permitting, we'll eat in the barn with a heater and our hats and gloves. Or we'll go inside the house, but make it short. Our goal is to make it light-hearted and fun. We don't want it to be one more obligation or busy thing on the calendar. We want the kids to understand what Christmas means and to have a pleasant memory. And we want to enjoy it ourselves. |
| I feel sort of foolish. I was trying to feed my neighbor's cat while she was in another state for the summer.Her husband had given me some cash to buy food since he left a week or two after her. It's an outdoor cat. They tried to get her accustomed to eating at my house. The first night, I called her. She moseyed up from their yard and came to my porch, but wouldn't eat while I was out there. After a few days she disappeared for a week. Even the step daughter who was going to take care of her yard and do the monthly flea treatment couldn't find the cat. Then she started showing up again, never eating while I was with her. She would rub against my ankles while I was placing her food, but she acted afraid of sudden movements and never ate all that I put out. She's a multi-colored cat. We obviously never bonded. I never heard her meow. She never came around during the day, only at night, like they trained her. I worked late several nights a week, so she'd be out there waiting. Sometimes, Dad would put out a little dry food, but she wouldn't hang around when he came out. Some days I didn't see her at all. She continued to be stand-offish, despite feeding, since we had always tried to keep her away from our bird feeding enterprises. I retired September 30. Starting in October she started showing up around 6 pm or so. She'd meow, so I thought she was getting used to us. Then in November I noticed the green eyes. Why hadn't I ever noticed that before? She was begging more, so I would give her more treats or a tad dry food. I looked at her to see if she was gaining weight. No, she was looking thin. I noticed her colors were gone. I thought maybe she's molting her summer hair. I thought I was going crazy. My neighbor's cat was almost solid black! About a week before Thanksgiving, the cat was showing up every morning between 10 and 12, meowing for food. At first, I thought okay, I'll give you a little more. Then the noise became annoying. She started clawing at the back door. I was wondering if my neighbor was coming home for the holidays. I had seen her husband walking the dog once, but thought he must have gone back.Then right before Thanksgiving, he was cutting grass. I couldn't figure out why the cat was still coming to see me. She can't eat at both places. By now, you've figured it out. A second cat had slipped in. I never looked to notice it was a tomcat. The personality difference was not my imagination, the lack of picky eating was not just the cat adjusting to me, and the fur color and eye color were not signs of my going crazy. It does tell me I was going through the motions without paying attention. I'm really not a pet person. So here's my dilemma. I'm stuck with a demanding cat. I don't know his background, rabies, etc. I don't want to adopt him and the vet bills. I don't mind feeding him; in fact, since he's gotten dependent on me, I don't want to leave him hungry. But my dad is a bird watcher. He has made the sacrifice for the neighbor. He enjoys feeding the birds. Now only the jays and the squirrels come. I need to get the owner to take back the cat, or have someone adopt him. If he's going to be a stray, I should have him neutered, but I don't want to foot the bill for other vet things, like worming and flea medicines. And I feel very foolish for ignoring the signs. I should have realized there were other cats in the neighborhood. I've put out money of my own, even after the neighbors were home (it was hard to tell, since they had so many grown children checking on the house and yard and popping in and out). The cat has to go. The birds come first. |
| Some families share memories, some share secrets, some share skeletons. Some share the wealth or fight over it. My family shares the germs. We had an intestinal bug wipe out everyone in ten days, slowly but surely. First, the pregnant niece was sick. She's an RN, so it's hard to tell where she got it, maybe some friends' kids. Her nieces, my great nieces, were sick next. Then my brother in another city and his five year old son, then the brother closer to us (niece's father). About then the other niece got sick, and the children of the first niece. By Friday night, 9 days after the first known illness in a relative, my dad and my sister-in-law were sick. Saturday night, I got sick, as did the 2nd niece's husband. It, the bug, fools you. You're past the symptoms and you're able to carry on, so you think you're well. The kids are playing again. But that's where you err. You go out and share your still active germs with others. It takes about 2 to 4 days for the germs to wear you down and take over. And then you lie there, once the bodily fluids stop their urgent exit, and wait to die. All the grown-ups reported exhaustion, but the young parents keep pushing instead of recuperating properly. My advice is stay home when you've been sick. Don't take your kids to someone else's house, birthday party or whatever for at least 24 hours after all symptoms disappear. If it's a holiday and you just have to go, don't shake hands or hug or kiss anyone. Be kind to kids and old people, even if they tell you not to worry about it. Tell them you'll make it up to them when your family is well. I believe parents and grandparents are carriers of sickness even if they don't get it themselves. Of course, that gives you one more thing to share. You can all sit around and commiserate about how bad you felt and make ugly faces remembering how awful it was. |
| I don't know what made me think of it, but I recall the most fun wedding I have ever attended. The bride and groom were traditional and yet so unique. The wedding was unique as well. She had been a professor at a junior college in West Virginia. She was marrying a widower with two small children. Both had busy jobs and traveled a lot. There were older. It was a first wedding for her. She could dress rather plainly most of the time, but the wedding day, she was like something out of Glamour Magazine. She wore an off-white suit, with a Victorian white ;ace blouse. She wore a long locket that had belonged to her mother. Rather than carrying a bouquet, she wore a corsage of yellow rosebuds. White stockings and shoes, of course. Instead of a veil or flowers in her upswept hair, she wore a navy blue hat. It was new, but had a quaint look to it. She's tiny, so she was a vision. The wedding was in the chapel at the college, and the reception in one of the buildings. There were mostly professional people there, some clergy, and relatives. The ceremony was performed jointly by a woman chaplain friend and her minister brother-in-law. At the reception, she ran around with no shoes, and told us how she couldn't wait to get out of her girdle. That struck me as odd in several ways. Even back then, not many people still wore girdles. 