Yesterday I posted a quick review and recommendation for the latest James Patterson book I read. After I did that, I was reminded of another book I wanted to recommend to you. It is a book that can be read over and over and comes from a guy I write about often.
Every month, I talk about Dave from the blog A Sound Day. In the time we have been following each other and e-mailing each other, I discovered that he not only has a fantastic musical blog, he is also a published author!
Around Thanksgiving I had posted a blog about things that I am thankful for. Dave said that he had written a book that was about the same thing. He sent me an autographed copy of it and it is really fantastic.
As I read this book (which I did in one sitting), I found that Dave and I have a lot more in common than just music. The story behind the book is that Dave began writing a list. Every day he would write down something he was thankful for. He went through his list and pulled out 101 of his favorite things.
On the scribd.com website, a description of the book reads:
“Thank Goodness – 101 Things To Be Grateful For Today” offers readers a chance to reflect on all the good in life and challenges them to not only look for good in their own lives but offers ways to do so. A collection of wonders the author is thankful for is accompanied by questions for the reader to ponder , such as how they last showed compassion for somebody else and how that made them feel , or what the most meaningful holiday on the calendar is to them. Selected sketches and cartoons illustrate some of the points. The book can be read even in a single sitting, or as a daily ritual designed to make each day brighter.
I love that there is a question posed after each thing. You and I know that those questions can be answered differently at any given time, which really makes this a book that can be read over and over again.
A few of my favorites from the book:
Living in the golden age of communication
My love of music
Coffee to greet the new day
Sleep, too often taken for granted
My ability to not only read, but enjoy doing so
Funny commercials making a minor inconvenience fun
Prayer
Anytime I can brighten someone’s day
Being in love with my best friend
After each thing, Dave offers up a personal story that connects him to it. This is where I realized just how similar we are. When talking about music for example, he mentions a plastic turntable, 8 track tapes, and buying vinyl albums. Each one of those things were things I connect to my love of music, too.
Here’s the thing – you can always find something to be grateful for each day (even on the bad days!). These 101 things in Dave’s book are great reminders and thought starters. It is a perfect book for the start of the New Year, but really is good for any time of the year.
I’m grateful to have connected with Dave through the world of blogging (The Blogiverse? Blogmosphere?) and his book reminding me to always be aware of those things to be grateful for!
Speaking of Dave …
His next round of Turntable Talk will begin on January 10th! I was drawn randomly to be the first one to kick off the topic. Watch for it here and on his website, especially if you like “poetry.”
I’m not sure why I don’t read more of James Patterson’s books. Every time I have, I have really enjoyed them. The last book I read of his was The Shadow. I read it back in May and reviewed it here:
I had seen a Facebook post from Patterson talking about this book, and a friend actually had just finished it. She loved it and loaned it to me. Much like The Shadow, it didn’t take me long to finish it. It was a fast paced book that required very little thinking. It was a simple story that got crazier as it went on and was a nice feel good story at the end.
I enjoyed it a lot, but in preparation for this blog, I searched for other reviews. I found that people either loved it or hated it. The first page introduces you to the Sullivan family. It also let’s you know right from the start that the matriarch of the family has died. Perhaps this is why so many people hated it, I’m not sure.
One of the advertisements for the book reads: “Move over, Dickens—America’s favorite storyteller has written a modern Christmas story for the ages.” This is obviously a reference to his classic, A Christmas Carol. To be fair, the first words of Dickens’ story are, “Marley was dead, to being with.” He then goes on to explain how important that is to the story. In the same way, the death mentioned at the start of Patterson’s book is also important to THIS story. Because of her passing, Christmas doesn’t happen anymore at the Sullivan house.
The synopsis from Goodreads states:
Every year at Christmastime, Will and Ella Sullivan, and their father, Henry, come to a family agreement: Christmas is a holiday for other people.
At their brownstone in Harlem, stockings go unstuffed, tinsel unstrewn, gifts unbought, mistletoe unhung, chestnuts unroasted, carols unplayed, cookies uncooked, a tree un-visible, and guests uninvited.
Until guests start arriving anyway. In pairs and sixes, in sevens and tens—they keep coming. And they stay. For twelve long, hard, topsy-turvy, very messy days. That’s when the Sullivans discover that those moments in life that defy hope, expectation, or even imagination, might be the best gifts of all.
In a bit of holiday magic, Christmas invites itself to their home. If you remember the song “The 12 Days of Christmas,” then you already know what to expect over the 12 days. With Day 1, the arrival of a partridge in a pear tree starts the ball rolling. You can only imagine the chaos that each gift brings!
There were times that I laughed out loud, times that I was almost brought to tears, and times I was crying from laughing so hard. I tried to explain the plot to my wife and she said, “It sounds like a Hallmark Movie!” I wouldn’t go that far, as those stories are more of a romance based plot that all their movies follow. To a point, there is a romantic factor to it, as the Sullivan kids think that if they can find a woman on a dating site for their dad, Christmas will return to their house. However, there is really no “love” story, other than the love of family.
It was an easy read. The whole time I was reading it, I could see it easily being a Christmas movie. I don’t think that there was a sexual situation or profane word in it. It was a fun story that I can easily see myself reading every Christmas. I enjoyed it and I think you will, too.
If you still have your Christmas tree up, get it at your local library or off Amazon. Turn the Christmas lights on, get a fire going in the fireplace, grab a blanket and curl up on the couch and enjoy this fun holiday story.
I was googling something the other day and the answer I was looking for was on a newspaper website. It wasn’t the New York Times or Washington Post, but it was a site for a big city newspaper.
