St. Nicholas Day

The Christmas season!  I love Christmas.  So far, I have managed to put a wreath on our front door and a festive tablecloth on our dining room table.  It amazes me that some people have had Christmas trees and decorations up since BEFORE Thanksgiving!  The boy gets home from college next week (yippee!) and then we will assemble out in the pasture to pick out the least-ugly cedar tree, cut it down, and haul it in for decorations.  It will have three foil-covered stars on the top, because years ago, three little kids could not bear the thought of THEIR star not being on the treetop.  In fact, the three stars are so asymmetrical and curvy, if we did not put them on the top of the Christmas tree, one might be hard-pressed to guess what in the world they were.  Our least-ugly cedar tree will have a reindeer ornament made from a wooden paint stirrer, and another reindeer made from a squashed-up soda can.  It will have a paper-chain made by a 4-year old girl some 18 years ago, and a star made from popsicle sticks, with a kindergarten girl's picture pasted in the middle.  Our least-ugly cedar tree cut down in our pasture is nothing that will ever make the pages of any magazine.  But it is a fun thing to behold each December.  

Today is St. Nicholas Day: December 6th.  St. Nicholas was a bishop in what was then Greece and is now part of Turkey, centuries and centuries ago.  He must have been a very kind and compassionate man, from all the stories we read about him nowadays.  So maybe we could take his lead, however long ago, and do good deeds for all the children and poor people and animals like he did. 

Now I need to address those bell-ringers standing in front of stores this month.  Daughter #2 and I were out & about yesterday (we went to a horse-drawn Christmas parade!), and she commented on the bell-ringers, and made a good point: maybe the ringing would not be so obnoxious if they made bells w/ deeper, more-resonating ding-dongs.  (Those might be my words, but you get her gist.)  I agree with her. 

Now, off to find the Christmas box...