Tag Archives: Christmas

Christmas Compassion

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floods

Merciless rain and

Rising rivers wreak havoc.

Compassion prevails.

The sad tone of Carpe Diem’s Christmas Day episode #885  and its visit to the temple of Kannon, the goddess of mercy and compassion, turned my thoughts to those who have been unexpectedly touched by the power of nature this Christmas.

 

marie-s

 

Silent Night

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Day 2 of Carpe Diem’s countdown to Christmas is  Silent Night.

This year, in our Christmas production, the children in the Nativity scene processed down the aisle to Silent Night.  Unfortunately, the Shepherds were in such a hurry to get there that  they overtook Mary, Joseph and the Angel, arriving at the stable first with no one to give their gifts to.  Such  little moments are what will be remembered and treasured by family and friends in the audience.

silent-night

Twinkling star, angels,

Traditional nativity,

Milestone of childhood.

marie-s

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2015 – Santa Claus

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Santa

The 6th window in the Advent Calendar of Memories is Santa Claus.

I cherish this battered little tree decoration because he was given to me by Mum and has adorned every Christmas tree I’ve ever had.

As children we did all the usual things. We wrote letters to Santa, visited him at parties and of course we used to leave sherry and mince pies out for him on Christmas Eve along with a bunch of the juiciest carrots for the reindeer.  My brother and I were so excited that we stayed up until the wee small hours and were up at the crack of dawn.  We raced downstairs and just for  a minute we stared in wonder at  gifts he had left in perfectly arranged piles – one for me and one for my brother – before playing with each and every one.  When it was time to go  back to school, like thousands of other children, we had to write our holiday news.  One thing that always baffled me when we did this was that the other children in the class talked about unwrapping presents – the ones with less self control ripped them open.  I didn’t understand this at all because the presents that Santa left at our house were never wrapped up – ever.  So why did he wrap everybody else’s presents and not ours?  A mystery I didn’t solve for many years!

Here are some of my very favourite Santas.

“The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history twenty-four different ways during December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com.”

marie

 

Christmas Music Memories

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I came across this Advent Calendar and have enjoyed looking behind some of the doors.

away1

My strongest memories of music at Christmas, as a little girl, are of traditional Christmas carols.  I love them all. The two I enjoyed the most were Away in a Manger and, because we lived in Belgium, Il est né le divin enfant.    Still firm favourites that transport me straight back to childhood.

“The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history twenty-four different ways during December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com.”

marie