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IN THIS ISSUE

• Miriam Ockenden forwards an unusual letter to Santa
• Jean Sterling tells about a new Christmas celebration
• Verda Cook writes about treading lightly on the earth
• Burke Dykes reminds us of the birth of another tradition
• Many religions celebrate the time of the winter solstice
• Catherine Green forwards a story about an exciting event
• Jack Peaker explains the hidden reason for e-mail petitions
• Jackie Stevenson sends a philosophical piece about cups
• Gerrit de Leeuw´s story is about a very unusual event
• Catherine Green, Geoff Goodship, Jack Peaker, and Jay suggest websites

Miriam Ockenden shares this

LETTER TO SANTA FROM A MOTHER

Dear Santa,

I´ve been a good mom all year. I´ve fed, cleaned, and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor´s office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son´s red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I´ll find any more free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I´d like a pair of legs that don´t ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don´t hurt or flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I´d also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you´re hauling big ticket items this year, I´d like fingerprint- resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn´t broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don´t fight, and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting, "Don´t eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children´s hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it´s too late to find any of these products, I´d settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don´t mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely.

It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don´t catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table but don´t eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours always, MOM

P.S. One more thing ... you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.

CORRESPONDENCE

Jean Sterling comments on Peter Weatherby´s observation that "... The furious onslaught of commercial interests that demand we spend spend spend ever more on ´stuff´. Christmas has become a materialistic feeding frenzy instead of the season of peace and goodwill it was meant to be."

A fellow here was bothered by the shopping frenzy that Christmas has become and came up with the idea of having an Adventsingen concert on the first Sunday in December, which is the start of the Advent season that precedes Christmas.

He had been to Austria and had seen their Adventsingen performance and decided to start the same tradition here in Ormond Beach. We sing some Austrian Christmas folk music plus a few selections from a mass by Franz Gruber, who is best known for Silent Night. What´s interesting about the Gruber mass is that it´s in German, while all the masses at that time were written in Latin. Several of the people who sing in the Adventsingen group belong to the German-American club, and they taught the rest of us how to sing in German. Another interesting thing is that some of the harmonies sung by the men have a bit of that German oompah sound.

There are also some readings and a short pageant. Our final piece is a musical plea for peace, which is truly lovely and heartfelt. Afterward a reception with punch and baked goodies is held.

I´m so glad that we have this tradition now in Ormond Beach. It´s a fine way to remember what Christmas is about - that it isn´t about lining up outside the mall at 3 a.m. so you can elbow your fellows out of the way as you barge into the store.

You can see some pictures of the Ormond Beach Adventsingen at this website:

http://www.geocities.com/adventsingen2/2005.html

ED. NOTE: And speaking of "stuff", have you heard that today´s Christmas presents are tomorrow´s yard sales? If you don´t believe it, have a look at this site recommended by Shirley Hargreaves:

http://web.1.c3.audiovideoweb.com/1c3web3536/StoryOfStuff.mov

Verda Cook asks to become a member of Geoff Goodship´s

RIDE A BUS ONCE A MONTH CLUB

Living in the country makes it mandatory that we have a car or vehicle of some kind. Any excursions to the city, which is a distance of approximately 37 km away, will be made only when we have a number of appointments or shopping items on the agenda. Grocery shopping is done for two weeks at a time, so that we do not drive more frequently than necessary. We do park the car and use bus transportation, but not on a shopping day. It would be impossible to carry two weeks´ groceries on the bus, comfortably.

In the past two years we have travelled to the Western Provinces in Canada to visit our son and family in Calgary, a distance of 3400 km. Instead of driving that distance, we travelled by train.

There are other ways of helping in the battle of global warming. When we purchased our 3 1/2 acres in the country 38 years ago, we hand planted three thousand trees to surround the house. Now, 37 years later we are reaping the benefit. The trees planted in the area of the house are deciduous trees. These allow the winter sun to drench the house in warmth, while in the summer the house is entirely shaded. There is no need for an air conditioner; in fact, at times the house is too cool for comfort.

On the perimeter of the property we planted evergreens - pine and spruce. These provide a dense windbreak, and while others in our area are shivering in the blasts of cold west or northerly winds, we are quite snug. This planning has resulted in a reduction of our heating costs to the extent that last year we consumed 73% less heating oil than 30 years ago. Trees also act as air filters, providing protection from smog.