2nd, she didn't mind saying so in front of the men. 3rd Why would someone so small with no flab need one? The arrangements with the caterers were that she would get all the leftover food. So there was a mad scramble to pack it all up at the end. I had to travel with the group, so I was part of the scramble. The bride had stayed in the hotel room one night before moving to her friend's house. I occupied the same room with a married friend of hers, whom I had never met. Her husband couldn't come. Sharing saved money, but the bride paid for us. She got dressed after the wedding in our joint room. After the reception, we all went in our various vehicles to her friend's house way up on the hillside. We carried in all the food. The house was this huge thing with glass on one entire side. The view of the sky and the valley was phenomenal. That front room held a baby grand and a ton of people. We walked around outside, while they told us more about how they designed the house. It was a little overcast by then, after a very sunny day. The groom told us how it would be cool to sit on a porch like that one with a bottle of wine and watch a thunderstorm roll in over the valley. That gave me new insight into his personality. After we were all back inside and settled, they started opening presents with the help of the kids. You don't often get to see them open their gifts. Then we laid all the food out on the counter and ate again.There was the usual joking and everyone was his or her funniest. The next morning, we all went to the hotel dining room, her relatives and those who had stayed there. The bride and groom met up with us and treated us to breakfast. Many protested. They had spent enough already. let us take care of our own bills. No, they insisted. They were grateful to have us with them at this important time in their lives, They wanted to be there with us to start off their married life. I have been to many weddings, some pretty impressive. But none have ever stood out in my memory like this one. I never enjoyed myself as much at any other. |
| Thank goodness I don't have to work today. Twenty years ago, or more, I would go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. I'd be one of the first s300 and get a candy bar or a special coupon, and I would shop until the door busters stopped at noon! I'm older and wiser and slower. I tire more easily. I do my shopping before Thanksgiving. I always have a few unexpected things to get later, but that's okay. This year it's the same. The bulk of my gifts are ready to wrap. However, I was tempted today to go shopping for myself. Then I realized I have too long a list of things. So I slowed down and let it sink in, before I get myself in debt in one weekend. I pay all my bills in full each month, so I can't spend more than I take in, which is limited. Thursday night I was looking at new bed pillows, a comforter set, boots, possibly a jacket, a food processor, and a desktop computer. And maybe a coffee maker. My dad wants to go check out some door busters, but he's slow and gets tired easily. I have to drive him, so we can't hit all my stops and his, too. After thinking about it over night and half the day, I don't need a new bed cover, but I could use some pillows. I can live without a food processor, but not without a computer. I don't need a jacket, but could use some boots, if I can find some that don't hurt my bunions (You know how old joints start to separate and pull away, well, that's another story.), The biggest problem with our current coffeemaker is that he has always made the coffee and wants to continue doing so to prove he still has it. He can't see the opening and pours water all over the counter every morning. I come in and mop it up, while he complains about how the coffeemaker is boiling away the water and not making enough coffee for all the water he puts in. A new pot won't solve that problem. So after hours of perusing the ads, we have tinkered away at other things and have not gone shopping. When I remembered how tedious it is to stand in line just to pay, I felt relieved we didn't go out. I'm sorry we missed the bargains. Maybe after dinner tonight or tomorrow. I promised the kids we'd make angel wings out of poster board on Sunday, so I have to go out and get that. We're still planning on our own little family enactment of the nativity outside at my niece's barn. One rehearsal before the show will be it. So I've got to get moving on wings and robes!When you go all out for a holiday like we do, you need a day to just do nothing before starting the new series of projects. |
| I watched an old cowboy movie last night. It was new to me, but was made in the 60's, a sequel to The Magnificent Seven. I never knew there was a sequel. Yul Brenner was still the star, but the co-star was Robert Fuller (replacing Steve McQueen in the same role). A different guy, not as endearing, played Chico. These were the only three survivors from the first movie; they found four replacements to make Return of The Magnificent Seven. Once again they go to the same Mexican village, this time without pay, to help against a different group of bad guys. They used the same music, probably some of the best movie themes ever, but they could not recapture the greatness of the original. The Mexican actors weren't as sympathetic. The bad guy was not quite the low life that Eli Wallach was in the original. Although, I loved Steve McQueen as Vint, Robert Fuller was pretty good. And he's eye candy. Scene after scene of his pretty blue eyes and facial features, I started thinking he must be the prettiest cowboy ever. I could name a lot of categories. My all-time favorite cowboy was Charlton Heston, whether he was handsome and dashing, or made to look homely as in Will Penny. The sexiest might be Sam Elliott. The classiest is Gregory Peck, and he might be tied with Sam Elliot. Actually, I had a thing for Darren McGavin, too. When I was a child, my favorite was Roy Rodgers. I have a crush on Clu Gulager that has lasted into his golden years. Chuck Connors falls pretty high on the list. If we're speaking strictly of good looks, Doug McClure makes the list, as does John Smith. If we go with best cowboy voices, I'd have to include Clint Eastwood, Clu Gulager, Tom Selleck, and James Drury. (Drury's voice is still distinctive, but isn't the same as in his movie making days,) When I started thinking about it, I made a list of ugly cowboys, funny cowboys, etc. Which brings me to today's question: Who is your favorite cowboy? Who is the best looking cowboy in your eyes? I would love to hear your response and any other category you have for western actors. I'd have to have Michael Landon, Ricardo Montalbon, and Gary cooper on there somewhere. |
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