New Years Eve Traditions

Watch Night in the United States dates back to at least 1770, when St George Methodist Church in Philadelphia held this New Year's Eve service. Charles Wesley had adopted it from the earlier practice of the Moravian Church. Snopes.ccom has a great article on the history of Watch Night services. In 1855, C. H. Spurgeon gave a powerful sermon (click here to read it), for a Watch Night service in a Baptist church.

The Fisherman's Chapel, an interdenominational church in Port OConnor Tx holds a Watch Night service on New Years Eve which we went to when we lived on the coast. It was a great and happy way to spend the evening and ring in the new year! Many other churches (especially small or non-denominational ones) have renewed this tradition and will be holding services tonight.


Fireworks on New Year's Eve is also a huge tradition in Texas. When the boys were little, the family gathered over at Mom and Dad's house, the men built a small bonfire in the driveway and the kids popped firecrackers and shot off fireworks as long as they could stay awake. One year, a whistling spinning firework stayed low to the ground instead of shooting up high. It somehow got behind Nicolas and chased him for several circuits around the drive before shooting off into the street! From then on, we called those "Nicol Chasers"! There will be community fireworks at the rodeo arena here in Blanket tonight - and I am sure the Volunteer Fire Department will be standing by just in case!

Paul bought Pickled Herring, which was his mother's traditional New Years Eve supper. My family ate Black Eyed Peas for dinner (lunch) on New Year's Day. Collard greens are a "must have" New Year's food for many southerners.

My favorite tradition, the one Mama taught us, was to sing Auld Lang Syne. This old teapot seems to carry a lesson for us. It was made by Copeland (Spode), and was expensive when it was made, 130 years ago. High quality, and worthy of sitting on a fine table. It's been cherished and used a lot in the intervening years.

The spout broke off and has been rebuilt. The handle snapped at some other time and has been glued back on. The lid was lost, and has been replaced with one that doesn't fit. It's crazed, chiped, stained and shows its age in wear. It could be in worse shape I guess - but it's hard to see how!

But it is still beautiful. If we wanted to use it, it would still steep a nice cuppa tea. And we can still read the words written on it so long ago - and they still are just as moving as when Robert Burns first wrote them:

"Let's take a cup o' kindness yet
For days o'Auld Lang Syne."

Let us remember, tonight and in the year to come, that the old things we have - and the old ways, habits and patterns of life - still have a lot of happiness to offer. Let us be thankful tonight.

Happy (Old) New Year! A Naturalist's Vintage Calendar

Did you find a vintage calendar for the upcoming year? Here are the first pages from a beautiful weekly one of John Burroughs quotes. It was for the year 1926, and is accurate again for 2010.


The page for January 1 and 2 reads "The longer I live the more my mind dwells upon the beauty and the wonder of the world.", from "The Summit of the Years".

Week two, January 3 through 9, has this "A severe artist is Winter! No longer the canvas and the pigments, but the marble and the chisel." from "Winter Sunshine".



In a previous post, there's a list of the calendars that correspond to 2010, and a link to information on which of the 14 calendar grids are applicable to any particular year. Jot down years from your favorite eras and take the list shopping with you.

"What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun."
Ecclesiastes 1:9 (New International Version)

Happy (Old) New Year!

Garden Fresh Under-the-Bed Tomatoes in Winter

Remember those green tomatoes wrapped in newspaper we put in flats under the bed before the first frost (Nov 2nd)? This is what they look like now!



They also have excellent flavor. Not quite the same as vine ripened, of course, but still much richer than store bought. These taste like real tomatoes. A few of them didn't keep, but most of the ones I have pulled out so far were perfect. We enjoyed them sliced with salt, and I made a salad of them.


I had great fun playing "Guess what's under the bed?" with visitors over the holiday. Heh. There are still many more wrapped up under the bed, so I will post again in another month or so to see how they are doing as we get farther into the winter.

The Angel said: "Fear Not! I Bring News of Great Joy For All People!"

Thank you Lord Jesus for coming to us.

May God bless you and yours with love, warmth and peace in your heart this Christmas. Fear not, and rest easy, for because Jesus came, and died, and arose: all shall be well.

Luke 2:8-20 (King James Version)

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Cardinals: Red Birds in the Winter

Cardinals tend to flock in the winter, and this week they've been in our yard. Devin pointed out this tree full of them and I was able to get some pictures.


