Yes, Ernest, There Is a Santa Claus

It was a gloriously sunny day, but I had things to do in the apartment this morning. Started with baking Cranberry-Orange Bread for my neighbors and running through several movies, beginning with The Muppets' Christmas Carol. The first Muppet movie made after Jim Henson's death is this hilarious and touching version of the famous novel. Michael Caine is a fine Scrooge. Kermit the Frog is Bob Cratchit; Miss Piggy is his outspoken wife. Fozzie is Fezziwig; Statler and Waldorf are the Marley brothers. Gonzo and Rizzo are narrating the story and around for comic relief. Not a bad "first Christmas Carol" for younger kids, and a delight for Muppet fans.

As I finished the bread, I went into two movies on the the existence of Santa Claus. In the original 1947 Miracle on 34th Street, Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwen) is a kindly old man who happens to be in the right place at the right time when Macy's executive Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara) needs to replace the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Santa. He's such a sensation, she hires him to be the department store Santa for Macy's as well. Kris insists that he really IS Santa, which doesn't sit well with Doris. Bitter over a recent divorce, she's raised her young daughter Susan (Natalie Wood) to not believe in any kind of fantasy, and is resisting falling for a sweet lawyer (John Payne). When Kris is put on trial for lunacy, the lawyer defends him...and manages to prove to Doris, Susan, and all of New York that "faith is believing when common sense tells you not to."

Ernest Saves Christmas moves from chilly New York City to the unlikely location of Orlando, Florida. Here, Santa is choosing his replacement. If he can't convince former kids' show host Joe Carruthers to take over his job, the magic of Christmas will die out forever! Meanwhile, Ernest (Jim Varney) has his hands full dealing with a selfish runaway and Joe's sleazy manager who wants him to do a B-horror movie. And then, there's those flying reindeer on the ceiling of the airport stock room....

Miracle is required Christmas viewing. It won several Oscars, including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Edmund Gwen. If you've ever wanted to see Jim Varney's Ernest vehicles, Ernest Saves Christmas is one of the better ones, and not a bad place to start.

After the bread was out of the oven, I went outside to rake. I did get the side path done. It wasn't that bad, but I don't think Andrew did it, and I hadn't done it in a while. I wanted to do the front too, but I couldn't find the tarp I normally use to haul the leaves to the front stoop. It's been getting shredded for a while. Andrew must have tossed it. He didn't seem to have replaced it, though. I couldn't find another tarp.

I finally gave up and went upstairs to briefly sweep my porch. There wasn't much. The wind and storms have blown most of it away. Some of it did land against the house, and the sticker balls are just starting to come down.

Headed to work just a half-hour after I finished the porch. Work was steady for most of the night, after which it died so quickly, I spent the last two hours being very bored. I was in and out with no problems.