My husband and I have been married 47 years and raised two sons. We have never owned a clothes drier, even though some of our married life was spent living in the city. As much as possible, we grow our own food - even while living on a small city plot, and purchase locally grown produce.

This is not a knee-jerk reaction to some global warming activists. We were raised in families that advocated a simple life style and we continued to live in a simple fashion, passing that lifestyle on to our sons as well.

Send us a membership to the Ride A Bus Once A Month Club. We will heartily support it.

ED. NOTE: For another idea on reducing car usage, see http:// arunaurl.com/1ib9

Burke Dykes sends this Christmas story for people having a bad day:

THE BIRTH OF A TRADITION

When four of Santa´s elves got sick, and the trainee elves did not produce the toys as fast as the regular ones, Santa was beginning to feel the pressure of being behind schedule. Then Mrs. Claus told him that her mom was coming to visit. This stressed Santa even more.

When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two had jumped the fence and were out, heaven knows where. More stress. Then when he began to load the sleigh one of the boards cracked, and the toy bag fell to the ground and scattered the toys.

So, frustrated, Santa went into the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered that the elves had hidden the liquor, and there was nothing to drink. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider pot, and it broke into hundreds of little pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found that mice had eaten the straw end of the broom.

Just then the doorbell rang, and irritable Santa trudged to the door. He opened the door, and there was a little angel with a great big Christmas tree. The angel said, very cheerfully, "Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn´t it a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?"

And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree....

For those who get upset at being wished Happy Holidays instead of

MERRY CHRISTMAS

You may not know that Christmas was not celebrated at all in the early church, and only in the past couple of centuries has it been celebrated as the birth of Christ.

The date of December 25 probably originated in the ancient birthday of the pagan son-god, Mithra, whose religious influence was widespread in the Roman Empire. The Romans converted the worship of Mithra into a celebration of Saturn, and the rebirth of the sun-god following the winter solstice. Variations of this pagan holiday flourished throughout the first few centuries after Jesus Christ, but in 325 BC, the Emperor Constantine officially converted the festival to a celebration of "Christmas". ("BC" originally meant "Before Caesar", and that too was adapted by Christians to mean "Before Christ".)

Because it was recognized as a pagan festival, Christmas failed to gain universal recognition among Christians until quite recently. It did not become widely popular in England until after the publication of Charles Dickens´ "A Christmas Carol" in 1843. Congress in the US did not begin adjourning on Christmas day until 1856. Public schools in New England were often open on that day, as were many factories and offices. Many Protestant churches refused to hold services, considering the holiday "popish".

The Christmas holiday we celebrate today is an example of Christianity´s willingness to absorb the world´s customs and traditions, as are Easter and All Saints´ Day, celebrated on the spring and summer solstices, which were originally pagan festivals.

Christianity is not the only religion that celebrates the winter solstice - most of the major religions have some observance at this time. Everyone is glad to reach the turning point of the year, and to look forward to spring. There is no need to be upset by being wished a happy holiday instead of a merry Christmas. If you need something to be upset about, think about the ever-growing number of homeless people in the richest countries on earth to whom either greeting will be meaningless.

Jack Peaker forwards a warning about

E-MAIL PETITIONS

A word to the wise. E-mail petitions are NOT acceptable to Congress or any other municipality. To be acceptable, petitions must have signed signatures and your full address. Same with "prayer chains" - be wary.

Almost all e-mails that ask you to add your name and forward on to others are similar to that mass letter years ago that asked people to send business cards to the little kid in Florida who wanted to break the Guinness Book of Records for the most cards. All it was, and all this type of e-mail is, is to get names and "cookies" information for tele-marketers and spammers to validate active e-mail accounts for their own purposes.

Any time you see an e-mail that says forward this on to 10 of your friends, sign this petition, or you´ll get bad luck, or whatever, it has either an e-mail tracker program attached that tracks the cookies and e-mails of those folks you forward to, or the host sender is getting a copy each time it gets forwarded and then is able to get lists of "active" e-mails to use in spam e-mails, or sell to others that do.

Please forward this notice to others and you will be providing a good service to your friends, and will be rewarded by not getting 30,000 spam e-mails in the future. (If you have been sending out the above kinds of email, now you know why you get so much spam!)

