'Twas The Night 'Fore...

...and all through the 'hood...

 

...not a porchlight was shining and that ain't no good.

The gales of November had toppled a tree...

 

...and plunged us in darkness; how long would it be?

The candles were lit to brighten the hour...

...while we gazed with envy at those who had power:

So we sat by the fire, cozy and warm...

 

...sipped wine, shared stories, and weathered the storm.

Then off to bed early, no Hallmark tonight...

...with hopes that Consumers would turn on the lights.

We grabbed extra blankets and stoked up the fire...

...coaxing the room temp a tiny bit higher.

When Karen said, "Honey,"  'ere stifling a sneeze,

"We're buying a Generac so we don't have to freeze!"

 

That's our sad story.

On a frozen, blustery night when Karen hoped to make progress for Thanksgiving day festivities...

...instead we scrounged around for candles and flashlights, stored food in coolers, and waited for the lights to come on.

12 hours later they did and all was well, but it did accomplish two things:

* caused us to ponder how much more difficult life was for our ancestors sans electricity  -and-

* helped us appreciate just how good we have it now.

Appropriate at Thanksgiving, yes?

We should be truly thankful for the manifold blessings we enjoy and too often take for granted.

"Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.  Selah."

    -Psalms 68:19

Ok, let's get this out of the way, shall we?

The Lions lost...

...again...which pretty much sticks a fork in their season.

They really need to pick a day OTHER than Thanksgiving to perform their magic...tired of the perennial damper they put on this holiday.

Sorry for that little bit of unpleasantness, because otherwise, Thanksgiving Day was fine.

My clan was unexpectedly flung to the four winds this holiday, but a few of Karen's were able to share the day with us.

Thanks to Bob Evans (and a bad assumption on my part), we had enough food to feed a division II football team...

 

...but happily Karen's Krew agreed to take a lot of it home with them, including some for her son who couldn't make it.

Safe to say a good time - and a good meal - was had by all for which we are, indeed, very thankful.

The recent 60 mph wind gusts didn't just knock out power all across West Michigan...

...they also grounded Santa and the gang.

That's them hiding behind the wall, out of the wind, not perched proudly on top of the wall.

Cowards!

So all my scheming on how to skirt the "No Christmas Decorating Until After Thanksgiving" rule was for naught.

Sadly, today's not looking so good weather-wise:

...and neither are the next few days:

...yep, that's 4 to 8 more inches of the white stuff.

I guess we can file all that under <the best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley>.

Outdoor Christmas decorating may be delayed, but it's a good bet the Christmas Decorating Tornado has her sights set on the innards of the Castle Frankenstein.

More to come, I'm sure.

yep, it's time

Let's do that 23 Skidoo thing...

we've got 3 cats standing at the ready to terrorize our Christmas ornaments

wurst accident ever...mustard been terrible, no bun intended*

from Larry's cottage, pre-Thanksgiving:  red sky at morning...

...sailors take warning.  that was right on this week.

one of the two bald eagles that make themselves at home around Larry's cottage

time to start spinning some Christmas vinyl on our 1962 Philco K-1526 Hi-Fi

* I take neither credit nor blame...saw it in the Monday morning memes section of Townhall.com

On your marks, get set, Christmas!

I'd say "the race is now on" but then I can't explain what all the Christmas merchandise was doing in the stores before Halloween...warming up, maybe?

In any event, you now have 26 days until The Big Day, so choppety chop chop...

...time to put your big black running boots on and get after it.

And while you're at it, remember to channel your inner Linus, who explained to Charlie Brown what Christmas is really all about, way back in 1965:

later, mcm fans...

What Price...

...freedom? 

Above is the text of the famous "Lincoln/Bixby" letter, composed on November 21, 1864.

If you've heard of it before, it's almost certainly because you've watched <Saving Private Ryan>, Spielberg's powerful wartime movie that uses the letter as foundational to all that follows.

 

 

But long before Spielberg graced us with his WWII epic, "the Bixby letter" was known to Civil War historians as <un petite mystere>.

On its face it's simple enough - a condolence letter from the president to a grieving mother over the loss of her soldier sons.

And it does appear to be quintessentially Lincolnesque - think <The Gettysburg Address> - distilling a monumental event into eloquent concision wrapped in heartfelt sincerity.

The monumental event in this case concerned Lydia Bixby, a widow and mother of six sons and three daughters.

Five of her sons fought for the Union - and all of them - it was believed at that time - perished in battle.

Thus the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln -

- took pen in hand and wrote, from greeting to close, 139 words of comfort.

Or did he?

That's been the debate through the years - unresolved to this day.

Some allege it was Lincoln's personal secretary John Hay who actually wrote the letter.

 

Others insist it was just as the signature states, Abraham Lincoln.

