Farewell to the Final Friday

 

our front porch a few hours ago

Please note, with reference to the title of this post, this is not a farewell to blogging but it is bidding adieu to the last Friday of 2024.

I say that because so many times we skim-read and draw errant conclusions. My intention, Lord-willing, is to continue to spill my guts share my thoughts via blogging as we move into the New Year of 2025. 

And I say that because at this time of year, when many of us are more likely to assess where we are, where we are going, and considering course adjustments, bloggers may doubt their reasons for this writing platform. I've done that many times. But it's been nearly 16 years since my first blog post and I have no plans to stop unless I am led to do so.

Sister's Christmas dinner tables

Moving on, to finish up with Christmas this week, I want to share with you what comprised much of my Christmas gift-giving this year. If you're on FaceBook, you may have seen the ads from PersonalizationMall.com where you can order all kinds of items with the name of the recipients on them in artistic ways. 

I ordered 4 table runners this year for families with the names of all the children or grandchildren (see the white runner in picture above). I can just picture the youngest of my grands counting how many times they see their names on the fabric. 

For one couple that has cats and a mule(!!) instead of human kids, I sent personalized mugs and coasters. 

Even the man in my life got something special. All the gifts were good quality, fun to give, and well-received by all.

Since I've shared this much, I'll show you one more gift ordered from PersonalizationMall.com that I had made for Gary's birthday in October. The man doesn't lack for much, but I thought he should have a clock on his desk. I ordered this and inserted a professional photograph of us dressed in our finest. Above the picture is a small pewter plate that says, "Gary and Barbara," and below the picture is another plate that says, "Loving our life together." Yes, he liked it.

So much for the free advertisement. Moving on to other events of this past week: we made a short trip to Jacksonville. Our appointment would take us to downtown. 

one of several hotel trees

To avoid stress in finding the location on unfamiliar streets for a morning meeting, we drove up there the day before, checked into our hotel and then walked to a recommended eatery for our supper. 

suppertime

Our habit is to make lunch the big meal of the day, so we didn't want to eat a heavy meal. This place was very casual and as soon as we walked inside, I was reminded of the old TV show, Cheers. While this was more than a bar, it just had that "where everybody knows your name" feel to it. 

youtube link to theme song

Gary had the hamburger and I got chicken fingers. Lip-smakin' good, all of it. And a live Christmas tree in a bucket near our table:

Note, I've never watched an episode of Cheers but the song is catchy and tells what the series is about.

looking south from the 5th floor

The next morning a thick fog enveloped the downtown streets of Jacksonville but by the time our meeting was done, it had lifted. We were on the 5th floor with an expansive view of the St. Johns River. Had time (and Gary) allowed, I would have stayed by the windows staring out at this scene well into the afternoon. Such sights are mesmerizing to me. But alas, it was Christmas Eve and we needed to head back to Ocala.

Meadowbrook

We got back to town in time for the 3pm Christmas Eve service, which was our hope, wanting to get home before dark. As always, this church put on a wonderful program. We do not attend there regularly but for special occasions it is a wonderful place to be.

Christmas tree

Christmas morning began with our usual quiet cup of coffee and holiday music on TV. We opened our gifts in a peaceful atmosphere that is our preference in this stage of life -- and we are absolutely okay with that. We've done our time, so to speak, with the chaos and drama of young family life and now prefer calm and tranquility.

my niece and nephew-in-law

We did not have anything special for breakfast because we knew Nancy and Steve were cooking up a feast for later that day. Our usual Cheerios would probably run thin by the time that dinner came, but the temporary starvation would be worth it once we sat at their table. Both the menu and the company of extended family were very pleasant, a wonderful way to spend the holiday.

dish towels for "pretty" --
not to be used!

In our dinner conversation I remembered we had not yet driven to the town square to see the Christmas lights. On our way home, that was our destination. 

Ocala's town square

We also drove slowly past charming old homes in the historic district but I took no pictures of them, wanting to just enjoy what was before me. 

Ocala train depot in miniature

The next day, while much of the city was flooding the stores for returns, exchanges and spending gift cards, we drove to the local college to see a wonderful model train display.

The trains were running on their tracks, sometimes three passing each other at the same time. That was fascinating to me. 

The miniature scenes were intricate, very well done, and clever. 

While some scenes were very pretty, others were notable for their attention to detail and practicality in telling the story of real life.

This scene was so life-like that it looked like something out of a television show. I took this snapshot because Gary is a car guy and he can tell me the make and year of just about any car I see. This is a 1955 Chevy.

