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Show iff y' K"tlerlUei " I fir I I .flTi . tb; I 1 I BY rx V As I write, our neck of the woods Is basking In warm, balmy temperatures. Skies are clear none of that smoggy, northerly stuff for us. Last minute shoppers shop-pers are jogging up and down the street in their sandals instead of snow boots, and the 300 plus children who waited so long for Santa to arrive last Saturday, met him, for the most part, in their shirt sleeves. The other night the near full moon tried it's darndest to bathe the world In that special silvery glow reserved reserv-ed just for Christmas, but try as It might, that elusive quality was missing. Complaining, I'm not. I don't like shoveling snow from the sidewalks, scraping scrap-ing it from my car windows -and driving in and on It anymore than you do. But Irvln Berlin got it right when he said 'Im dreaming of a White Christmas.' When my sister was to be married to a fellow who wanted to live in Arizona, she teased. . . T)o you have green grass in Arizona?' Oh, really. . . Well, do they have Christmas inArizona?' I guess it's only we northerners north-erners who miss the snow and feel that it is a requirement require-ment for Christmas. I guess we won't do much over the rivering and through the woodslng this year. We can still go to Grandma's house, but there will be no sledding down that back hill, and no handsome snowmen to welcome wel-come us home each night.. . There may be a few silver skates skimming over the frozen ponds, but no snow forts. . . or fights. Nothing Noth-ing quite affects my senses like a well -placed snowball splattering on the Boss' back. That resounding splat overrides the Grlnchy look and grumbled words of wisdom wis-dom that follow. And, if he doesn't get that door shut, there's likely to be another one. I just can't resist. Kid's stuff, you say? Not so. I'll wager that there have been snowballs since Man first stuck his toe in a snowdrift. The WinterSolstice is past and we've already begun our downhill slide to Spring. Thank heaven winter's icy touch is tempered by thoughts of Spring. Without hope that better things are still to come, life would be unbearable at times. Still, back at the home front, you can't deny that something's . missing and Christmas doesn't feel quite the same without snowflakes. Our Christmas Spirit shouldn't be dependendent on outside influences. It should reflect our inner feelings, those "we sometimes hide deep within the heart. The holiday spirit is a pleasant combination of memories of times past, mingled with experiences of the present. pres-ent. . . A bond linking the old and the new. . . Love of life in general, love of family, friends and self. It's a plea for Peace world peace, family accord, harmony, and peace of mind. The Faith that somehow, some way, things will work out for the best. Sometimes life gets hard. We hear of and see disasters dis-asters daily. Tragedies occur oc-cur close to home often. Lives begin and end. Afflictions, Af-flictions, trials, depression are everyday experiences. Yet we must remember that Life begins and ends. Af-make Af-make of it is up to us. At Christmas we celebrate cele-brate the Beginning of a Life. Humble as it was, it changed the course of the world. We know now the outcome of that life. It's recorded for all to see. But those who were associated with it, only saw the sun rise and set each day. They saw pain, misery, disappointment disap-pointment . and depression, as well as joy and accomplishment. accomp-lishment. Yet, even in the darkest, most hopeless moments of that life - when all seemed lost, Light was given. So it will be with us, if we do our part. . . For Christmas Christ-mas carries a promise that cannot be revoked. |