And so the open question: who's right?

There is much to commend pithiness.

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address contains only 271 words and can be read aloud in less than 2 minutes, yet it's considered one of the most significant speeches in all of American history.

By way of contrast, the featured speaker on that day - November 19, 1863 - was the highly regarded orator <Edward Everett>, who rambled on endlessly.

Everett admitted later that Lincoln came closer to "the central idea of the occasion" in two minutes than he did in two hours.

Brevity has been hailed as both the soul of wit and the essence of good manners.

In this case, however, it's also one of the main reasons authorship of the Bixby letter has never been fully decided:  it's too brief a sample from which to draw any ironclad conclusions.

Historians who favor John Hay's authorship claim the appearance of two words - assuage and beguile - which never appear in any of Lincoln's other writings - are evidence enough.

Those who favor Lincoln dismiss that as spurious since most of his writings were not words of comfort to grieving mothers - an occasion that calls for an entirely different vocabulary than that of politics and affairs of state.

Adding spice to the controversy are revelations re: Mrs. Bixby and her clan.

Apparently all five of her sons did not "die gloriously on the field of battle".

Two of them certainly did; a third was honorably discharged, another dishonorably, and the 5th was MIA - possibly deserted or perished in a Confederate POW camp.

As for Mrs. B herself, reports were mixed: some claimed she was the proprietress of a house of ill repute and a Confederate sympathizer.

Once again, who's right?

My opinion:

President Abraham Lincoln, care worn and wearied by an interminable conflict, when informed a bereft mother had suffered a crushing loss, took time from his impossibly busy schedule to pen a sincere and poignant letter of solace.

And what a letter!

Society may have advanced technologically since the days of Lincoln, but we can't hold a candle to their mastery of the written word.

Today?

"Please accept my sincere condolences for your loss."

Then:

"I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming."

Today?

"May God comfort you in your time of grief."

Then:

"I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom."

Extraordinary.

Later revelations about the recipient and her family in no way diminish Lincoln's act of kindness nor taint his articulate expression of earnest sympathy.

Remember, Lincoln himself had suffered <the loss of a son>; he was all too familiar with the deforming power of grief.

So back to the original question:

What price freedom?

The answer is found within this quote from General, and later President, Dwight D Eisenhower:

"History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid."

Freedom is our God given right.

To claim it - and to protect it - we must be strong, we must be brave, and we must fight.

Apparently some people just don't know when to shut up, so I guess we'll jump straight into 23 Skidoo:

courtesy of Larry: "I had the strangest dream while hunting in the woods today..."

mr. squirrel enjoying that ubiquitous seasonal staple: the acorn

sunrise on the lake at Larry's cottage...

...and sunset in the woods.

wreaths for Thanksgiving

lighting up the trees in the backyard

The earliest Thanksgiving can be is November 22nd, something that won't happen again until 2029:

And we care about this why?

My ironclad rule has been no Christmas decorating until the day after Thanksgiving.

And while there has been some debate about lighting up the trees in the backyard, we've stuck to the rule for anything that's front facing:

If the neighbors can see it and it's obviously Christmas, then it waits until Thanksgiving is past.

This year Thanksgiving is on the 27th, so Friday the 28th is normally "the day".

But today is supposed to be sunny and in the 50's, and by Thanksgiving it's going to be cold in the 20's and 30's, with snow likely.

Karen says Santa and his reindeer go up on the rooftop today; and Mr. Weatherman said the same thing about outdoor Christmas decorating in his 11:15 pm report last night.

Thus I find myself...

...on the horns of a dilemma.

What to do?

Enter our innate ability to rationalize almost any decision, no matter how questionable.

Technically (that's usually how a rationalization begins), November 23rd can be the day after Thanksgiving (see calendar, above)...so if today is November 23rd or later...it's ok to put up Christmas decorations as long as we don't light 'em up until the real day after Thanksgiving.

See how that works?

It's settled, Santa and his reindeer go up on the house top click click click today, while it's sunny and 50+ degrees.

And that, boys and girls, is how Christmas ends up in stores before Halloween arrives.

Since we're on the subject of Christmas, here's a reminder from God's Word for what's ahead:

"6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

"7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.  The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."

    - Isaiah 9:6,7

later, mcm fans...

Less Than 2 Weeks...

they partied like it was 1621

...'til the big day, and once again we're opting for a little help from our friends...

...at Bob Evans.

They do a very credible job of providing the basics of a Thanksgiving feast, which Karen then supplements with <a few dishes of her own>.

And while it's not especially cheap, it does eliminate much of the heavy lifting, reducing days of shopping / preparing / cooking down to a couple of hours warming things up.

A shout out to <Dave Roderick> who first suggested Bob Evans the year we moved into this home.