Check it out: http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/internet.htm and on a lighter note:

http://info.org.il/irrelevant/may02-smilepop-soapbox4.swf

Catherine Green forwards this story of

THE SMALL WHITE DOT

A kindergarten class had a homework assignment to find out something ´exciting´ and relate it to the class the next day. When the time came to present what they´d found, the first little boy the teacher called on walked up to the front of the class, and with a piece of chalk, made a small white dot on the blackboard and sat back down.

Puzzled, the teacher asked him what it was.

"It´s a period," he replied.

"I can see that," said the teacher, "but what is so exciting about a period?"

"Darned if I know," he said, "but this morning my sister was missing one. Mommy fainted, daddy had a heart attack, and the boy next door joined the Navy."

Jackie Stevenson sends a story of

COFFEE CUPS

A group of alumni, all highly established in their respective careers, got together for a visit with their old university professor. The conversation soon turned to complaints about the endless stress of work and life in general.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went into the kitchen and soon returned with a large pot of coffee and an eclectic assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal - some plain, some expensive, some quite exquisite. Quietly he told them to help themselves to some fresh coffee.

When each of his former students had a cup of coffee in hand, the old professor quietly cleared his throat and addressed the small gathering: "You may have noticed that all of the nicer-looking cups were taken up first, leaving behind the plainer and cheaper ones. While it is only natural for you to want only the best for yourself, that is actually the source of much of your stress-related problems."

He continued: "Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In fact, the cup merely disguises or dresses up what we drink. What each of you really wanted was coffee, not a cup, but you instinctively went for the best cups. Then you began eyeing each other´s cups....

"Now consider this: Life is coffee. Jobs, money, and position in society are merely cups. They are just tools to shape and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not truly define nor change the quality of the life we live. Often, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. Enjoy your coffee!"

The happiest people don´t have the best of everything - they just make the best of everything. And remember - the richest person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least.

Gerrit de Leeuw forwards this story of an unlikely event:

WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER

Two guys from Saskatchewan die and wake up in hell. The next day the devil stops in to check on them and sees them dressed in parkas, mittens and toques, warming themselves around the fire. The devil asks them, "What are you doing? Isn´t it hot enough for you?"

The two guys reply, "Well, you know, we´re from Canada, the land of snow and ice and cold. We´re just happy for a chance to warm up a little bit, eh?" The devil decides that these two aren´t miserable enough and turns up the heat.

The next morning he stops in again and there they are, still dressed in parkas, toques and mittens. The devil asks them again, "It´s awfully hot down here; can´t you guys feel it?"

Again the two guys reply, "Well, like we told ya yesterday, we´re from Canada, the land of snow and ice and cold. We´re just happy for a chance to warm up a little bit, eh?

This gets the devil a little steamed up and he decides to fix these two guys. He cranks the heat up as high as it will go.

The people are wailing and screaming everywhere. He stops by the room with the two guys from Canada and finds them in light jackets and bucket hats, grilling bacon and drinking beer. The devil is astonished. "Everyone down here is in abject misery, and you two seem to be enjoying yourselves."

The two Canadians reply, "Well, ya know, we don´t get too much warm weather up there in Saskatoon so we´ve just got to have a cook-out when the weather´s this nice."

The devil is absolutely furious, he can hardly see straight. Finally he comes up with the answer. The two guys love the heat because they have been cold all their lives. So the devil decides to turn all the heat off in hell.

The next morning, the temperature is below zero, icicles are hanging everywhere; people are shivering so hard that they are unable to do anything but wail, moan, and gnash their teeth. The devil smiles and heads for the room with the two Canadians. He gets there and finds them back in their parkas, toques, and mittens. NOW they are jumping up and down, cheering, yelling and screaming like mad men!

The devil is dumbfounded. "I don´t understand, when I turn up the heat you´re happy. Now it´s freezing cold and you´re still happy. What is up with you two?"

The guys from Saskatchewan look at the devil in surprise, "Well, don´t you know, eh? If hell freezes over, it must mean the Roughriders have won the Grey Cup."

THIS WEEK´S SUGGESTED WEBSITES

Catherine Green sends the URL for a unique rendition of carols:

Geoff Goodship writes: Click on the link to see Freddie´s photos of the parade we saw in El Fuente, Mexico:

Jack Peaker suggests this site:

Jay sends the URL for a video of a Chinese magician:

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men to do nothing. - Edmund Burke