Growing up on the farm and going to the local one-room country school meant the Annual Christmas Programme. Solos, short plays, and heart-felt carol-singing in a packed little room with parents in parkas and screaming babies made it a wonderful time of the year.
Christmas Eve always meant the farm water-system breaking down after the church Sunday-School programme and then the men (and boys) going out in the -20C temperatures to pull out the long 100 ft. hose to the aquifer, unplug the jet filter, reseal the hose with boiling water, lower the hose back into the ground, prime the pump and then repeat whole the process again and again until the water system finally worked well again.
The peanut bags with Crackerjacks, WagonWheels, hard candy, a mandarin orange and some other nuts were always a highlight. I used to get 3 or 4 each Christmas.
My first Christmas married to Elaine was in Vancouver where we had a late supper with friends, went to Midnight Mass, and came back to open presents. Thus began our family tradition!
Christmas makes winter bearable.
Call me sentimental but Christmas isn't Christmas if the immediate family is not together at least part of the time.
Christmas trees are over-rated unless they are decorated with home-made ornaments.
The best conversations are spontaneous, not planned or calculated.
Food is a big part of the celebration but not necessarily the most important part. The crucial aspect of the table experience is the joint preparation in the kitchen. Making the meal is almost better than eating it.
The best meals include the right wine (not the most expensive).
Christmas music does not include Boney M.
The "Nine Lessons and Carols" service together with special music along traditional lines set in candlelight is an indispensable part of the Christmas celebration.
How many versions of Handel's Messiah deserve to be recorded?
Presents are over-rated unless they reflect the giver, not just the wishes of the recipient. The best presents come with love.
Gifts of money are always second-best but sometimes only the second-best will do.
A white Christmas is not welcome if it includes blizzards, -30C windchill, or ice-storms.
Welcoming and holding a newly-born infant at Christmas is almost more than the heart can take. It is truly a breath-taking experience.
Christmas is a poignant reminder of the people you miss.
If Christmas is so important, why have I forgotten most of them?
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