Many years ago, when the girls were much younger, I ran across a wonderful book called “Many Moons” by James Thurber. It is the story of a young princess who falls ill one day after a “surfeit of raspberry tarts”. The Royal Physician sends for her father the King, who tells her that he will get her anything that her heart desires. The princess tells the King that if she can have the moon, “I will be well again”.
The original “Cook’s Tour” guy, Thomas Cook
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On January 10, 2011, my little vanity project started out:
Well, I guess I’m going to really do this thing. I don’t know how often I’ll be posting, or if it will be any good, or if anyone will even read what I write.
I’m still learning my way around the whole blog “thing”, so be patient with me!
It’s hard to believe that I have been doing this for 11 years – WOW!!!!
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When you start up a blog, one of the first things that you have to do is come up with a name for it. You want it to be catchy and personalized, without sounding too self-important. You also want to hint to people what kind of adventure they will be going on if they decide to read your blog.
With that in mind, here is how I came up with the name for my blog:
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Gets me every time…
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And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed….And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem….To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:1-7 KJV)
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Happy day before Christmas! I had a bit of a conundrum with today’s musical selections. I ended up with many selections which lend themselves to “Christmas Eve”; some deal with the “Santa Claus” aspect of Christmas, while others celebrate the TRUE meaning of the Christmas season – the birth of Jesus; God come down to live with Man.
The two styles of songs didn’t really “mesh” for the mood that I was trying to set, so I’ve done something different today – this post features more “secular” songs; Part II is more reflective.
Today’s first song is about someone who is missing the one that they love on Christmas Eve – “Merry Christmas, Darling”, sung by Karen Carpenter:
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When I was a kid, I loved this song, but it took me FOREVER to finally get the rhythm down right when I would sing it without accompaniment! Of course, in church, we sang it reverently, but there have been some really rollicking versions released in recent years; I hope you like today’s musical choices!
Whoever made the decision to team up Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters deserves a medal for raising the spirits of families in this country at a time when there was lots of uncertainty about what the future held in store.
Between 1939 and 1952, they recorded 47 songs together – including 6 Christmas songs – almost half of which (23) made it onto the Billboard charts (the most successful pairing of musical acts in recording history). Many of these songs are still very popular today, even among younger listeners.
I’ve always loved the “scratchy” tone on these recordings; it gives them a unique sound and places them at a particular time in history. Whenever I hear these “old” recordings, I think of families sitting around together in their living rooms, listening to the “newest” tunes by the contemporary artists of their day. This post is for all of them.
….And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. (Luke 2:8-9 KJV)
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I don’t know about you, but for me there are certain songs that I hear on the radio that always put me in a Christmas frame of mind. The funny thing is, they are all songs that are – for lack of a better word – “older”.
But I guess that’s the thing – they weren’t really all that “old” when I was a kid; they were the popular songs of the day. Who knows what songs the kids of today will associate with Christmas when they get older?
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What’s that you say, Skippy? Your sweetie’s far from home? Well, just tell him/her to “Please Come Home For Christmas”:
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The Fat Lady Has Sung
Koch's Tour 