There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.”
~ Erma Bombeck (1927-1996), American author and humorist.

"Birthdays are good for you.
Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest."
  ~~Larry Lorenzoni

"And I had but one penny in the world. Thou should’st have it to buy gingerbread." 
  ~~William Shakespeare, Love’s Labours Lost

“The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.” 
  ~~Burton Hills quotes

"Lucy Van Pelt: Say, by the way, can you play "Jingle Bells?"
[Schroeder proceeds to play "Jingle Bells", which sounds like a traditional grand piano]
Lucy Van Pelt: [interrupting] No, no. I mean "Jingle Bells." You know, deck them halls and all that stuff?
[Schroeder begins to play again, with the piano sounding like an organ]
Lucy Van Pelt: [interrupting again] No, no. You don't get it at all. I mean "Jingle Bells." You know, Santa Claus and ho-ho-ho, and mistletoe and presents to pretty girls.
[gazes lovingly at Schroeder, who then out of frustration taps one key of the piano while playing "Jingle Bells," which sounds like a child's toy piano]
Lucy Van Pelt: That's it!
[Schroeder turns a few unplanned flips from Lucy's reaction]"
From: "A Charlie Brown Christmas" ~ 1965

Time gives good advice. (El tiempo da buen consejo.)
  ~~Proverb

The Barn In My Rear View Mirror

Patchwork quilt of a metal roof,
with a hip-shot lean to the left.


Boards, weathered, to a storm cloud grey,
with remnants of red in the cracks.

Generations, hub of the farm.
If only the old barn could talk.

From its birth, in a barn raising,
lumber from a family saw mill.

Mares with foals, town dances and plows.
Hay in the loft and moonshine.

Sign of the times, acres were sold,
but the old red barn is stubborn.

It may be swaybacked in its spine,
yet, its rugged beauty is ageless.

  ~~Rick Parise

"For centuries men have kept an appointment with Christmas. 
Christmas means fellowship, feasting, giving and receiving, a time of good cheer, home."
  ~~Rev. William Jewett Tucker

"Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. 
In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall."
  ~~Larry Wilde

"The outdoor Christmas lights, green and red and gold and blue and twinkling, remind me that most people are that way all year round--kind, generous, friendly and with an occasional moment of ecstasy. But Christmas is the only time they dare reveal themselves."
  ~~Harlan Miller