Faith, Folklore, and Friends

I heard a bird sing In the dark of December A magical thing And sweet to remember. 'We are nearer to Spring Than we were in September,' I heard a bird sing In the dark of December. Oliver Herford, I Heard a Bird Sing

Last night, it was raining with the threat of snow. The dark was accompanied by a wind that undoubtedly had just passed over a glacier before it got to North Alabama. Normally, on a night such as that, I would be snuggled in jammies and under a quilt on the couch. But last night was different. First of all, yesterday marked the 42nd journey of the earth around the sun since that rainy day in 1969 when Hub and I were married. I have made countless meals since then, but I refused to cook last night. We enjoyed dinner out and then went to a concert by Dr. Bill Foster and the Foster Family band. In addition to being a musician, Dr. Foster is a superb storyteller. He shared some Civil War stories that his family had planted as they spent evenings on the front porch of their Appalachian home. His stories are so real and pure that you can almost feel the rough boards of the porch beneath you. We were accompanied by some friends that are relatively new to the area, and it was the first time th...

In three days, it will be December. For those of you who need a little jolt to get you in the Christmas spirit, check out these books! Other than the true Christmas story in the Bible, this is my favorite Christmas book. It was published in 2004, and I think I have read it every Christmas since then. Alabama native Fannie Flagg, recent winner of the 2012 Harper Lee award, knows what she is talking about! I feel like I know everyone in this book personally. Most people are familiar with this book because it was made into a movie that is shown over and over every year. This is not a typical John Grissom book, but it is fun and worth reading. Get out the tissues; you are going to need several before you finish this book! An Irish Christmas is new for me this year, although it was published in 2007. Sounds good; its at the top of my 'to be read' stack. Does anyone have favorite Christmas books that I need to know about? All these books are fairly short and easy...

The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving. -H.U. Westermayer The most detailed description of the "First Thanksgiving" comes from Edward Winslow from A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth , in 1621: Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, among other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed upon our governor, and upon the captain, and others. And although it be not always so ...

This week, we have had rain and wind and the golden leaves have morphed to brown and lay scattered everywhere. The trees stand naked, cold, strong, waiting for the time when the earth warms again and they will be clothed anew. A wind has blown the rain away and blown the sky away and all the leaves away, and the trees stand. I think, I too, have known autumn too long. ~E. E. Cummins