When you should take your Christmas decorations down?

A couple of years back, I asked on this forum, the question, “When do you take your Christmas decorations down?” I asked this question because there were a lot of differing opinions floating around. And after I asked the question, I received even more opinions too. Some I liked and will include here. Such as:
Well, traditionally they are supposed to stay up until January 6th, being that is the 12th day of Christmas... (Christmas day is the 1st day). I usually leave them up until the 8th, my birthday then take them down... if I can stand it. I took them down this year on Monday the 4th, because I couldn't stand having them out any longer... I have way too many Christmas decorations! :) I feel as long as you wait til Boxing Day to take them down that is okay. They really don't need to stay up when Christmas is over.
Take care!! ******
Or: Some people say 6 January is the day because it's Epiphany or Twelfth Night, when the wise men visited Jesus two years after He was born. My mother said 1 January because she had had enough of them hanging around, so that's when we did it when I was growing up!” *****
Or: “We have just recently had this discussion with our friends as they were dismayed as I had already packed all of our Christmas things & tree away on New Years eve as I usually do.
Their comment was it stays up until the 6th Jan, 12th night as an old English tradition.
Well I thought we followed a Basic English tradition Christmas in our growing up years and I don't remember that part. The tree usually came down when it was dead and passed being nice.
Our own tradition here as we have an everlasting tree, is it goes up on the first of December and down on the last day of the year.
Depending on the day and who is home the tree has gone up the day before, decorated, except for the Peak [Dutch tradition] which only goes up on the 1st. Our own tradition is to decorate it as a family, and who ever helps to pull it down gets a chocy! *****
Or: Walter I myself am so challenged by the fact that it’s over so quick so I still have my tree up. Will take it down this weekend. Many blessings: ***
Or; I was thinking and came up with a theory about the two weeks before and two weeks after, plus your 6th January recommendation. The 6th of January is the 12th day after Christmas (counting Boxing Day as day number 1). So maybe the correct thing is to put it up 12 days before Christmas and take it down 12 days after - something to do with the twelve days of Christmas. And then the two week thing that I was thinking of, is just an approximation/generalisation - two weeks, 14 days, is close to 12 days. *****
Or: Morning Walter, I have always been told the 7th Jan is the last day to take down Christmas Decorations. ****-****
Or: “We had a good Christmas with all the family here for lunch and some of them stayed overnight.
The comment must have got lost. We always take our decorations down on 6th January because it's Twelfth Night and that's when my family have always taken them down. It's nice to have a fixed date then there are no arguments about letting them stay up longer. All the best for the New Year, *&*
So it seems that traditionally it was the 6th of January, or when the tree starts to get too tatty, if it is a real one. However one last opinion before we finally put this matter to rest
The following is from Wikipedia. Where it says:
: January 6th is Three Kings Day. It is the beginning of Epiphany -- The celebration of the Jesus public appearance in the world. So Christmas is over. After Epiphany would be Lent and so on in the Church calendar.
So Jan 6th is the end of the celebration of Christmas and so the decorations go down. Christmas starts several (4) weeks before the 25 with the lighting of the candles in the Advent wreath.
So there we have it my friends: While some people take their tree and decorations down early for aesthetics or convenience, the Official Date is the 6th of January and the day of the Epiphany! (The twelfth Day of Christmas! But that’s for another day and another blog. TOWGP.

