Hibernation

So, we are finally coming out of our end of the year hibernation. Nothing like 18 inches of snow to make you feel like burrowing into a hole and going to sleep until May.

Christmas was a wonder. The kids had a magical time. The trees and the decorations finally came down today. It was bittersweet to pack all the pretty things away, especially the personalized ornaments that the little ones made this year.

There is still the smell of Christmas in the air though. I expect to be sweeping up pine needles for weeks.

Random query I have after the classic Rankin/Bass animated Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was viewed in my house at least 20 to 30 times since October;  was everyone always so mean to Rudolph? How come I never picked up on just how brutal and cranky Santa is when I watched the show every year as a kid? After he tells Rudolph's Dad that he should be ashamed of himself because Rudolph's nose glows red?  Ack!

Santa should be on the naughty list just for being such a jerk.

Fortunately, the Rudolph dvd was slyly tucked away with the Christmas lights this week. I think we can all have a greater appreciation of it's classic nature if we only view it during the holidays. Not in February.

Now, if I could just make the dvd of Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel magically disappear the New Year will definitely be off to a good start.

More Christmas magic

For a great way to see Santa in a magical place and also support a good cause visit Santa's House at Burr Homestead this weekend in Fairfield. It is sponsored by the Junior Womens' Club of Fairfield.

Visit their site for all the info http://www.jwcfairfield.com/UpcomingEvents_SantasHouse2010.html

Yes, there is a Santa Claus.

 There is nothing quite like the complete and total faith of a seven-year old.

 Except maybe that of a four-year old.

 They truly believed that Santa was indeed climbing down face of the Landmark Building in Stamford tonight. They believed without question that Santa, Mrs. Claus, Rudolph and even the Grinch were all taking the night off from the North Pole and spending their Sunday evening rappeling down 21 floors to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. 

Because isn't that what Christmas is all about?

Jennifer 

'Tis the Season

The Season is upon us now, a time for gifts and giving. And as the year draws to a close, I think about my living. The Christmas time when I was young…….

Back in the good old, but somewhat hazily- recalled days of elementary school, I vaguely remember having a part in the school Christmas show.  I can’t recall what grade I was in, but I was old enough to recite some lines and introduce the Glee Club. I can clearly picture myself stage left, sitting in a chair and speaking lines I worked so hard to memorize, in a nervous voice.  Some of the lines stuck with me but I never could recall all of it or where it came from.   

As the season begins, I finally thought to look them up. Thanks to the wonderment that is Google and the internet, I discovered…

 John Denver.

 A Christmas song!

Not Robert Frost or Walt Whitman or some other New England scribe.

John – 1970s-earnest folk singing-Denver. And it’s about his son.

Who knew!

I never would have guessed the poet in my head all these years was John Denver.

What happened to John Denver’s music ? Especially his Christmas songs? Why don’t we hear this more during the 9,000 Days of Christmas that take over every radio station this time of year?

Listening to “A Baby Just Like You” strikes the same sappy-sentimental vein in me that gets goose bumps when I hear “Danny’s Song.”  The Kenny Loggins original version.  Not Anne Murray. I can't help it, the sweetness and earnest nature of the lyrics appeals to my Mom-vibe. Especially as  this is Doodle #3's First Christmas.

It is the first week of December. Enjoy the season and hope you find some time amidst all the holiday flurry to “set your soul to dreaming.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkEYyuvrIPE&feature=related

The Heights and Lights celebration in downtown Stamford is a great way to kick off Christmas on Sunday, December 5.

http://www.stamford-downtown.com/UserFiles/File/HeightsLights/2010HL/Web_Hts-Lts_2010.jpg

 Santa Claus, his elves and Rudolph rappel down the side of the Landmark Building, with fireworks and lots of caroling. A tree -lighting follows in nearby Latham Park. The kids love seeing Santa Claus scale down the tallest building in the city.

This year, Brian Cashman, the general manager of the Yankees is going to join Santa. Go figure. It is good thing, it is not Jeter. I know a few otherwise well-adjusted female fans who would find a way to climb up that building if it was.

 Jennifer