Joe's Home

Joe's been off to school since September. We missed him but did not miss tripping over his shoes, which he always kicked off and left in the living room. Well, we drove 400 miles, picked him up Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and brought him home. The traffic was terrific, especially on the New Jersey Turnpike.

This morning I couldn't sleep, so I walked out into the living room and there were Joe's shoes...I smiled and said to myself - that's OK, he's home for the Holidays...

Stephy's Christmas Bell

I've had this photo of my daughter Stephanie and a Christmas Bell she made me hanging out in my shop for years. I'm guessing she was 10 or 11 years old when the photo was taken. Everytime I see these it reminds me of the wonderful Christmases we celebrated when our children were very young...The house was decorated completely and Stephy even had her own Christmas tree in her room.

PUSHIN CHRISTMAS

A popular phrase in November is "You're pushin' Christmas!" - - directed towards people who are already in the holiday spirit 7 or 8 weeks from Christmas; decorating, shopping, wearing Christmas clothing, etc.

So what? What the Sam Hill is wrong with Christmas?

So what if Christmas is the remnant of a PAGAN holiday that organized religion twisted into a Christian celebration of Jesus's birthday, completely shot through by the global manufacturing-retail complex in their quest to make a buck.

No reason to be depressed about it, hating it because you might feel COMPELLED to spend money on gifts nobody really NEEDS - unless they depend on Christmas for new skivvies and socks...

Where does that leave us? The only thing that matters is what is in your heart. God knows...

Legalism and human judgement muddies the water, doesn't it? We all want to do the right thing...

In any case, personally, I like it. I like the whole holiday season - it's the BEST time of year.

So in complete child-like anticipation, I put up some new LED Christmas lights yesterday and introduced them to our newest grandson Ryan, who will be experiencing Christmas #1 this year...

Fire Rainbow

Driving through the Shenandoa Valley on I81 last summer in Virginia, I spotted a fire rainbow. It's caused by ice crystals at extreme altitudes. Very rare...

2004 Trip to Sandy Pond

FAST SHOOTER

REMARKABLE SKILL.