The Meaning behind the song, the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Now I am sure we have all heard many, many times the Song “the twelve days of Christmas’ and especially at this time of year too. But do you know what the alluded significance behind these words is? I have blogged elsewhere when the twelve days of Christmas are, but here in this song the gifts on each of the twelve days has a specific, even if hidden meaning to the those in the know.
So the following which I have taken off the net, will explain the significants and Christian meaning behind the song and its lyrics. It is said that the song was composed and originally sung when some Christian thoughts were not popular with the ruling authorities.
Whatever and anyway, here is the Christian significant in and behind the song, the twelve Days of Christmas.
“On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me...A Partridge in a Pear Tree
The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, whose birthday we celebrate on December 25, the first day of Christmas. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge that feigns injury to decoy predators from her helpless nestlings, recalling the expression of Christ's sadness over the fate of Jerusalem: "Jerusalem! Jerusalem! How often would I have sheltered you under my wings, as a hen does her chicks, but you would not have it so . . . ." (Luke 13:34)
On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Two Turtle Doves
The Old and New Testaments, which together bear witness to God's self-revelation in history and the creation of a people to tell the Story of God to the world.
On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Three French Hens
The Three Theological Virtues: 1) Faith, 2) Hope, and 3) Love (1 Corinthians 13:13)
On the 4th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Four Calling Birds
The Four Gospels: 1) Matthew, 2) Mark, 3) Luke, and 4) John, which proclaim the Good News of God's reconciliation of the world to Himself in Jesus Christ.
On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Five Gold Rings
The first Five Books of the Old Testament, known as the Torah or the Pentateuch: 1) Genesis, 2) Exodus, 3) Leviticus, 4) Numbers, and 5) Deuteronomy, which gives the history of humanity's sinful failure and God's response of grace in the creation of a people to be a light to the world.
On the 6th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Six Geese A-laying
The six days of creation that confesses God as Creator and Sustainer of the world (Genesis 1).
On the 7th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Seven Swans A-swimming
The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: 1) prophecy, 2) ministry, 3) teaching, 4) exhortation, 5) giving, 6) leading, and 7) compassion (Romans 12:6-8; cf. 1 Corinthians 12:8-11)
On the 8th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Eight Maids A-milking
The eight Beatitudes: 1) Blessed are the poor in spirit, 2) those who mourn, 3) the meek, 4) those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 5) the merciful, 6) the pure in heart, 7) the peacemakers, 8) those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. (Matthew 5:3-10)
On the 9th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Nine Ladies Dancing
The nine Fruit of the Holy Spirit: 1) love, 2) joy, 3) peace, 4) patience, 5) kindness,
6) generosity, 7) faithfulness, 8) gentleness, and 9) self-control. (Galatians 5:22)
On the 10th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Ten Lords A-leaping
The ten commandments: 1) You shall have no other gods before me; 2) Do not make an idol; 3) Do not take God's name in vain; 4) Remember the Sabbath Day; 5) Honor your father and mother; 6) Do not murder; 7) Do not commit adultery; 8) Do not steal; 9) Do not bear false witness; 10) Do not covet. (Exodus 20:1-17)
On the 11th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Eleven Pipers Piping
The eleven Faithful Apostles: 1) Simon Peter, 2) Andrew, 3) James, 4) John, 5) Philip, 6) Bartholomew, 7) Matthew, 8) Thomas, 9) James bar Alphaeus, 10) Simon the Zealot, 11) Judas bar James. (Luke 6:14-16). The list does not include the twelfth disciple, Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus to the religious leaders and the Romans.
On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Twelve Drummers Drumming
The twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles' Creed: 1) I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. 2) I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. 3) He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. 4) He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell [the grave]. 5) On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. 6) He will come again to judge the living and the dead. 7) I believe in the Holy Spirit, 8) the holy catholic Church, 9) the communion of saints, 10) the forgiveness of sins, 11) the resurrection of the body, 12) and life everlasting.”
Well I found the above interesting. Hope you did too. If not please let me know.

Does everyone expect you to be a Santa too?

In this old “For Better or For Worse” comic Strip by Lynn Johnston, from 20/12/09, she has the mother and her two young children walking down a street at Christmas time and in the first 3 panels, while at different locations, there is a Santa clause in each one. As also in the 4th panel, where the young son turns to his mother and asks: “Mom? How come there are so many Santas?” “We saw one in the Mall, an’ one on the street an’ now this one here!” To which his mum replies, “Maybe they’re ALL Santa Claus! To which her son replies: “Is that even Possible?!” To which mum replies “Sure!” Before going onto add, “The job of being a Santa is pretty special … It’s just like the job of being a mum!” Then adds under her breath, “Everyone expects you to do everything and be everywhere at the same time!!!!”
Sad but true isn’t it? And not just with mothers either. Sometimes, people treat us like Santa and expect us to do everything, be everywhere and give them exactly what they want, and when they want it too!
Of course if you have ever been in that situation, you will know that eventually it becomes unsustainable and you just burn out. So if you are currently in that situation and it looks like lasting even though you know you can’t, you need to just stop and re-evaluate things. This may mean, not taking on anymore tasks until you have relief or finish with the tasks you already have. It may mean delegating some or many tasks to others. Or it may mean simply dropping some tasks completely. At its most extreme, it may even mean changing jobs, if the situation can’t or won’t be changed. The end result is of course in your hands and you have to make the choice based on both what you can do and what is best for all concerned.
By all means, be a Santa when you can, but don’t ruin your health or your life doing it. Remember Santa is only Santa at Christmas time and has a break for the rest of the year! So maybe, just maybe, you need a regular break too! Maybe not as long as Santa’s but a good one nonetheless! Again over to you now.
P.S. If you don’t like being treated like a Santa, spare a thought for others too, and don’t treat them like Santas either!

