Real Christmas

There’s much in this life that is beyond my control. In fact the list of things that I can control is a short one, the list of those I can’t is not.

Life gets confusing and scary and overwhelming…I feel unworthy when things get good, and unaccepting when they get bad. All in all I’m a normal man, living a slightly eccentric but very real life. The one thing that I’ve got, that many other men have not, is my love of Christmas.

Like a warm bed on a cold winters night, Christmas comforts me, soothes me and frees me from the bondage of self. I’m not sure when it began, this love, but it’s been with me for many years and I intend to keep it, hold it, cherish it until God takes me to meet the man who’s birthday the day celebrates, the founder of our feast.

Many people discuss when the Christmas season begins for them. It never begins for me, as it never ends, it just always is. The lights and decorations get put back in the basement, the radio stations stop playing the music, the crowds leave the malls, many folks turn and leave their churches knowing that twelve months will need to pass before they return. They forget what the season means until it comes round again. I don’t. Forget the season I mean. I’m not affiliated with a church at the moment but the spirituality that is Christmas is with me every day. Jesus is with me, although I’d never dream of forcing him on anyone else. Attraction rather than promotion seems a much better plan. His birthday is the reason for the season for me but that’s not to say that I don’t love the rest of it too!

Some days leave me without another drop to give. Life gets the better of me and I’m exhausted. But for me, nothing perks me up more that to listen to a Christmas album on my ride home…Sure the sight of this six-foot-three, two-hundred and twenty pound man climbing into his truck and listening to Christmas music in July is an odd one, but the comfort that it brings me makes my life whole again, and makes the lives of those I might come in contact with better too because I smile, wish them a good day and say a small prayer that they are protected in their lives as well.

I love the lights and the decorations. I love to give and get presents. I love cookies and cakes. I love my family, especially around Christmas. I love our traditions and memories of Christmases past and I especially love the feeling in the air in December. The cool, crisp days, the children excited and on best behavior, the Santa’s in the stores and on street corners ringing bells and collecting change. I love all of it!

In some ways it’s an escape, this Christmas I love. It clears my head, fills my heart, connects me with my God. To carry that all year long, to me, is not eccentric but rather a form of worship, a form of prayer, a way of life. Kenny Rogers once sang “keep the spirit in your heart and it’s Christmas everyday”. No wiser words have ever been written, no truer sentiment ever offered. It is this man’s opinion that world might be a better place if we all did what Kenny sings about, all kept the spirit and all loved one another a little bit more.

Although it has never put a stich of gold in my pocket, I say God bless it, and God bless you!

Share This

Wow… it’s 90 outside and all I can think of is “I’d give anything for some snow”. How I miss the coldness of winter, and the warmth of Christmas. Lately I’ve spent a lot of time remembering what Christmas was like a child.  As other memories of my childhood fade those joyous Christmas times seem like yesterday. For some reason my memory is not that one of a normal individual, I remember actually sleeping in my crib, the blue vinyl car seat I would ride in and a few other scattered mements of when I was a very small child. The one memory that I treasure most, you ask?

First, let me point out that back then there wasn’t all this worrying about being politically correct crap, and people went all out for Christmas. Everywhere you looked you could SEE Christmas. From the local grocery store to that house way out in the country, to the downtown businesses, even the city street lamps were decorated with tons of lights, in the shapes of little Christmas trees, and such. It was like a multi-colored sort of heaven for me. There was one thing in particular that was outstanding back then… the Biltmore Dairy bar’s HUGE evergreen tree that stood at the edge of their parking lot. I can only imagine how they managed to decorate the enormous tree, but every year with out a doubt, it got covered with those huge multi-colored lights… and to top it off a giant lit yellow star.

The year was 1976, and I was only 3. Now of course I can’t remember what month it was, but I do know it was either late November, or December. My aunt Alice had picked me up from my Granny’s house and I was going to spend the weekend with her. On our way back to her house she decided to stop and give me an up-close look-see at my favorite tree. As a matter of fact she pulled into the parking spot right under it. I will never forget it. She got me out of that blue car seat and stood me on the hood of her ‘67 Ford Galaxie. It was dusk and snow flurries fell all around us. I stood in awe looking up this giant tree. It seemed to touch the sky, and I was tickled to be there. Now don’t forget, I was only 3 (3 and a half to be exact) and curiosity set in. In the blink of an eye I reached out and grabbed the nearest bulb… and it burned! I let go as quick as I grabbed it, and aunt Alice looked to make sure I was ok. Amazingly even after being burned I didn’t want to leave.

Later in life when reminiscing with Alice about the incident, she pointed out that I didn’t cry from the burn, instead, I cried when she got me off the hood and put me back in the car to leave. I don’t recall that part… but I will NEVER forget how Christmas was burned into my memory!

Share This

You gotta see this:

This comes from Lloyd Darrow, Phd of T. E. R. D –

T.E.R.D. is an organization dedicated to discovering, documenting, and providing, TANGIBLE evidence about REAL discoveries. It’s the definitive resource to explain the unexplainable, prove the unprovable, and make the mysterious unmysterious.

I’m glad to know I’m no longer alone in these pursuits.

Share This

I already operate or am associated with dozens of Christmas websites. Why then do I need another?

Well, it’s simple: I still have lots to say about it.

I got into the Christmas website business years ago with the founding of My Merry Christmas. It was an accidental pursuit and it has been a joy. But that website, and the others associated with it, are for the masses. This one is just for me.

Here I can pontificate, observe, opine — whatever you want to call it — and not worry about the masses.

I know what I write here may not be of much interest to many.

I don’t care about that.

I know that what I share here may sometimes not be popular.

I don’t care about that either.

I know that what is said here could be potentially offensive to some.

To that, I say “so what?”. This is the Internet. There are plenty of sites out there that cover Christmas from just about any angle. I know, because I run a lot of them. This one is mine.

You’re welcome here, of course. But what you’re going to get here is Christmas as I see it, Christmas as it was, as it is and as it should be — all according to me.

What makes me a Christmas authority? Nothing, really. Yeah, I’ve been a presence of Christmas online and offline for more than 15 years now. Yes, I’ve researched it at length and written about it extensively. Yes, I practice the observance of Christmas year round. But when all is said and done, I’m no different a fan of Christmas than anyone else.

But there is one small area where I think I differ from the world at large as it relates to Christmas: I believe that Christmas is central to our very existence. I have talked about this before. I will talk about it more here. You may or may not see it that way.

I don’t care.

That’s what Christmas is to me — the real Christmas.

Share This