What Time Is It Anyway?

View from our window in Nashville

So here we are one day out on our way to a warm winter after Christmas in Atlanta. We left a day early to avoid an incoming snowstorm so we are taking it slow and easy. (Can you say 4 days to get to Atlanta is slow and easy?) We spent the night in the Eastern Time Zone in Clarksville, In. It was a rather short drive to Nashville from there which allowed us to arrive in the afternoon early enough to find a show to attend that evening and low and behold, my dream come true show was in town.

All my life I longed to see the Radio City Rocketts and secretly fantasized about being one of them. The only reason I watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade is to get a glimpse of them. We saw them once in Las Vegas at a small night club on a small stage in what I now realized was like seeing the Readers Digest Condensed version.

So I was thrilled that we were able to get decent seats at the last minute. The show was at 7:30 and we were asked to show up by 7:00 to claim our tickets. So we plugged the address for the Grand Ole Oprey into the GPS. An address we found out later was wrong. The ticket agent gave me the address for the motel rather than the theater. We arrived at out destination at 6:52 only to find ourselves in a line of traffic getting into the parking lot which was unbelievably slow and troublesome time wise. After about 10 minutes we were able to talk to a person directing the traffic only to find out we were in line to get onto the motel grounds to ride through and view the Christmas lights. The theater was in an entirely different place. He gave us some very confusing directions and no way were we going to be there by 7:00.

Then a miracle happened. My beloved husband said "we are stopping at a gas station." I had to shake my head to believe my ears. And would you know that the person in the gas station actually knew how to get us there? She even wished me a Merry Christmas on the way out the door.

We arrived at The Grand Ole Oprey which, incidentally, just reopened in November from the flood they had last year well past 7:00 and ran through the parking lot to the ticket booth to the theater doors and landed there about 7:20. Lo and behold the doors were locked and there were no handles on them to get in.. One lovely young couple standing outside told us we had to wait until 6:45 for the doors to open. Say What????

Yes we were back into the Central Time Zone. Who knew? It seems these lovely kids from Alabama had made the same mistake. So the time passed quickly as we had a great time getting to know them.

The show was more spectacular than anything I had ever seen. There is nothing to compare it to as it is a one of a kind experience. The precision dancing, the elaborate and glittery costumes, and the music and singing were amazing at every turn. It was just the thing to ring in the holiday feeling. After all the Santa Clause, toys, and sugar plum fairies were finished, it ended with a splendid depiction of Christmas in its true glory. The whole story of the first Christmas was told through a living nativity scene and traditional Christmas songs.

I am sorry that I don't have any pictures to post as once you go through the doors of the theater there is no photography allowed. So this adventure will have to live on in my memory and it will for a long time.

Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

This year we have been so blessed there is nothing more to ask for. The year started out a bit rocky, but it took a turn for the best almost as soon as it began. We both have clean bills of health. Our family is growing. We had a wonderful celebration of a blissful 40 year marraige (and counting). We have had outpourings of love and loyalty from our extensive web of friendship. We are financially sound in this time of hardship for so many others.

So what I ask for this year is that you give ou share of Christmas to those who have not been so blessed. Encourage others who have so much to reach out to those who don't. Give our share of the goodies both material and emotional to those who need it most and pray to God to inspire us in ways to spread out blessings around to those most in need.

Merry and blessed Christmas to all.

Reflections on Christmas Season

I am a sucker for falalala lifetime and I never met a Hallmark movie that didn't make me cry. I marvel at the life-changing epiphanies the characters experience and find myself in awe at the seemingly perfect Christmas parties and decorations. I realized this week most of those movies take place in the last two weeks or less before Christmas. They manage to buy gifts and trees, decorate the house inside and out, bake cookies, and entertain with the most lavish buffets on Christmas Eve all in that short time and still find time to resolve some live crisis.



2010 Silver Spokes Christmas Party



Now come back to reality. I have been at so many parties already since Thanksgiving I am feeling tired and bloated and wondering how we got involved in this marathon. After some soul searching I have come up with a very satisfactory answer.  Many of the same people are at these parties and yet I wouldn't miss a single one of them. I just wish I knew how to curb my oral intake a little. We face a celebration almost every day until we depart for Florida in about 10 days. I think this is a reflection of the wonderful circle of friends and family we have around us. Even though we see these people frequently all year round, it is important to share a bit of this wonderful Christmas spirit of love with those who are important to us. It is the sharing of the special times that make the ordinary remarkable. 

Recently I received a lecture from an zealous Christian who does not allow her children the joy of Santa Clause lest they forget the reason for the season. After dealing with the guilt she laid on me for my own overboard Santa Clause spirit over my lifetime, I decided she was wrong. If people have lost the meaning of Christmas it has nothing to do with Santa Clause. After all, had not St. Nick been given the blessing of the Catholic Church by his canonization? The very invention of Santa Clause was born of the spirit of giving gifts  as a way to celebrate the glorious occasion of Jesus birth. The generosity of spirit and the sharing of love it takes to find just the perfect gift for someone is as Christian as anything. So, while I agree that it is important to instill in our children the importance of the holiday season as a religious experience I don't believe we do that by  denying them Santa Clause. We do that by making sure they understand the true nature of Santa Clause. We do that by showing them there is as much joy in finding the perfect gift to give as in receiving the perfect gift. We do that by helping them see the joy in donating to a food pantry or toys for tots program as part of their Christmas giving. We do that by making sure they are in church during advent as well as Christmas and that prayer is a part of their lives, not only at Christmas, but all year. We do that by playing the traditional religious Christmas Carols at home between the "Grandma Got Run Over By the Reindeer"s and  monitoring their TV viewing to be sure there are a few Hallmark movies in the program.

So my advise to you is go overboard with Christmas and celebrate the joy that God intended for us by giving us the greatest gift of all in his only son.