So what did you get for Christmas?

Well Christmas has been and gone for another year; so it is time to ask that most important question, “What did you get for Christmas?”
Me? I got a load of dirt! Sure I got the socks I desperately needed, the Book(s) by Michael Parkinson, that I said I wanted, and the Camera for my computer that I also desperately wanted. I even got a Callander with cute little doggies on it, and a couple of other things too. But it was the dirt that really excited me the most.
I had been actually wanting to go to my brothers for some time and get some, but had not yet gotten around to it as I only have a car and no trailer. Anyway although I had again mentioned I wanted some a week earlier, I was taken back by his phone call on the night of Boxing Day when he rang and said he would be a round the next day with his utility full of this composted soil, as a late Christmas present.
So not only did I get some dirt for Christmas, I got a whole lot of dirt too! So I am over the moon! (Even if I now have work out where to put it all. At the moment, most of it is still in my garage blocking the car from getting in.)
So while I can understand why a load of dirt might not be your idea of a perfect present, it was to me. So all this led me to thinking about other most unusual but most appreciated presents people may have received. Either this year or in years past? So over to you now for your response.

When do you take your Christmas decorations down?

Well I finally finished taking the Christmas Decorations down yesterday. I had wanted to start on Boxing Day but was told that I should leave them up till Jan. 1st at first. And then someone else said, no Jan 6th is the day they stay up to.
Well I compromised and the Cards and the outside lights came down on Jan 3 and the Tree yesterday.
But am still wondering what is the normal day to remove the Christmas Decorations and the reason for why that particular day?
To me, once Christmas Day is past, there is no point in them staying up! What are your thoughts please?

Christmas Crackers And Their Cheap Toys.

The other day, my wider family (Brothers, sisters, nieces, Nephew and Grand Nieces), were here for our turn to host the Family Christmas Dinner. We have this usually the weekend before Christmas and share the hosting around, thus allowing us all to get together at least once a year, but also leaving us all free to go/have our own actual Christmas Dinner with other family.
As part of a long held family tradition, as well as the traditional meal with the $ meats etc and Christmas Pudd, we must have Christmas Crackers with their Party hats, and also we must have Christmas Crackers with jokes and toys in them. (No matter how corny the jokes or how chintzy the toys!)
Because there were 18 of us, and the day nice, we ate outside on the patio and after the meal sat around in the shady side of the Yard, as the sun became hotter & hotter. As the day progressed the shady area got bigger, but at first it was small and people were basically sitting in two rows facing each other with less than a metre between the two rows. Not a great deal of room but enough for some one to bounce a small yellow fun ball that had come out of one of the Crackers. And as you would expect it wasn’t all that long before all the kids joined in. All the Kids from those under 10, to those over 60 that is! And all were having fun laughing at each others attempts to try and pre-empt which way the ball would bounce and catch it at their first half dozen attempts. It was quite amazing to watch all ages join in and have fun with such a simply thing as a cheap small yellow bouncy ball. It just shows that if you really want to, it doesn’t take much to have fun. Just a willingness to join it and to not be afraid that others may think that you look silly.
So today I would like to encourage you in what is left of the so called “Silly Season" to join in and have some good clean fun and be a kid at heart again, even if the Body is not young anymore. Don’t be afraid to look foolish in someone else’s eyes but enjoy the fun going around, or even make your own, and make it enjoyable for all. What do you?

Yes, Sometimes All The rotten Effort is worth it.

