Tomorrow brings two big events. First is the Frederick University (FU) Student Art Show where my darling has both a photo - The Eternal Scribe (tombstone featuring an angel photographed at the historic Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta), and her Water Bottles are for Drips poster. Maybe I'll post both of these when the copyright expires - unless I can get the author's permission. Sharon and I have a date to stroll thru the gallery around noon.
Tomorrow evening is the annual Emmitsburg Christmas celebration. Every year this celebration reminds me of a song that we sang in high school choir called "Christmas in a Small Town". The celebration begins with tree lighting ceremony at the community center with a short speech by the mayor. Fortunately, there is a direct correlation between the temp/wind chill and the duration of speech. Then the party moves to the Carriage House Inn, where hot dogs and hot chocolate are the main faire (two of the four major food groups). Hay rides, live nativity including the sheep, bonfire in a barrel, more hot chocolate. Various choirs from local churches, the Mount, Daughters of Charity and a smattering of other musicians perform. You get the idea. Christmas in a Small Town.
And for the umpteenth time, the St. Joseph's Sunrise Singers will be among the groups performing. We've dusted off a couple of the old standards (it's great having standards to dust off) for the event. Sorry Chris, no "Pinecones & Holly Berrys/ Beginning to look a lot like Christmas" - we opted instead for "We Need a little Christmas/Deck the Halls". And while this really requires a separate blog, I will say that this is our 20th Christmas singing together - where were you and what were you doing 20 years ago?
However, even with all of these, the realities of December remain. Last year we cut down five sizable trees along the drive so they didn't fall on the house. In September we had more wood in the shed then at any time in the past. And now we've burned thru a third of it - and it is not yet officially winter! So I've walked the woods scoping out the ready-to-burn stuff. For some reason, Chris & Alex don't want to quit school in order to come home and cut wood. Just shows how much smarter they are than their father!
And finally, a sign of the times. Every year St. Joseph's Church sponsors several families at Christmas. A tree is erected at the altar and is adorned with tags that specify a Christmas request for each sponsored family member. There are no Yu-gi-oh cards or legos or anything "fun". There are requests for laundry detergent, underwear and socks. These are folks that live here in Emmitsburg - and I can assure you that we have no monopoly on folks that need real assistance this year. So, when you're out buying that 56 inch television to replace the scrawny 48 inch television that you already own, or you're at a fine restaurant eating a meal that will be gone within the next day, think about your neighbors and how you could make a real difference. No, you can't provide relief to everyone who needs it - but for the neediest, a gallon of laundry detergent is significant. Please... do what you can.
No comments:
Post a Comment