Reddish Sky This Morning

Does that mean rain or does that mean Santa is on his way . . . maybe some of both. We think that we have made all the preparations for the big day -- but there is always that nagging feeling that there is something else that needs to be done.

Around the house, this morning -- with "traditional" Christmas tunes wafting throughout, these are some of the decorations. We actually have three lighted and one unlighted trees albeit miniaturized.

Growing up we mostly had the tree and maybe a few Christmas candles scattered through the house. As I recall, the tree usually went up on Christmas Eve and came down promptly at New Year's.

Our decorations inside and outside are usually up for about a month. I think tonight we may cruise through town to catch a glimpse of the holiday show. There always are several award-winning displays around -- but it is best seen after dark.

Speaking of the tree, my father used to go on his own to get a tree. And it usually was on the day before Christmas.

I remember how nice it was to have that pine fragrance permeate the house. These days we have a couple of "pine-scented" sticks to try to recreate that smell. If you are up close, you can detect the pine.

The kids -- me included -- usually got to put on the tinsel -- but only if you did it "one strand at a time". We had a nice collection of ornaments and we were careful not to shatter any of them as we put them on the tree.

The lights were another matter -- that job was left to our parents. And it could be a frustrating experience when one bulb burnt out -- the whole strand might go out and then you'd have to check each bulb until you locate the one that needed changing. So glad that we have come a long way from that. I imagine that is what was said when candle-lit trees went out of use.

I do not recall seeing any presents until Christmas morning. I'm not sure where my parents stored them, probably my older siblings knew that kind of information.

But I do remember associating cigar-aroma with the Christmas Eve wrapping fest that my folks had.

Apparently, my father would receive a Christmas cigar each year from his boss at work -- and he would smoke it while wrapping the gifts. That is the only time of the year that a cigar was smoked that I recall even though I enjoyed the cigar fragrance a lot.

So traditions have changed dramatically since those days. I might purchase Christmas gifts throughout the year as things strike my fancy. Then I do wait until the last minute to do the wrapping myself -- no cigar though -- being retired I have no boss to gift me one . . .

Of course, we have a Christmas puzzle project going on. We are about a little over half-way and we have the hardest part to finish -- mostly various shades of bluish sky sprinkled with snow-covered branches AND the bulk of the decorated Christmas tree.

It has been an enjoyable puzzle and we are on track to finish about the same time that Santa arrives -- hopefully bringing us some new puzzles . . .we've put in probably 600 of the 1000 pieces.

There is a theme to this post . . . but our street today and most-likely all across the country is full of active Santas (UPS, FedEx, and the USPS)are racing up and down the street dropping off packages.

I have to say that not one gift that we purchased did we go into a "brick and mortar" store to do that -- online all the time.

When are we ever going to get "drone" delivery that we keep hearing about -- that will really be interesting, and a little creepy as well. Imagine seeing those devices descending from the sky to deliver our packages. What would our ancestors think?

And finally:

We do wish everyone the very best Christmas this year, 2018!  Hope to see you all "in a few"! 🎅