This “For Better or For Worse” comic Strip by Lynn Johnston has the family going through all the rigmarole and traumas of shopping for a Christmas tree, complete with young children fighting among themselves and the dog running around who knows where, and finally finding a suitable tree, having to pay more for it as it is one of the dearest ones. Then because they left the rope behind, have to carry it uncomfortably in the car with all of them. Then being told exasperatedly by the wife not to get needles all over the rug, the husband says, “Every year, we suffer through a day like this! … “And as his eyes saw the end result and the joy it brought all there, he added:” and… every year it is worth it!”
Yes just like with annually putting up and then taking down a Christmas tree, there are many things we do, that have a relatively short life, and lots of hassles involved in doing them, but then, in the long term, the benefits are well worth the extra hassles and frustrations and even short-term hardships.
Perhaps now in the business of Christmas, whether it be with the tree, or with obtaining suitable presents or even just in preparing the Christmas feast, you are feeling exasperated and frustrated by the whole thing and ready to call it quits? Well, do bear with the short-term handicaps and frustrations and remember the joy and long-term memories such a successful and happy event will muster. Some such memories last a lifetime too.
So this Christmas, don’t worry too much over the hassles and enjoy the end result. And also in all the enjoyment of the trappings of Christmas, don’t for get the main event and reason for the season. After all it isn’t called Christ-mas for nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas Cards? You get what you give!

Recently read where a Bishop (or Archbishop) in England suggested people shouldn’t spend too much on themselves for Christmas and spend more on people who have less, a sentiment I heartedly agree with. However he also went on to say that people should also cut back on sending out Christmas Cards and especially to people they hardly know or haven’t heard from for some time. A sentiment I am not quite in agreement with. I certainly would agree that we shouldn’t waste a lot of money on expensive cards, but with so many cards on the market at the moment, one can pick them up quite cheaply; especially if you buy after Christmas and save them for next year, like I try to do! If you buy the cheaper ones that way, you can get a reasonably nice card for almost the same price as it would cost to photocopy your own Christmas Letter.
Thus I find Christmas Cards not only cheap, but a cheap way of keeping in touch with people you don’t have a lot of contact with but would still like to keep in touch with, even if only once a year. Hence I/we send out a few Christmas cards each year and receive a few too!
In fact visitors occasionally remark on how many cards we have, as compared to how many they have themselves. And of course when I ask how many they personally sent out, the answer is always, "Not many!" And there is the problem, with not only Christmas Cards but also with most things in Life. We only get back a proportion of what we put in and if we put in very little, we will get even less back. Yes we get a few Christmas cards every year, but then again I probably sent out about twice what we receive back.
So today, whether it is Christmas Cards, presents or only compliments and best wishes, if you are not getting as many as you think you should, ask yourself how many you have been giving out yourself, as you really will only harvest much, if you sow much.
So this Christmas and the New Year, whether it be cards or compliments, get out there and sow much, and wait for the harvest to come in, in its due time.

Experiencing Both Sides.

This “For Better or For Worse” comic Strip by Lynn Johnston has the wife talking to her friend on the phone, “ My Brother’s coming for Christmas, Connie.” “Yeah He’s still in the theatre, still playing the trumpet…” “Married? No! - He leads a crazy life of late nights, women, travelling! Somehow he still likes to visit us with our kids, dog and Mortgage.” And then she adds the closer: “ ….I think it convinces him he’s been doing the right thing!”
Yes it may be funny in a comic strip but often in real life it is not so funny is it, to be on the one side looking at the other and being wistful or wondering what it is like, but not ready or willing to commit just yet?
Yes there are times when it is good to temporarily experience what the other side has to offer. (If it is not illegal, immoral or harmful that is!) So when you get the chance to mix with people living differently to you, like as in a single person verses a married couple with children etc, such as at Christmas time weddings, funerals and another family gatherings or the like, how do you react to them? Do you go along to fully experience, even if not outright enjoy it, yet determined to make the most of it? Or do you go along mournfully and unwillingly, if you go at all, that is?
I would just like to encourage you this Christmas Season to go out and make the most of the opportunities that the Christmas season offers to see and experience what the other side has to offer, even if just as an interested observer and not an outright active participant.
So yes this Christmas enjoy yourself and view the other side objectively: either to see what you are missing out on. Or to really appreciate how lucky, even blessed, you really are with your current life style. What say you?