We had no functioning kitchen yet, and with the pressure of the holidays piled on top of living in a construction zone, he vouched for them as a high quality / low work option during a hectic time of year.

It's helped remove a lot of work and stress from what should be a day devoted to giving thanks to God and enjoying the company of loved ones.

It's old news now, but the 40+ day "Schumer Shutdown" of the government is over.

What were the democrats trying to achieve by shutting down the government?

In simplest terms, they hoped to subvert the will of the American people.

Trump, who won both the electoral (312 to 226)...

...and the popular vote (77.3 million to 75), has been busy delivering on his campaign promises of securing the border, deporting illegal aliens, eliminating waste / exposing corruption in government, revitalizing the economy and putting America first.

Democrats hate his agenda, and they hoped they could reverse much of what has been accomplished this year by inflicting pain on their constituents.

By working against the will of the people as clearly expressed in the election, they are guilty of exactly what they accuse Trump:  "trying to destroy our democracy!"

What did they actually achieve?

As JD Vance correctly summarized...

...<literally nothing>.

They did not get their 1.5 trillion of wasteful spending - eliminated by Trump's Big Beautiful Bill - restored.

Despite persistent denials, their boondoggle spending included billions for illegal alien health care and lots of other ridiculous pork.

And now - since they've been exposed for the fools they are in front of the entire world - they're trying to deflect attention from their abject failure by smearing Trump with the Epstein files hoax - again.

As with everything these clowns attempt...

...<it's not going well>.

How could it?

Anyone with half a brain knows three things:

1) Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago for his inappropriate behavior around young female employees in 2007.

2) Dems installed a dementia patient in the White House in 2020.  Why weren't they demanding the release of the Epstein files for the past 4 years?

Not one press conference demanding transparency, not one protest when Epstein and Ghislane Maxwell were the only ones prosecuted.

Where was their faux moral outrage then?

-and-

3) They spent all of 2024 launching broadsides against Trump, both legal and physical.

They had the FBI search his home, indicted him, arrested him, tried him in court and attempted to assassinate him twice.

If they actually had any dirt on him re: Epstein, it's guaranteed they would have used it then to prevent their worst nightmare now:

President Donald J. Trump.

They did not, because it doesn't exist.

And now, in a turnabout is fair play move, President Trump announced he's instructing the DOJ and FBI to investigate the <Epstein connection to Bill Clinton>, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, JP Morgan Chase and many other people and institutions.

Buckle up, Dems...you're about to get a healthy dose of your own medicine.

That won't stop them from lying endlessly about any and every thing they think will help their pathetic cause.

Always remember, that big blue D stands for Deceit.

The hardest part is saying the line in front of everyone.

"Hi.  My name is T---- and I'm a Hallmark Christmas Movieholic."

this is a great movie, and so is "'twas the date before Christmas"

Alright, it's not quite that bad, but looking back, it's sorta like a catching a virus.

Starts out slow, with just a few mild symptoms.

There's the occasional filler when you've shifted into neutral and just need a break from the daily grind of news, drama, politics, violence.

How about something that doesn't involve profanity, gunfire and despicable human beings?

And waddyaknow...a happy ending...now there's a concept.

Over time the symptoms intensify and you find yourself actually searching for Hallmark Christmas movies.

"Hey," you rationalize, "why should I invest a couple of hours of my life only to be disappointed by some hack scriptwriter who figures since he's miserable, everyone else must be, too?"

Before you know it, BAM!

very clever take on the Dickens Christmas classic

 

 

There's no denying, you've got the bug.

 

So...what's the cure?

Who said anything about needing a cure?

"Barkeep, another round of Hallmark for me and my friends!

"Drink up, mateys!"

Just what the Dr. ordered.

And now, by popular demand, the greatest 23 Skidoo ever presented ever and I mean ever*:

Larry's up north for deer hunting, and they had their first snowfall of the season November 9th...

...we followed suit the next day.

a beautiful sunrise by the lake

a little hick'ry golf humor

and since you mentioned hick'ry golf, that uber tall grass on #5 convinced me to play this par 3 as a dogleg par 4 instead...

...since I'd just get tangled up in the toppers and end up taking a drop anyway.

the other day our doorbell camera kept notifying us of movement, so we kept peering out the windows but never spotted anything.

finally, Karen checked the video:

Look!

It's bigger than the garage!

and that's where Giant Critter Sci-Fi movies come from.

*ever ever ever?

maybe "ever"; possibly even an outside shot at "ever ever".

but three "evers"?

that's a bald faced lie.

I'll be hearing from my lawyers.

As you scurry for the exits, here's some encouragement from God's Word to take with you:

6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time:

7  Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.

    - I Peter 5:6,7

later, mcm fans...