Christmas 2023 – Lee Duigon

Can I Stop Now? (Plus a Prayer)

leeduigon(patty)January 17, 2024

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I’ve just had four hours, punctuated by a cigar break, of ay-yi-yi.

*Take down our Christmas tree, two hours. I’m sure it didn’t used to take so long; but we have a lot of ornaments, family heirlooms going back for many years, gotta be careful with them.

*Cigar break. It’s survival, dude.

*Bring in the recycling bins.

*We need to use our cars tomorrow, so I had to clear all the ice off the windshields, headlights, etc. That was another hour.

*Take the rather large and heavy Christmas tree out to the curb. (I’ll miss it.) Did I once have more energy than this? Anyway, it’s all done and I can’t do any more.

O Lord! thank you for this Christmas season, bless it, and give it power to work within us, for us, and for our country all year round to the next Christmas. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

‘Carol of the Bells’

leeduigon(patty)January 3, 2024

All the information on this video is in German, so it’s “Mei fa-tzu” for me. I’ve been trying to remember the name of this song. It’s The Carol of the Bells. Played here on two harps.

Kitten in a Stocking

leeduigon(patty)December 31, 2023

I’m sure we have a jigsaw puzzle, somewhere, featuring kittens in Christmas stockings. We have never tried that in real life. I think it would have led to grumpy kittens.

Some Christmas Memories

leeduigon(patty)December 31, 2023

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I want to share some personal Christmas memories with you, in hope that they’ll inspire equally fond memories of yours.

*Grammie, in her 90s, effortlessly kneeling on the floor to open presents, and just as effortlessly rising up again. Man, did she have healthy knees!

*Sitting in Uncle Bernie’s lap as he read me A Christmas Carol. He didn’t have much lap room, but I was just a little child at the time. He had enough room for me.

*My father setting up and decorating the tree on Christmas Eve, after packing us kids off to bed. He always did the whole job in one night. No matter how early I came downstairs on Christmas Day, everything was there.

*Aunt Millie donning a Santa Claus mask to give out presents.

*The whole family, over a dozen of us crammed into Grandpa’s tiny living room, laughing uproariously as we played Mad Libs.

*Playing our new Clue game with my cousins, Joanne and Christopher, under their family’s Christmas tree.

I could go on and on, but you get the point by now.

Merry Christmas, everyone–and may this year’s Christmas spirit work for us all throughout the coming year.

One More Carol

leeduigon(patty)December 31, 2023

Just to get the ball rolling: The Sans Day Carol, an ancient Cornish carol, by Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band.

I am sorry to report that I am still winning my own Christmas Carol Contest, with 26 views, and “Someone” is in second place with 21. And the contest ends today.

No comments, no likes, today.

Well, it can only get better, can’t it?

Encore: ‘The Sussex Carol’

leeduigon(patty)December 30, 2023

*Sigh… I want a longer Christmas! I want my family back. I crave some sign that 2024 will be better than this year has been.

I had a yen to hear it again: The Sussex Carol, performed by Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band.

Look at that grey sky out there. I wonder if it’ll finally snow.

A Christmas Present from Me to You

leeduigon(patty)December 29, 2023

Things have not been quite as they should be around here, this Christmas season. I’m not happy with my leadership. Well, live and learn.

Meanwhile, as I like to do for Christmas, as a present to all of you, I post this: My Love’s an Arbutus, sung by the Fairhaven Singers. If it sounds familiar, you’ve probably heard it as Alice’s Theme in Scrooge starring Alistair Sim.

I think I’ll listen to it again.