Introduction written on December 31, 2005In late November and early December of 2005, the weather became more wintry than usual. At one point--and the record wasn't being finished broken yet!--it was said that we'd had 18 consecutive days during which it has snowed at least some every day. This broke a record set back in the early 20th Century (around 1918, I believe).
This is the kind of weather that neither my mom nor I have any business being out in (due to slickness, even when we weren't actually snowed-in), so we were pretty much housebound. With her attached garage, my mom wasn't quite as restricted in her mobility as I was, but there were many days when even she couldn't get out.
In short, we were unable to get really prepared for Christmas--that is, in the sense of sending out Christmas cards, shopping, decorating, etc. And we weren't ready to receive guests, either.
It was at this point that I told her, "I don't know about you, but I'm going to be starting a new holiday tradition: I'm going to be celebrating Christmas until spring!"
Even now, I don't have my holiday greetings mailed out, and, while I have a few decorations up outdoors, thanks to the help of a wonderful neighbor, I haven't started to decorate the inside of my house yet (with the exception of some Christmas trappings that seem to manage to stay visible all year).
We have already celebrated Christmas/the holiday season in nice ways--among them, calling people, eating special meals together, and simply remembering The Real Reason For The Season. You can read more about The Real Reason For The Season by going
here.
We really don't know when Jesus was born (some say March; some say September or October; and others say other times), but December 25 was conveniently chosen to celebrate His birthday because several of the new early Christians had been in the habit of celebrating pagan holidays around that time.
They might have been finished with pagan worship, but they were still in a festive mood, so they simply decided to bring that festive mood into their newfound faith. Nothing wrong with that in my book. After all, Jesus enjoyed festive occasions.
I think I like this tradition well enough to keep it in the future--and, furthermore, I've started this blog for those times when I get in the mood to share a little bit of Christmas at some other time of the year.
Although I might be wrong, I think that there might be those times when at least some people (You, perhaps?) might be in the mood for a little Christmas at a time of year not necessarily associated with Christmas (e.g on an August day when it's 90 degrees in the shade).
You'll find it all here...the spirit, the stories, and even the shopping (while avoiding the crowds and rush).
Enjoy yourself, and keep coming back!
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