Advertising Christ Or Santa this year? 6/12/2008

In a recent “For Better or For Worse” cartoon, Lynn Johnston has the 6-year-old boy ask his mum, “ If Christmas is more about God than Santa ….. How come people talk more about Santa than God? “ His Mum replies, “ God does less advertising.”
And when you look around at all the Christmas paraphernalia on the market, at first glance, this may appear to be true. But is it? To answer that question properly, one needs to properly understand how God advertises and how that differs from the Santa and Christmas commercial advertising.
God does indeed advertise, but he does it not through some expansive and expensive advertising blitz of all the available Media outlets. No God advertises quietly but no less expansively thorough the lives and witness of ordinary everyday believers in Him. People like you and me, if you claim to be a follower of Christ!
Yes God uses word of mouth advertising and this is the best method of all, as if a person is truly happy with a product they can’t help but share that news with any that will listen and even with some who won’t listen! Should we do any less with the great News of Jesus Christ this Christmas and every day too, for that matter? So, whom are you really advertising for this Year? God or Santa?

How to recognize Phony things?

Recently read a comment, which said, “Counterfeit money is only recognised by those who know how to identify the real thing”. And from my time behind the counter selling newspapers where I often to late, found coins from other countries being used, either accidentally or intentionally as Australian currency, I know this is true. When things are busy and you are not watching very, very carefully the non-genuine article often slips through leaving you unaware until it is too late. I didn’t (that I know of) have any problem with counterfeit notes. Or even counterfeit coins for that matter, but every now and then foreign coins would come through passed of as “real” Australian currency.
In some cases you had to see the other side of the coin to tell the obvious differences, because often the “Heads” side was very similar as many Commonwealth countries also have the Queen of England on one side of their coins.
What is true of money is also true of many other things too. Just like there is a lot of phoney money (both coins and notes) floating around, so is there a lot of phoney things floating around being passed off as the real thing and you need to know the real thing if you wish to avoid being tricked into buying into the inferior and often dangerous alternatives being offered around as the “Genuine article”.
This is true of religions too. There are many phoney religions floating around including many phoney so-called Christian ones too! And just as with religions in general, so as with Christianity too that we have to both know and pay attention to the real thing, so as to be able to distinguish between the phoney and the real thing.
So this year as we fast approach the Christmas season, let us all keep an eye out for the phoniness of the festival, and remember the true reason for the season. And the only way we can safely do that is to know the real thing from the phoney when we see it and to take our time in analysing and checking out what we accept, so that we don’t get “fooled” in our hurriedness, like I did a few times with non-Australian coins being passed off as the real thing.
So it is my prayer that even in the busyness of the fast approaching Christmas Festival, that this year at least, you will remember the real Reason (Christ) for the 9Christmas) season and spend quality time and prayer over the word of God; and then know and show the full and whole Christ to the world. Let there be nothing phoney about you or the message of God that you share, this Christmas and beyond.

Xmas or Christmas?

Before I became a Christian I had no problems with writing Xmas for Christmas. It was only after I became a Christian and heard other Christians saying how they hated seeing Xmas for Christmas that I too started to hate it also.

However now, years later knowing the facts behind the use of Xmas for Christmas I have no personal hang-ups in using Xmas instead of Christmas, whilst allowing for the feelings of those who still hold my former Christian view.

So what changed my opinion on the use of Xmas for Christmas? Well first, let me ask you what does Christmas mean to you? Or what do you understand the Word Christmas to mean?

The word literally means Christ’s Mass. Now, Mass simply means, the celebration of the Eucharist. And the Eucharist is variously known as Communion, The Lord’s Supper, or the Lord’s Table. A special Celebration of Jesus’ last Supper Celebration. Hence Christmas, simple means the Celebration of Christs’ Mass, now commonly held on December 25^th.

So that briefly is what Christmas Means. So now let us look at what Xmas means.

The earliest followers of Jesus were often persecuted and forced to worship in hidden locations. Often these believers would scratch the secret symbol of a fish on the ground to help them safely identify other Christians. In the Greek of this period, the letters which make up the Greek word for “fish” also spelt out a secret message about our Lord.

