Welcome to the Christmas Season

Brrrr! It was windy, cold, and partly cloudy today. I'm guessing it was probably in the mid-40s. The wind made it feel much colder! I warmed up with oat bran and the American Top 40 this morning. Late November 1986 was in the spotlight, as we danced into the holiday season with power ballads, R&B, pop, and hard rock. Among the hits that week were "That's Just the Way It Is" by Bruce Hornsby and the Range, "Love Will Conquer All" by Lionel Richie, "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" by Wang Chung, "Take Me Home Tonight" by Eddie Money, "True Blue" by Madonna, "The Next Time I Fall" by Peter Cetera and Amy Grant, "Hip to Be Square," by Huey Lewis and the News, and "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon Jovi. England invaded the pop charts with that week's number one hit, "I'm Only Human" by the Human League.

Rose called and said she wasn't going to be ready to pick me up for the Collingswood Parade until 10. Fine by me. Gave me a chance to sip my lemon green tea and watch the Rankin Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The title character is a sweet little reindeer who is just about the cutest thing ever...if you ignore his bright red nose. I do, and so does Clarice, a  pretty and gentle doe, but no one else in Christmas Town does. Rudolph runs off and stumbles onto a fellow "misfit," an elf named Hermie who wants to be a dentist. They encounter a prospector named Yukon Cornelius and visit the Land of Misfit Toys, an island of unwanted playthings. Rudolph fears his nose will bring everyone to harm and finally returns home, where he learns that "misfits have a place, too."

Mixed feelings on the original Rankin-Bass Christmas special. This is still cute and fun to watch, with some great characters, terrific songs, and that nifty stop-motion animation. Some of it hasn't dated well, though. Donner and Santa can seem rather cruel to Rudolph to modern audiences who are more accustomed to accepting "misfits," and there's Donner's comment to his wife about "man's work."

Rose finally picked me up around 10ish. We watched the parade for about an hour on the same block on Haddon Avenue as the Philly Pretzel Factory. It was really cold on Haddon Avenue. Unlike last year, when it was calm and unseasonably warm, today was in the 40s and very windy. Several mummers had a hard time controlling their costumes. Craig bought us pretzels from the Collingswood Wrestling Team to warm us up. It didn't work. It was just too cold for 2-year-old Khai, no matter how much he enjoyed seeing all of the classic cars and dancers. We left an hour later, stopping briefly at Dad's so Rose and Craig could pick up a platter they loaned him. Dad was putting up his Christmas decorations. He'll be going on a job later in the week and won't have time when he gets home.

I had leftovers for lunch, then spent the rest of the afternoon listening to Christmas music and decorating my own home. I wanted to get everything finished before I started work. I had to rearrange a few things, thanks to all of the changes in my apartment. The big gold tinsel garland still goes on the ash-colored rack, but it's now holding CDs in the music area. The garlands still go in the same places. The nativity is on the coffee table in the music area - I got rid of the cheap plastic shelf it used to stand on last spring.

The tree had to be moved slightly to the left, and it's still a bit of a stretch around the reddish shelf in the music area. To avoid having to knock over the tree every time I plugged it in, I pulled out the extension cord Miss Ellie gave me for the air conditioner when I first moved it. It's even the same color green as the tree.

Otherwise, the tree is the same as previous years. It took me just as long to put it up and decorate it, too. I started around 2:30...and didn't finish until 6:15. I just have so many ornaments! I have three boxes of glass balls (one from a yard sale, one from Family Dollar, and one a spare from Mom), one large box of shaped glass ornaments, one very full box of heavy or delicate ornaments, the icicles, the clothespin soldiers that are also refugees from Mom's tree, the glass Disney Character ornaments, the bead ornaments my cousin Samantha made one year, and one slender box of ornaments made from cloth, felt, plastic, or wood.

I couldn't begin to name my favorites. There's the sweet red and green fabric Holly Hobbie Mom made for me when I was in high school; I loved Holly Hobbie as a child. There's those beaded ornaments that apparently took weeks for my cousin Samantha to make. There's Yogi and his pic-a-nic basket and Cinderella with her mouse friends, both after-Christmas sale finds at the North Cape May Acme when I worked there. We can't forget Shaggy and Scooby on their sled, or the resin bear with the shopping bags, or the beautiful old-fashioned ball with the holly designs, or the elegant ringed maroon ball with the creamy white bow, or the giant snowflake that's supposed to look like it was made from icing, or the sparkling crystal star with the glitter-covered points. They're all so special to me.

When I finally finished, I had Thanksgiving leftovers and chicken and watched a Bowery Boys movie, Angels In Disguise. When their buddy Gabe Moreno is shot and another cop killed while chasing a gang that's ripped off the payroll of several local companies, Slip and Sach decide to sniff out the culprits. They discover that they're in over their head when the gang proves to be very young, very smart, very violent...and to have members at the very newspaper where Slip and Sach work.