This scene was for me. While I do not drink, I come from Colorado, which is known in part for brewing Coors beer. I've been outside the brewery in Golden, a beautiful place to visit. 

And for the record, I did drink red wine for one solid year about two years ago, one small glass every afternoon, with the expectation that my cholesterol lab work would show an improvement. I developed an allergy to statin drugs after taking them for years, so I thought maybe the red wine would help. It made absolutely no difference good or bad. My numbers remained the same.

Truth be told, I'm one of those people that thinks wine tastes like vinegar and in spite of trying different kinds over that twelve months, my taste buds just put up with it for medicinal reasons. When my lab work demonstrated that was not the answer for me, I stopped drinking. No problem. 

I eat well, exercise and have no other contributing factors to the problem, so my doctor tells me I'm okay.

an oil change in 2024

With that personal revelation out of the way, I return to my summary of this week and real life. Did you know you can have a service person come to your home to change the oil in your car? We bought our Ford Maverick a little over a year ago and are diligent about keeping up with maintenance. The Ford dealership (that has our warranty) is on the far side of town, so when it's time for service to be done, they have come to our house several times, saving us the trip! Today was an oil change. Took only minutes, the fellas were pleasant and thorough and the only driving was to move the vehicle onto the street!

We decided this was the day to pack up the decorations. Carefully wrapped in tissue and plastic, just about all of our decor fits inside only two bankers boxes and is stored on a closet shelf.

A plastic bag is tucked over and around the two table-top Christmas trees and they, too, are stored on the same shelf with the boxed decorations. As I said earlier, we are enjoying the simplicity of our holiday at this stage of our lives. 

Quoting phrases from The Preacher in Ecclesiastes chapter 3:

                             There is a time for everything,

              and a season for every activity under the heavens...

              a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them...

                           a time to keep and a time to throw away ...

As we approach the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025, may we forgive ourselves and others, learn from mistakes and regrets, do what makes for peace with others, and trust the Lord in all that comes our way.

Until next time, grace and peace.

Seasonal Garnishes

 

World Equestrian Center
Ocala, Florida

Hopscotching today through holiday decorations ....

Dining room decor

Usually at this time of year, I take my readers through a photo-tour of my home, picturing all of the decorations. I have little that is new this year, continuing to keep things simple for the sake of limited storage options. So, a home tour is not the plan but I will feature some of the jingle we've been enjoying this month. 

living room Christmas tree

Our tree looks better in person than in this snapshot. I really like its simplicity after so many years of assembling a much taller tree and unpacking a ka-zillion ornaments. This tree is standing on a bar stool that is draped in a tablecloth with gold metallic threads woven in the red and green plaid. 

Mistletoe is suspended beneath the living room ceiling fan/light fixture. 💋

Where Santa and his Missus slumber

We don't have a fireplace, but we have hung some stockings from the candelabra on the dining room wall. Hmm. It looks, from the size of this stocking, like our expectations are small -- expecting a stick of gum, perhaps? 

Have you noticed that with each passing year, there are fewer real Christmas carols but more than enough of the secular tunes regarding Santa Claus and such? 

I enjoy including Santa in the season since he is said to be a generous man with a heart for the unfortunate. But the music expecting his arrival outnumbers the carols proclaiming the One who is bringing lasting treasure for all of eternity.

TV screen saver on the all-Christmas music station

There is one recording I've heard several times where Jon Pardi sings "Please Come Home for Christmas" and then morphs into Amazing Grace." Not sure what that is all about -- maybe a prodigal coming home? Here's the link for it on Youtube.

Flamingle Bells cross stitch from Sandy

In recent years Christmas celebrations have included the use of colors other than the traditional red and green. There are artificial trees in pastel colors. Here in Florida, I'm okay with pink at Christmastime since Flamingos are known to replace Santa's reindeer. But for the most part, I stick with the reds and greens in various shades.

Outside our house, Dawg has once again been tasked with greeting anyone who approaches our driveway with his red ribbon. And for the sake of Jersey Girl, who says she can't find my house without looking for Larry the Turtle, he's wearing his holiday finery, too.

I've tied red ribbons around the necks of our 5 stilt-legged birds in both the front and back yards (yes, FIVE, but this is how we decorate in the sub-tropics). 

I'm pretty sure my penchant for these Christmas touches on the outdoor animals is not something Gary would have endorsed before I came into his life, but a little whimsy is a good thing. This is our 4th Christmas since we met; he's getting used to my ways and patiently puts up with my antics.

