Bring on Christmas!

Three days ago it was the day before Thanksgiving and I was turning my head away from every Christmas sight and sound that was out there because it was simply too early for the next season to be paraded out before me so soon.  What a difference a day makes!  Yesterday I put up the new Nativity cut-out in the front window and set the App Lights to the multicolored Christmas theme.  Voila!  Just like that I was ready for Christmas!

I started out the day around 9 AM when I got up, started the coffee, and checked my e-mail until the first cup as ready.  After a few more cups, and yes, it’s the fully caffeinated variety, and an hour or so of surfing the web and checking through Facebook, I was ready for what I call a long winter’s nap though a little shorter than the one that’s enjoyed by the speaker in “A Visit from St. Nick”, aka, “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and his Mama.  I settled myself into the recliner disappointed that I wasn’t going out on the scooter to enjoy the relatively warm day, but I was THAT tired.  Two hours later, refreshed and eager not to waste the afternoon away, I layered up, hopped on the scooter, and took off!

I had to pause in the very center of Plains, Pennsylvania, about 1.3 miles from where I hang my helmet to get this picture of their Christmas lights strung over the main intersection in their downtown area.  When I was a kid they were full sized light bulbs in a variety of festive colors up there with the red bell in the center.  They appear to be LED lights now, but just as delightful and wonderfully traditional in their simplicity as the big bulbs were a generation ago.  Seeing them fills me with a childlike glee and every time I’ll pass by there until the Christmas sesaon will be put to bed I’ll grin like a schoolboy who’s waiting for Santa and counting the days till his arrival.

I pulled over as often as there was nobody behind me and I spied some early Christmas decorations.  Although I didn’t find many yet, I did find a few to share.  I was thrilled to be out on the Piaggio after having lain in the recliner choosing to nap instead of going out earlier.  I really didn’t think I was going to feel like getting dressed and going out when I laid down with Google Home streaming some soft Christmas music.

After getting home and getting supper together I was ready to finish watching whatever Christmas movie was playing on the Hallmark Channel as I filled my belly.  I can usually jump into a mostly spent show or movie and enjoy it till the end even though I have no idea what the first half or better was about.  And so it was while I made some Italian wedding soup, stuffing, green bean casserole, and a turkey sandwich disappear that I saw the inevitable “they kiss and fall in love” ending that I was expecting.

Since last night the Hallmark Channel displayed a countdown in the lower left hand corner of the screen for some Christmas Train movie they’ll be airing this evening.  I find that practice of wasting screen space during a show with obnoxious advertising to be quite detestable, and after a full 24 hours, maybe more of it, that damned train better be raising people from the dead or something for how they’re touting it.

When I finished with supper and added my dishes and things to the dishwasher I brewed yet another cup of coffee to take to the deck while I’d contemplate what I might write here.  I do like the look of my new eyeglasses and I’m still getting used to seeing them on me.  I fancy myself to look a little like Tom Selleck in “Blue Bloods” but that’s probably more wishful thinking than anything else.  Well, here I am at the end and ready to mark some time till that train movie comes on.  I’m not caving into their advertising; I just happen to like trains.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.  Stay tuned for more Christmas decoration pics in the days ahead.  The nice days at least.