I = Jesus.

X = Christ.

TH = God’s.

Y or U = Son.

S = Saviour.

From this, it is obvious that the X stands for Christ, and so we see that both Christmas and Xmas mean exactly the same thing. Xmas is simply an abbreviation of Christmas using the Greek symbol for Christ. Thus it is not offensive or derogative to Christ or Christians, in any way. However if I know it will upset someone if I use the Abbreviation, I will not use it. Unless I believe that I will also get the chance to attempt to correct their opinion of the use of Xmas for Christmas. What say you? Xmas, or Christmas? Walter

Changing Old Traditions.

For as far back as I can remember at Home, we always had a live Christmas Tree when possible. For as long as I lived at home it was the Boy’s job every year, to go down and around the paddocks somewhere and Cut down a native Cypress type of tree. I have no idea what its proper name was but in our family it was always call a “wild Cherry tree” although as I said it looked more like a Cypress than an actual cherry tree. In latter years when a decent “wild Cherry tree “ became too hard to find Mum went over to live Pine trees and only later when the kids moved out, she turned to an artificial tree.

When I married and moved out we started out with a live tree each year but with the various moves over the years as we prepared for Missionary service, we too went artificial for a while.

We did go back to a live trees for a while when we moved to Transkei (South Africa). Yes, we had live trees right at our first Christmas there. Even if our first Christmas tree there, within weeks of arriving, was only a live potted Philodendron, it was quite effective when lit up and decorated. Later we also progressed to live pines, and finally when they became too scarce over there, back to artificial.

Upon returning to Oz, 6 Christmases back with this one, our first-born demanded we go back to live trees, which we did, and she is still doing this year.

We however have gone over to artificial again, even though live trees are still readily available. But this year we were looking for a smaller, less messy tree and so settled on a Smallish artificial one. A cheap and nasty one at that too! However with a bit of fake snow, and just the lights on it is starting to look reasonably presentable.

As hinted in previous blogs my artistic skills when coming to decorate things, is pretty basic, and my part of decorating the tree, after setting it up has always been relegated to throwing a few strings of lights around it and leaving it to the Girls to hang the baubles and tinsel on it.

Well this year they have their own tree to do, and we ours. So there needs to be a change in our decorating traditions this year.

We are also having a luncheon fellowship from the Church here next Sunday with about 30+ men, women and children in attendance, plus a few blow ins before the event and so this year I have decided to let all our visitors have a part in decorating our “family “tree.

My intention is to ask everyone to put at least one decoration each on the tree. Both helping to decorate it and to symbolise them as part of our inner circle even if not immediate family.

How about you? Don’t worry about what type of tree you have but how are you decorating it?

How will you decorate your Tree this year and who will you include in your inner circle of Family? Christmas is supposed to be a time for family, so will you allow “family” even if in the broadest sense of the word, to be part of your Tree? Will you this year change Tradition to allow others into your inner “family” circle? Or will you keep others at arm’s length this Christmas? Over to you for your reflection.

Standout Or Middle Of The Range?

As stated in my article, “How Do You Like The Christmas lights”, I mentioned that after many years of desiring too, I finally achieved an ambition of mine to string up a few Christmas lights in the front yard and around the front of the house.

When I decided to start, only one neighbour in our street had his lights up. By the time I finished the neighbour on the other side had his up as well. Now nearly everyone has! (Not that I put that many up, just that I took my time doing it!) There are only 11 houses in our court and now only three don’t have lights up and ours just add to the scene on either side of us, and rather than looking inferior, look a whole lot better than being the only house in a string of 7 without lights.

As this is our first year in a home of our own, we have no decorations of our own and so are starting from scratch this year. So rather than spend a lot of money on a lot of lights and decorations, I brought only a few but of the cheaper type this year. This year I have gone for quantity over Quality just to get a few lights up and out there. Over the coming years it is my plan to by better and more specific types of lights and decorations. However for this year, just to get the show on the road I have settles for the rather bland and plain not flashing lights, just to get a “Show” out there.