We have a second Christmas tree on display in a garage window that faces the street. At night we turn on the lights and that combines with a tall Victorian-style lantern to comprise our outdoor lighting. 

front porch

While I'm on the subject of lights, we drove up the road just a few miles to the World Equestrian Center. My town boasts that it is the "horse capital of the world." While I questioned that designation when the WEC was under construction, I'm convinced now that it must be true. 

World Equestrian Center

In my opinion, this holiday light show outshines the horses as it gets bigger and better every year. I took many more snapshots than will be shared here. Look closely in the above photo to see Gary sitting in this car resembling an early 1900s model.

Since Gary is a car guy, we took advantage of all the photo ops that included vehicles (or should I say, "horseless carriages"). This VW bus was a fun inclusion in the display.

If you squint your eyes, you may recognize yours truly waving from this lit-up carriage. 

entrance to the light show at the WEC

Hmm. I see that I have got ahead of myself. I should show you the entrance to the light show as we approached it from the parking lot. (Psst! If you go on a Tuesday night, the parking is FREE. If you wait until the weekend you are charged something like $30 per car, but then you also get live music.... jus' sayin')

At dusk, some of the contrast with the lights wasn't that great, but you get the idea. We enjoyed a leisurely walk in and around the many displays.

Most of the lights were in front of (or in back of, depending on your perspective) the 5-star hotel with the large outdoor arena for horses (real ones, although we saw none that night). 

Inside the arena is the seating area for shows, and two jumbo-trons that on this night served as giant fireplaces (emitting no heat, of course).

Inside the hotel lobby, which is very posh, I didn't take many pictures but enjoyed just gawking at everything while Gary held my hand so I wouldn't walk into anything. This snapshot is one of the few I did take of a gingerbread horse. As we approached him, our nostrils caught the scent of the cookies glued to the horse's body. How pleasant that was, and look, a nativity scene was there, too, on gingerbread bricks.

Gary likes to say that I make friends everywhere I go, and that is not far from the truth. I didn't catch this gal's name, but like me, she was enjoying the glam of the hotel.

I can't really tell you what this is: a tree, or a bell, or possibly an angel? It was massive, standing near the registration desk of the hotel, and as you can see, it was very pretty.

Back outdoors again, we stopped for ice cream. I had the Christmas Cookie flavor in my cone and Gary got the Strawberry Cheesecake. 

Florida Cracker Kitchen

On another day this past week, we met some of our kids at the Florida Cracker Kitchen in Brooksville. It is located pretty much half way between their home and ours, so the drive time is equal. By the way, in case you are wondering about the use of the word, "cracker":

Florida crackers were colonial-era British American pioneer settlers in what is now the U.S. state of Florida; the term is also applied to their descendants, to the present day, and their subculture among white Southerners. The first crackers arrived in 1763 after Spain traded Florida to Great Britain following Britain's victory over France in the Seven Years' War,^[1]though much of traditional Florida cracker folk culture dates to the 19th century.

Thank you, Wikipedia.

some of our favorite people

The food was great! Both Gary and I had breakfast plates and our kids had country-fried steak and something with a flour tortilla. The biscuits are out-of-this-world! We had such a good visit.

Speaking of food, back at home in our kitchen, I made some muffins with a jam filling in the center. They were very messy but oh-so-good. I had to freeze some of them so we don't eat them all at once.

And yes, while I like to have Hallmark movies on the TV while I bake, this time it was Christmas carols on my personal play list.

Even though I do enjoy baking, enough gifted goodies have arrived that I need not spend much time wearing my apron.

Although postage is at an all-time high, I think we have received more Christmas cards via snail mail than last year. Many social media greetings have come as well and we are equally appreciative of them. We have sent out our cards via USPS, the Internet, and in-person visits.

Of course, the real purpose of Christmas is to celebrate the coming of God Himself to earth as a human baby. Somebody said that when the baby Jesus gave out his first cry, it was the first time humanity heard the actual voice of God.  Now that's something to turn over in our thoughts.

Our current culture observes this season of celebration in a myriad of ways for a lot of different reasons. Much of what we see and hear can be a strong distraction from the acknowledgment that Jesus is God's provision to bring sinful man to Himself. May we rise above the glitz of the amusements to embrace our Salvation.

"...a Savior has been born to you;

he is the Messiah, the Lord.

This will be a sign to you:

You will find a baby wrapped in cloths

and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of 

the heavenly host appeared

with the angel,

praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace to those

on whom his favor rests."

Luke 2:11-14

Until next time, may your Christmas be blessed with peace and joy!