Happy Holidays

Ho Ho Ho,

Well, today is the big day, and although I live alone and there weren't so many packages under my tree, I was up at 5 am and ready for the day. Old habits acquired in childhood may linger for a long, long time. Of course, I never really gave up my belief in the jolly old elf, so that might have something to do with it.

I always look forward to Christmas. My father loved the holiday and he made a big deal out of cutting and decorating the tree. Gifts were piled up under that tree from Thanksgiving on - giving us kids fits of curiosity. One time we came home and opened one gift early when our folks were away from the house, but it seems to me that the thrill wasn't really there. Christmas morning is for opening gifts - not some after-school activity.

We never did that again. And we never told we had been bad. Instead, we found some tape and re-wrapped those gifts and put them back under the tree - partly from guilt, partly from the fact that there is no magic on Christmas gifts unless they are opened on the proper day.


I have a lot to be thankful for this year. The Maryland Energy Commission sent some specialists over to clean my furnaces, and another complement of men to insulate my attic and walls. They caulked windows and blew insulation all the way around the house. I will admit that the house is warmer, especially the upstairs where I used to bring a two-liter bottle of hot water with me when I went to bed because otherwise it took forever for my feet to thaw out. I consider that a real blessing and thank HEAP for the referral. HEAP is a program that helps seniors with low incomes with paying energy bills. I guess they were just making sure the people they help are warm as well as having enough to pay their bills.

Today I will go to a friend's house to share a holiday meal, a date of long standing with good friends. It is always nice to have people to spend the holiday with, since I have had Christmas days when I never saw a soul. I lived through them, though, and that was the blessing in those lean years - I wouldn't really like to repeat those days. People are better than no people every time.

I hope you are having a great holiday, that Santa came to your house and left you the gifts of your dreams, and that the coming year is better for all of us. HO HO HO

PS: The wonderful window art that the Wednesday Morning Artists did for Pleasant Day Medical Adult Day Care center in my last post was sold for $300! What a great use for something that might otherwise have been thrown away! As a matter of fact the gentleman who donated the window when the exterior of his house was updated purchased the same window back as a present for his wife! The Festival of Wreaths gala was a great event with the community turned out to support the facility, which cares for more than 75 clients every day.

Terry L White -Author of the Chesapeake Heritage Series
"Travel Through Time With Terry"
http://www.terrylwhitesblog.blogspot.com