So I have (and for only a few dollars) and even with little artistic flair, it will pass in the dark, particularly at the end of our court. Although Cheap, They are colourful and brighten up the place. Sometimes it pays to always buy the best and start out small, which is my normal philosophy but occasionally like here, one needs to throw their normal philosophy out the window, albeit ever so briefly. So this year at least we have an average display. Walking recently with my wife around our court after dark, we commented that although our lights weren’t the best in the street, they weren’t the worse either.

How about you? Are you sometimes happy to come middle of the range or are you only out for Number one spot and if you can’t get that, won’t even try? Are you even prepared to change your ways and thought patterns occasionally? Or are you so stuck in your old patterns that nothing can change without destroying you? How about considering things from a different perspective even if only once in a while? Or in this case, once a year! Over to you for your thoughts on the matter.

How Do You Like The Christmas lights?

In the distant past I was not really into Christmas decorations and lights outside of the house. And during our time in South Africa, or at least our part of it, Christmas was very low key and certainly no lights or decorations outside. So it was a bit of a surprise when we came back to Oz 5 years ago to find many Houses and their yards all lit up at Christmas Time. Also a bit of a surprise to find Christmas “stuff” and Lights so reasonably cheap and plentiful compared to when we left Oz in 1990.

Since then it has always been a bit of an ambition of mine to string up a few lights in a bush in the front yard and around the front of the house. However my first-born would not let me do it. Whether it was because, “a few lights in a bush in the front yard and around the front of the house,” would look just like “a few lights in a bush in the front yard and around the front of the house”, knowing my previous decorating skills? Or whether she knew, also from first hand experience, that it would probably end up with her doing most of it?

For what ever reason, I was politely but firmly told, “Dad you can do that when you get your own home but not here.” Well guess what? We have our own home again. (Well a rented one anyway.) So this year I decided I would string up “a few lights in a bush in the front yard and around the front of the house”.

So I have (and for only a few dollars) and even with little artistic flair, it will pass in the dark, particularly at the end of our court. There are only 11 houses in our court and over half have lights up so ours just add to the scene on either side of us, and rather than looking inferior, look a whole lot better than being the only house in a string of 7 without lights.

They are colourful and brighten up the place and even if no one else appreciates them I do. What about you? Are you often hindered by the opinions of others? Of course there are times, like when you are living with others, that you have to take cognisance of the thoughts of others

However if it is not illegal or immoral and adds to the neighbourhood atmosphere, don’t let the opinions of a few others stop you if you have the means and opportunity. And even if it is not up to the standards of some others, so what?

Not good enough for others? Who Cares? As long, as they are good enough for you and doesn’t infringe the rights of others! What say you?

It Is Christmas Time Again.

Well it is official! Christmas time has finally arrived at our House! No! I have not just put up the tree or the Christmas Lights. (Although they are up now.) No! Christmas officially arrives at our house when we get our first Christmas Card or Letter. This Year Christmas officially arrived on November 30.

We have only received half a dozen so far, but they have started. So have I. In fact I have written off most of the cards I intend to send this year. About 80. I just haven’t posted them yet that’s all.

Every year I have the same problem of who will I send cards or letters too this year? In the past with close to 500 on our mailing list, we have run off a photo Copy card letter. But over the years since our return to Oz the number on the list has dropped quite considerably. Also with e-mail this year I will probably do another 50 or so that way. So now with still a large number on our list how does one decide whom to send a card to? And who, if any, to drop off the list this time around?

Well each year I have this same issue and each year I ask who hasn’t replied at least once in the last couple of years? It is they who get the chop and if there is any doubt in my mind, they get one more chance this year, and are then chopped off my list. Of course if they do write in the coming year, well they go back on the list again.

Last year on my e-mail list I cut quite a few off it, including a couple that hadn’t replied literally in years. On the bottom of my letter I wrote if I don’t hear from you this year I will assume you are no longer interested in receiving our news. Well these two who I thought were not interested, as I hadn’t heard from them in years, were the first to reply asking to stay on my list. So from that I never exclude anyone from my list without giving him or her one last chance.

What about you? Are you always prepared to go that extra mile and give everybody that one last chance? And not just at Christmas time either. What say you? Who will you give one last chance to? Over to you for reliction and possibly action now while there is still time!