{"id":4012,"date":"2020-12-25T04:19:31","date_gmt":"2020-12-24T22:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=4012"},"modified":"2020-12-27T23:45:37","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T17:45:37","slug":"christmas-is-what-you-make-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=4012","title":{"rendered":"CHRISTMAS IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well, it’s the day before Christmas and, as usual, I’m cutting it close to finish this Christmas blahg.\"SantaToday is December 24th, 2020 and I haven’t written a new blahg since my last one, TRACING LINDA KEENE, PART 3: ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD<\/a>, way back in September.\u00a0 Frankly, that blahg series tired me out and I’ve had other things to keep me busy.\u00a0 Living in the time of a world wide pandemic, Covid 19, hasn’t helped and it’s part of the theme of this blahg.\u00a0 Christmas is a little different this year and we’ll have to make the most of it; any way we can.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Last year’s Christmas blahg,\u00a0MEATS AND CHEESES AND BABY JESUS<\/a>, detailed how I had to change some of the plans I normally have for this time of year.\u00a0 I had to miss the live Nativity in Bloomfield last year and had to find a new place to cut down our real Christmas Tree.\u00a0 This year, we’ve had to adapt to doing things differently. Emmanuel Baptist Church in Bloomfield, Ontario still had their Nativity this year but it was a drive-through experience.\u00a0 \"Emmanuel<\/a>We waited an hour to drive by all of the stations from the announcement from the angel to Mary about her impending birth, through Joseph’s visit from the angel, to the shepherds, on to the magi, and onward to Bethlehem.\u00a0 There were ten stations in all and at the beginning we were give a CD with 10 tracks to play; one at each station.\u00a0 We were also given a bag of cookies and either hot chocolate or hot cider.\u00a0 I’m glad I didn’t have to miss it and that Emmanuel Baptist found a way to make this season a little bit more enjoyable with us all keeping our social distance.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 The hunt for this year’s Christmas tree was also very different.\u00a0 Carol’s Christmas Tree Farm in Napanee, where we cut our tree last year, was closed this season due to the pandemic.\u00a0 That left me no other options than to pursue a tree at a local nursery.\u00a0 My daughter Abbie came home from University on December 9th and I waited until she was home before turning to the tree issue.\u00a0 My wife had suggested Lockyer’s Country Gardens in Picton.\u00a0 I remember years ago, probably close to 20 years ago, I bought one there and paid $30 back then which I thought was pricey.\u00a0 Still, my options were limited so Abbie and I set out on Friday, December 11th and headed to Lockyer’s.\u00a0 We were surprised when we saw no trees outside and even more surprised when we found no trees inside.\u00a0 I asked a young guy who worked there where they kept their Christmas trees.\u00a0 He didn’t laugh but he apologized and said they were all sold out.\u00a0 He also said the local firemen who sold trees by the fire-hall were also sold out.\u00a0 I asked where we might find one in the County, being Prince Edward County where I live and where Picton is relatively in the center.\u00a0 He said he didn’t believe I could find one in the County but there might be a tree farm north of Belleville.\u00a0 I doubted any tree farm would be open during this pandemic and I certainly didn’t want to drive the hour it would take to find the farm he was suggesting.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Abbie and I were a little disappointed but were still determined.\u00a0 Lockyer’s was on the outskirts of Picton so we drove into Picton proper to scout around.\u00a0 The first place we passed was the Metro grocery store and there were about 10 trees stacked against the front door of various sizes.\u00a0 The price at Metro was $45.\u00a0 There were a couple that were over six feet and we thought they might be suitable.\u00a0 We decided to drive around to the other grocery store and by the fire-hall in case the fellow at Lockyer’s had been wrong about the firemen.\u00a0 There were no other trees to be found in Picton.\u00a0 Driving in from Lockyer’s we had passed the No Frills grocery store and Canadian Tire but we could see from the road that they had no trees for sale.\u00a0 As we drove into Picton, we saw some nice ones growing on people’s lawns that looked suitable but I didn’t have an axe nor the inclination to ruin the Christmas of someone else.\u00a0 We settled on a purchase from Metro.\u00a0 When we drove back to the store, we saw someone carting off one of the trees.\u00a0 Luckily, it was not one of the larger ones.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 We were able to easily fit the tree inside our Hyundai Sana Fe with the back seats folded down.\u00a0 Carrying in the tree and setting it up was a breeze.\u00a0 It was only after we had it seated in the stand when I cut the twine that was bound around the tree.\u00a0 The tree did not unfold.\u00a0 It probably had been tied so long that it was going to hold its bound shape unless I did something.\u00a0 I searched the Internet about “how to relax a Christmas tree.”\u00a0 I thought about getting it drunk to see if it would relax but someone else suggested “just stick your arms in and push down on the branches.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/em> Go around the tree doing that and it should open up.”\u00a0<\/em> I still thought that getting it drunk would lessen the tree’s inhibitions.\u00a0 After all, it was more uptight that depressed.\u00a0 I did, however, like one person’s suggestion about trying to make the tree depressed.\u00a0 “If you tell the tree that it’s a very bad tree and it’s mother was a balsam fir so it will never amount to anything the tree will become depressed and it’s limbs will sag.”<\/em>\u00a0 I opted for the method of massaging the tree.\u00a0 Someone also suggested adding ginger-ale to the tree’s water because their tree seemed to like it.\u00a0 Back to getting the tree drunk again but I don’t drink so the tree just had the ginger-ale water mix.\u00a0 Eventually after the massage and a night sitting in the ginger-ale solution, the tree looked much better.\u00a0 I think the image below speaks for itself:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Here are some pictures of some of our other decorations both outside and inside (click on the pictures for a larger image):\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0 To add to your Christmas delight I’m going to post here something very special.\u00a0 I have mentioned before that from 1993 to 1995 my friend Stephen Dafoe and I, along with our producer and good friend Bryan Dawkins, had a radio show in the Belleville area called “Dead From The Neck Up.”\u00a0 The last show that aired was a Christmas show in 1995. You can check out the 1993, 1994, and 1995 Christmas specials here at http:\/\/www.falseducks.com\/dead\/readdead.html<\/a>.\u00a0 We were all getting too busy back in 1995 and our lives took different directions. Stephen ended up moving to Alberta in the early 2000s and I wouldn’t reconnect with him until about five years ago. Bryan and I have remained in the Belleville region and keep in touch.\u00a0 So, I’ve been listening to some of our old shows to keep myself amused during this pandemic. A few weeks back I realized that it’s been exactly 25 years since our last show and I got to toying with the idea of a 25th anniversary reunion show. So, I emailed Stephen and he thought it would be fun. I wrote all of the sketches, had him record his parts and emailed them to me and then I contacted Bryan over the Internet and recorded his vocals over Facetime on my Ipad. The result is The Dead From The Neck Up 25th Anniversary Covid 19 Quarantine Special<\/em>.<\/span>\u00a0 Of course it’s a Christmas show and I just thought I would share this as it’s amazing with today’s technology what we were able to accomplish and now the Dead From The Neck Up cast is in their late 50s with a good laugh for this holiday season.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/dead\/audiofiles\/2020XmasShowReunion.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

I also created Youtube video with some old images of Dafoe, Dawkins, and myself along with some of my Christmas light display.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n