“Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveller, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home!” ― Charles Dickens

Hello friends, neighbors, and one and all who for one reason or another landed here on my little piece of the information highway real estate. Virtual real estate. I suppose that would negate the word 'real'. Yet, we are here, and you are welcome on this Wednesday, December 6, 2017. I purchased some of those little packages of meat the other day. You know the ones. The little meat rounds that are sliced thin enough for you to see through them. An entire package weighs 2 ounces. They are typically low calorie, 100 or less. They cost less than 70 cents but they do have exotic names. I was particularly struck by the one named Black Forest Ham. (Smoked, chopped, pressed, caramel color added.) I was intrigued by this name so I checked what Wikipedia had to offer on the subject: "The term 'Black Forest ham' is a Protected Designation of Origin in the European Union, which means that any product sold in the EU as "Black Forest ham" must come from the Black Forest region in Germany. However, this appellation is not recognized in non-EU countries, particularly in the United States and Canada, where various commercially produced hams of varying degrees of quality are marketed and sold as 'Black Forest ham'". I didn't know that. "Varying degrees of quality." Sounds a little judgmental, if you ask me. There you have it. Good old American free enterprise ingenuity! And, it even has the coloring added to make it look like 'Black Forest'. All for 68 cents. Again. Is this a great country or what?

I want to say this about the Mrs. Claus who travels with me. She is remarkable. I know that Santa, The Santa Claus, has top billing because he does represent the legend. However, I want everyone to know that as one of the thousands of Santas out there across the globe doing our thing, I have the best Mrs. Claus I've ever seen, period, end of story. I thought about this when I saw this particular photo. That's us with a young lady from last Sunday. We were doing a Christmas party for a gated community and it so happens that some very dear friends of ours, brothers and sisters in Christ, that we have known since the mid-1970's live in that community. They were teenagers back then. That's one of their granddaughters. Looking at Mrs. Claus reminded me of that being her natural smile. She is a people person and it comes through. They respond to her. I know what some of you are thinking. I must be in trouble again if I'm writing all of these nice things about her. Just for the record, I stay in trouble, but, that's not the reason. I saw that photo and thought to myself, "Thank you Lord for giving to me such a wonderful helpmete, (Genesis 2:18), who can also pull off Mrs. Claus with such beauty and poise." You may recall that when she and I filled out the psychological assessment profiles she rated off the charts as a 'high blue'. Blue is the color of caring and altruism. My chart indicated a blended hue, meaning I can move in and out of the spectrum, I can be a blue, a green, or a red (tough guy) as the situation dictates. I've seen her become a red when dealing with me, but, for most of the time, she is always a high blue, because that's how God made her, and I am so thankful He did. Amen.

She can also be clever. When I wrote that she had read enough of those Amish Romance novels that by now she should be able to build furniture out of a stump, well, she did have a response. She sent me an email that said she had a stump in mind and she knew what she was going to build, a dog house, for SANTA. I didn't even know we had a dog. And, why would she name our dog, Santa? No wonder I stay so confused. And, there you were, thinking how easy it would be to always be watching out to see if there's any crying or pouting, to be constantly making lists, checking them twice, finding out who is naughty or nice. Easy? Try it sometimes. Some people think that Santa and Christmas is a whole lot like the workplace. You do all the work and the fat guy in the suit gets all the credit. I need to make one thing perfectly clear. Some have wondered why Santa has to be a man. Do you know any women who would wear the same outfit for the entire season? I'll leave you with this little inside information. What do we call a kid who doesn't believe in Santa? You can thump out your own drum roll on this one, "A rebel without a Claus." I think I had better shut down for today and seek out some new material. Enjoy. Be blessed. And, know that God cares. Amen. .....More later.