Thanks to all our readers for making this a great year for Easin’ Along. We look forward to taking you along with us again and send best wishes to everyone for a blessed and prosperous New Year! Here are some of the highlights from 2017.
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge. See archives for posts.)
This week has been very busy and active, even for an old retired guy. Helen (adorable wife) and I have been madly wrapping gifts, decorating (again), preparing meals, and spiffing up the place…bigly. All this activity was spurred on by the anticipation of some very special visitors who finally arrived a few days ago. Our son and daughter-in-law are here along with our precious granddaughters but, prior to their arrival, the special guests I’m referring to miraculously appeared to add a significant amount of excitement to the season. I’m talking about the Elves on a Shelf and did they ever liven things up…bigly.
The girls (ages 7 and 5) and their parents arrived late after an enjoyable trip on the Polar Express train in North Carolina. The hour was late. The girls had slept little in the back seat during the ride here so, after a quick bath and a short bedtime story from their grandmother, they were nestled snugly into their bed as were their grandparents.
Early (and I mean early) the next morning, the walls literally shook as four tiny little feet came racing down the stairs and into the living room. Their parents had sent out whispers of a rumor that the Elves had left Charleston early the previous afternoon and, (providing that all were on their best behavior during the trip to Knoxville), would arrive in Knoxville overnight.
The search was on and, lo and behold, sitting high over their heads were Kat, Kitty, Kyle, Lily, Jacob, Jack, Jake, Princess, Lulu, and Rocker, the same Elves that had last been seen on a shelf in Charleston, SC. All were in good spirits and had made the trip over the mountain seemingly without incident. It was a wonderful reunion and a glorious event. The girls looked around in amazement, and their grandparents were overjoyed at being able to witness it all.
Throughout the rest of the day, there was a persistent rumor that the Elves would reposition themselves overnight and could be found in a different location the next morning. This rumor only added to the usual Christmas fervor and ultimately proved to be exhausting for the youngest of the two. She fell asleep before dinner in the arms of her big sister who helped with placing her in her bed—after giving assurance that she would have her up the next morning in time to begin the search anew. I have it from a good source that the repositioning did take place.
There is no greater joy than little children at Christmas time.
With family activity, and a busy week surrounding us, Easin’ Along will be a little shorter today. Instead, I have shortened this week’s post by a few hundred words to share with you a video of the annual Christmas Concert given by our church choir earlier this month. We have an incredible choir composed of talented voices from our congregation who are joined by very gifted students from the music program at the University of Tennessee. We also have the blessing of accompanying music from members the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra for this concert to add greatly to our pleasure. I always consider this concert as the beginning of the Christmas season.
The format of the video did not permit editing, so I have listed the pieces performed by the choir and the orchestra below. The numbers in parentheses represent the starting point for each piece and you can go directly to that piece by moving along the scroll bar at the bottom of the video until that number appears. Click the scroll bar at that point. As an example, one of my favorite pieces, Bugler’s Holiday, begins at 55:52. Enjoy!
Here are the selections from the concert:
(0:00) Introductions and announcements
(7:00) Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
(12:04) Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
(17:00) Oh Come All Ye Faithful
(21:06) Christmas Festival
(28:55) All My Heart This Night Rejoices
(35:24) Arise, Your Light Has Come
(41:39) How Great Our Joy!
(45:00) Hark the Herald Angels Sing
(48:00) Oh Little Town of Bethlehem
(55:52) Bugler’s Holiday
(59:23) The First Noel
(1:04:56) Joy to the World
(1:09:30) Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Helen and I wish every reader a blessed Christmas and send heartfelt wishes for a Happy New Year. We have a lot of plans for 2018 beginning with a trip in Betty, our RV in January when we’ll be Easin’ Along the retired road. Hope you’ll be along with us.
About eight or so years ago, Helen (adorable wife) and I began a Christmas tradition of hosting a Meat Loaf dinner for a group of friends from our former neighborhood. I’ve shared the party with Easin’ Along readers twice before and apologize for the repetition, but we always have such a grand time that I felt it worth sharing once more. Remember, when you combine food and fun, it is retirement activity at its finest.
The date we picked for this year’s event just happened to be the birthday of our dear friend Rose. Rose’s birthday is always a lot of fun and she has endured some of the best birthday pranks ever played on a birthday girl. A few years back, a member of our group arranged for her to ride on a float in the local Christmas Parade. Rose was lured to a float-in-waiting where she was brought aboard and whisked down the parade route wearing the robe of a Snow Princess. On another occasion, Rose was tricked into going shopping with her friends and, when she arrived at a downtown department store, an enormous crowd that included the Mayor burst into a raucous Happy Birthday tune. His Honor proclaimed it “Rose’s Day” and gave her the equivalent of a key to the city. Fortunately, Rose has a fantastic sense of humor and always plays along…she’s a great sport.
This year, however, she made everyone in our crowd swear an oath of no tricks. A decision was made to have an “in-house” birthday party while keeping our Rose in the shade. Therefore, our annual Christmas meatloaf dinner had a birthday party theme.
On the afternoon of the dinner, Priscilla brought over banners and balloons to liven up the atmosphere. Helen had gone into her usual frenzy to ensure the house was ready for company. The tree was decorated and the Snow Village (complete with RV park) was on full display as was a beautiful bowl of fresh white flowers—Roses, of course, in honor of the birthday girl.
My job was to make the meatloaf. Not to brag, (ahem) but I make a pretty mean meatloaf. I start a day early with preparing the vegetables and finish it up on the afternoon of the dinner. I’m meticulous about this meal and try to time it so that it comes out of the oven just in time to serve hot on the table. The meatloaf was in the oven when the first guests arrived.
Everyone had been told to arrive a bit early. Party hats and noisemakers were distributed to one and all as we warmed up and prepared to be very rowdy when the honoree checked in. Rose was in her usual cheery mood when she came through the door whereupon the greeting committee stopped her dead in her tracks and placed a bright pink tiara on her head. Cheers rang out. We had achieved a complete surprise. Rose wasted no time joining in and, if she was a bit annoyed with us, it never showed. Like I said earlier, she’s a great sport.
Mealtime was filled with great laughter and a lot of storytelling from days past including tales from the thirty-nine trips to the beach our wives have enjoyed on annual gal pal excursions. The guys repeat often-told stories of our annual camping trips in the Cherokee National Forest that we never tire of hearing.
Near the end of the meal and after Rose was treated to a beautiful birthday cake decorated with roses of many colors, a member of the group arose to present the annual “Red Hat” award. This award goes to the person who had faced adversity during the year and had pulled through in glorious fashion. Bob, a hard-core Marine veteran received this year’s Red Hat. Bob modestly accepted the award and wore it with distinction.
We lingered long into the evening as no one seemed eager to leave. Helen and I considered it a compliment. I insisted on a group photograph to mark the occasion and proudly display it here. Happy birthday, Rose. Friendships are the spice of life and we’re blessed to have these special people in ours. It is our sincere wish that, for many years to come, we’re still Easin’ Along…together.