Cardinals mate for life. I don't know if they stay together all year, but they do come back together each Spring to raise their annual family. There were females in this flock. The little ladies don't show up in this photo, but the beautiful red birds have decorated this tree themselves.


Mema saved a baby cardinal that fell from its nest before it had feathers. This would have been back in about 1952 - now we know that it would be ok to put it back in the nest, and if unable, we'd need to take it to a licensed wild bird rehab person. But at that time, it was not illegal for her to rescue the baby bird, brush the ants off of him, and raise him to adulthood.

Junior loved Mema. He thought she was his mother, I suppose. If she talked to him he would sing for her (and cardinals have the most beautiful song - you can listen to it if you click here then click the "Listen" icon on the eNature page). Nandy made a large cage for him, and they often let him out in the house to fly around. Because he didn't eat bugs, his coloring was more subdued than the wild birds.

Junior lived to be 16 years old. He passed away peacefully and naturally while I was still in elementary school. It's unfortunate that he didn't live wild, but he still had a very good life, warm and well fed, and we all loved him.

Cardinals are delightful wild birds. They LOVE the water sprinkler on hot days and will come bathe and play in the falling spray. They like to nest in hedges, and will come back to the same yard as a nesting pair if you keep a good habitat for them.

Oh It's A Wonderful Life! Still!

Guess who the two newest fans of Frank Capra's "It's A Wonderful Life" are? That would be a 10 year old boy, and a 12 year old girl, who each sat glued to the tv all the way through the movie.

We didn't really expect either to sit through it, and didn't make a lot of fanfare when putting the movie into the dvd player. Our grandson watched it first, and didn't fidget at all. He loved it. So we tried it again when our granddaughter came to visit. She pronounced it her new favorite Christmas movie.

This movie still makes my eyes well up with tears at certain happy moments. Each year that I watch it, one or another little detail will have a bit of special meaning. Whether it is ZuZu's petals, or George Bailey hitting the cigar lighter, or the tinkling bell, or Auld Lang Sine, the story is always fresh and new in some way. Gosh I miss Jimmy Stewart (James Stewart, the actor who played George Bailey). Remember The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance? Now THERE was a movie - James Stewart, John Wayne... oops, that's another post... heh!

We were surprised, that sophisticated, tech-savvy children were as enthralled as audiences have been for the past half century. I don't know if either of them have ever seen a black and white movie before, but it didn't matter to them - they were caught up in the story.

"It's A Wonderful Life" still makes magic. Watching it during the Holidays is one of our little traditions. The grandkids are really glad we shared it with them!

The Lovingest Season: Sending Christmas Cards

For years I prepared to send Christmas cards. Often I bought them. Sometimes I got as far as addressing them. I hardly ever got around to mailing them tho.

Sending Christmas cards does not have to be an ordeal, nor does it mean sending dozens. Once I understood that, I finally accomplished my goal. Write a few to friends farthest away. That done, write a few more to next door neighbors. A few at a time is the way to go for me. Simple signatures inside, no attempt at writing a letter. Keeping it simple keeps me from getting overwhelmed with good intentions. The past couple of Christmases, I have succeeded in actually sending them.

As a result, we get more cards too. It is a nice thing, to get a card in the mail. Each is a little bright spot in the day. A little more love in the Lovingest Season.

I bought our cards the other day. A bargain at $5 for a box of 18. We've had trouble the past couple of years finding traditional cards but this year they were plentiful. That is a good sign!

One cute place I found online, for printing your own cards, is Jan Brett's website, with adorable hedgehogs and mice. Just click the "Cards" tab. The envelope templates are there too. All you need is plain white printer paper.

If you find vintage cards, they are wonderful to recycle with a note of your own added. I used some 1950s greeting cards as markers for Bunko last time I hosted it and people loved them. It's a kick for a collector! Double the reason to pack the card away with the ornaments to enjoy again next year.

The vintage Christmas post cards in the photo above are from 1913, and are embossed with glossy color, as was common for the time. Two are actual Christmas messages. The third, with the meaning of Cedar in the language of flowers ("Cedar: I live for thee"), was mailed in October 1913. If you find or make blank ones, postcards cost only 28 cents to mail in 2009.

Christmas cards give us a chance to reach out to people we might otherwise feel shy about approaching, and to those we think of fondly. It's a small way to be a good neighbor, and a good friend.

Small traditions, like Christmas cards, add up to preserve a good way of life.