December 1st, the Christmas countdown is moving toward us at warp speed. Never being a Star Trek fan I don't know why I used the vernacular from that show. Guess I mean, Christmas prep is gathering speed and soon those who schedule and plan will soon face the unpleasant fact that time is running short. Personally, I have done my part by not wearing anything festive, waiting until December. I must admit that festive for me these days is what Christmas t-shirt will I be wearing with a flannel shirt. Yes, I have pulled out the two flannel Christmas shirts and that only means black buffalo check and red buffalo check. Truthfully, if we really thought about it, why would we want to wear anything that is associated with a large animal? Especially when the holidays open up more opportunities for deliciousness. Desserts, extra sweet potato souffle and creamed corn. Odd choices I know, but during the holidays these prepared veggies are on the top of the consumption list.
The past few days I have remembered Christmas Past. Another odd reference since I am not a Charles Dickens fan...please don't judge. I was wasting my time following Honey Boo Boo. Most Christmas's early on really aren't worth remembering except for the fact my mom was alive and even that some years my Grandma B spent time with us at Christmas. She and I shared my room when she came. I was not a good sleeper in childhood but I am happy to report, for the most part I am now. So, I would be awake when she came to bed. We would laugh, then she'd remind me I should be asleep and then we would laugh some more. Sometimes my mom would come in the room and playfully tell us, we should be asleep and then all of us laughed. Those are great nostalgia memories. If my Grandparents D came at Christmas, well it was on a whole nother level of stress. Not so much them but my father's intense dislike, read hatred, of his mother. I will give my father credit for this, we never knew as children he didn't like his parents.
I also thought about Christmas as a grown up. Please be kind toward me with that statement. We owned a Mustang convertible in the mid 2000s and had such fun with it at Christmas. If our nieces were here we'd put the top down, go to Starbucks for hot chocky and drive around looking at Christmas lights. This was as close to riding around in a one horse open sleigh as one could get in Houston. A couple of years my friend from work and her daughters and I would do the same thing, ride around Houston looking at lights. Her daughter named it the Royal Ride and it truly was, Kings and a Monarch. My friend Dena and I for many years would do the River Oaks light shows but beforehand we would eat dinner somewhere nearby. I was with Dena when we discovered Scary Angel. That angel is a whole nother story but if you Google scary angel river oaks, my blog post from 2007 comes up if you'd like to learn more about that iconic, it isn't Christmas until I see Scary Angel, Christmas light tour. In 2016 the owner of the angel posted a comment about the angel, how they arrived at getting her and put her up every year because people expect to see her. She also noted they did some improvement work on her. They did, her face became less scary. Roy and I had a tradition after the Christmas Eve service at church we would drive around and look at the lights of Christmas. Post Oak Blvd was always on the map of our trips. When we were young enough we did the Christmas Eve service at First Baptist that started at 11:00 pm. Then as we got older, the 7:00 pm service at St Martin's Episcopal fit our life styles and ability to stay awake schedule. Loved those services at St Martin's, the fragrance of Christmas mixed in with the fragrance of scotch and whiskey. At heart I have always been a liturgical girl and it provided memories for Roy growing up Catholic with kneeling and going to the front to receive communion. Yes, complete with wine. As a joke, the first year Roy was a deacon here and the discussion of Lord Supper prep was discussed, Roy jokingly asked what kind of wine was purchased. He said, you could have heard a pin drop until he explained his growing up years. Ah yes, it is always good to stump a Baptist. He is quite funny with it.
Our neighbors above us have Christmas lights on their barn and house. Now that the leaves have fallen from the trees between us, it is a joy to see all those bright lights. Nancy was taking horse, uh leavings, to the compost pile yesterday when we were planting more tulip bulbs. Had a great time visiting and catching up. We see each other all summer but winter temps brings a little more solitude to the yards and pastures. She also gave us an invitation to help ourselves to the compost pile. Yahoo! Those tulips are going to be beautiful!
We went to TN this morning, in the misty cold morning. Beautiful drive with a little wind but by the time we were returning the wind had died down. We were able to grab a quick lunch at Pals. If you can get in line before noon, that helps quite a bit. With the morning drizzle not too many were out looking at trees and such.
It is kind of sad looking over toward Mary Joyce's house. Even though she had been suffering with dementia it was always comforting to see her outside with her little dog or sitting at her outdoor table with the umbrella.
Well, the rest of the lesson needs to be finished so I better keep on moving.
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