It’s Tuesday just over the hilltop and “There’s a song in the air! There’s a star in the sky! There’s a mother’s deep prayer, and a baby’s low cry. And the star rains its fire while the beautiful sing, for the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King!”
I haven’t heard that song for many years and it seemed to jump into my head the other day and I’ve been humming it ever since. Have you ever had a song stick around for a while? I finally found the music to it in an old songbook of Christmas Carols and am enjoying its tune along with these last days leading up to Christmas.
There’s a song in the air
Speaking of songs, while I was in the post office this morning, Dick and I were invited to sing in the choir for the Christmas Eve service at the Methodist Church right here in Norwood. Many years ago we began a new tradition after the children were grown and gone by attending the midnight service at this church. It is a very solemn service when the world has settled down and all is still. This year we will be singing in the small choir and then will walk home at midnight while “there’s a song in the air.” It always seems so magical.
Music and Stuff
The writers’ group met Thursday evening for our last meeting of this year. We will start again in February after taking the month of January off. Friday afternoon I was able to sing with the ladies at Maplewood in Canton. We had two guests join us, our pianist’s daughter visiting from Maine with her violin, and our friend Andy with his guitar. It was a very special time with many joining us in song while jiggling “sleigh bells.”
It appears that the Schoolhouse has been sold and we are clearing out the last of our “stuff” and getting ready for the next owners. We are excited about their dream and will share more as it develops. How does one collect so much stuff and why is it so hard to part with it? Probably the treasured memories that certain items invoke and that I’m afraid I’ll forget if I can’t see them anymore.
I laughed and answered, “Yes, I’ll marry you!”
“Oh, will you marry me?” Dick yelled from the living room Saturday while he awoke with his morning coffee. He had seen December 19 cross screen of the television and had been anticipating this date for the several preceding days. Once again, though not as romantic as in past years, he asked me to marry him on the anniversary of his first proposal. I laughed and answered, “Yes, I’ll marry you!” He delights me every year.
This paragraph is an advertisement for the coming documentary co-produced by our youngest son, Ethan. THE UNKNOWNS, a documentary about the soldiers that guard the Tomb of the Unknowns, will be shown at Christian Fellowship Center in Madrid on Tuesday January 5 at 7:00. This is free and Ethan, a former Tomb Guard, will be there for questions and answers. We are looking forward to seeing the finished film with all who can come. Please pass the word, especially to veterans and anyone you think might be interested. This is the link to the trailer… www.theunknownsmovie.com
Not savvy
I’m grateful the computer can automatically do much of the technical stuff for like a car, I know how to turn it on, maneuver to get somewhere, and then stop and shut it off. But the inner workings I don’t understand. I say that because you may laugh at this story with me. After we lost power over Thanksgiving weekend, we could not get a picture on our old RCA television. I tried to figure it out, pushing a few buttons here and there and unplugging all sources, counting to ten, and plugging them in again. Still no picture. I finally called our trusty Time Warner service and they rebooted it from their end. Nothing. Then I talked with a technician and he walked me through some steps, asked me several questions, until we happened on the simple fact that the television itself wasn’t even on and needed to be reset. He explained that I was never to touch the systems button and that I needed to push cable – on, then tv – on. It turns out that we had not been turning the television off and it had been running 24/7 for the year we have lived here. When the power went out it turned off the tv and its memory. All year when we pushed the on/off button the picture disappeared and the cable box went off so we thought all was well though we had wondered occasionally about the humming heard when we weren’t watching anything. Because the picture came on immediately when we turned the system on we didn’t think anything strange about the humming. Now, we have been set straight and need to turn on or off two sources. We also have to wait for the tubes to warm up before seeing a picture just like the olden days. Well, maybe our electric bill will go down!
Our neighbors
Sunday afternoon we held the first neighborhood Christmas gathering and seven neighbors came. I was delighted because we’ve only been here a year. We learned so much about this house, its former occupants, the village, and long ago stories about our wonderful neighbors. Another neighbor popped over yesterday because she was working on Sunday and couldn’t come. I can hardly wait for next year and visiting about the neighborhood during 2016.
Just a couple more days until Christmas and the song in the air brings joy and comfort to all who seek Him. A very Merry Christmas to you and yours. Love, from Sharon