The article loaded on my screen for about 5 seconds. Then a pop-up came on the screen saying that the article was for paid subscribers only. What?!
This isn’t the first time this has happened to me. I’m not going to lie, it makes me angry. Why can’t I read your article online for free?!?
If this trend continues, I am guessing CNN and MSN will have you paying for use, too. This is ridiculous.
Before I go on, let me say that I have bought the newspaper, and continue to do so on occasion. I’m not against paying for that, but an article online?! Why?!?!
I don’t even remember what I was searching for now, but it certainly wasn’t something I was going to pay for. I also don’t do enough surfing of one particular newspaper site to warrant me paying for a yearly subscription.
So am I to start charging YOU for reading my blog?! Of course not! I’m not out to make money off of my readers. (I did see where you can gift a blogger their yearly fee, which I would never ask anyone to do.). I guess that’s where I am different from the newspaper.
Maybe I am in the minority here. How do you feel about this?
As we welcome 2023, let me pause to thank each of you for reading my blog. Since I started this blog, I have come to know many of you as friends.
For those of you who have followed from the beginning, you’ve been with me through good and bad times. Your kind words of support through it all will never be forgotten.
I never anticipated having even 50 followers, so the fact that I have like 6 tines that baffles me. My silly ramblings, my musical opinions, my reading and television favorites, and constant bragging about my wonderful wife and family are things that YOU actually find worth reading. Thank you.
There was a time when I would go out to ring in the new year. It has been a long time since I’ve done that. I joked on Facebook last night that I had “counted down to 9pm” and I was off to bed. Sam and I were up talking for a bit, but we were both asleep by 10:30pm. I slept so soundly that the normal barrage of midnight fireworks didn’t even wake me up.
I woke up this morning to about 15 “Happy New Year” texts, many Facebook comments, and a few Snapchat wishes. It was almost 7 hours into the new year before I woke up.
As I have done in the past, this morning I looked at my yearly stats for my blog. Honestly, I was surprised. The most read blog of the year has consistently been in my top 3 since it was written. I’m not sure why, but I love that it is.
Comedian Red Buttons was a hit at many roasts with his “Never Got A Dinner” bit. The jokes are so dates, but they still make me (and obviously others) laugh. It was my #1 blog. Here it is if you missed it:
The second most read blog was simply a list. As a music guy, I found a list of most “hated” and “overplayed” songs to be interesting. I know many other music folks read the blog, so I posted the list. Here is that blog:
The most surprising blog to appear in the Top 3 speaks volumes of an amazing man. Just after Christmas, one of my radio mentors passed away. I wrote a small tribute to him and shared it on Facebook. I tagged him in it, which meant any of his friends and family would see it, too.
The fact that this blog is barely a week old and shot past one of my Top 3 Year End staples (A Year Without a Santa Claus), shows just how many people loved Richard D. Now I wish I had spent more time on it. Here is that blog:
As 2022 fades into a memory, I’d like to thank you for following my blog and reading my ramblings. At some point, I’d like to look back at the year and reflect, but for now I thought I would look ahead. Here are some great quotes (some of which I may have posted in the past) to kick start the new year.
May the new year present us with wonderful memories, blessings, and lots to explore. May our days be filled with happiness and love.
If I am being honest, if it wasn’t for the fact that Ella and Andrew had appointments on the same day, it would have been longer. While we were there with the kids, Sam said, “You are over due for a cleaning. You should make an appointment while we are here.” So I did.
I had my appointment this week. The funny thing is that they never did clean my teeth!
First, they came in and updated all my medical history and medications. Then they came in and did the standard X-Rays. You know, where they make you bite that thing and point the machine at your cheek. After that, they told me they wanted to do a 3-D scan of my teeth.
They took this wand-like thing and spent some time running it over my teeth. You end up getting a picture that looks something like this:
Of course, those teeth look a lot better than mine.
They can look at just the top teeth or the bottom teeth. They can twist it and turn it around on the screen and see behind them and everything. It was pretty cool.
Then they took me out in the hallway and had me sit in a chair. They strapped my head to this thing and took what they called a panoramic X-Ray. The machine spins around in front of you and you have to hold still while it does its thing. It was weird.
The final result is something like this:
When the dentist finally came in to talk to me, I had been there an hour and a half. My teeth have never been straight. My two front teeth overlap and when I played trumpet in high school, I always played off to the side because of it.
He told me that my teeth look good “especially since it has been three years.” He suggested that my mouth would be healthier if I did something about the crooked and crowded teeth. Perhaps some of those Invisalign braces. I told him I would entertain the idea, but I know that it will cost me a pretty penny.
My teeth need a “deep cleaning” because of some bone loss. So I have to go not once, but twice! 90 minute visits! They will do one side on my first visit and the other on my next visit. While I am there for one of the visits, they will remove an old filling and put in a new one. I will need to be numbed up for both cleanings. URGH!!!
$$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$
I guess after three years, they needed to recoup some of the money they hadn’t gotten from me!
Thankfully, my first of the two cleanings isn’t until February …
Why not close this blog with another great dentist joke?
Martin and his wife walk into a dentist’s office. He says to the dentist, “Doc, I’m in one heck of a hurry I have three buddies sitting out in my car waiting for us to play golf, so forget about the anesthetic, I don’t have time for the gums to get numb. I just want you to pull the tooth, and be done with it! Today is Friday and we have a 10:00 AM tee time at the best golf course in town and it’s 9:15 already… “.
The dentist thought to himself, “My goodness, this is surely a very brave man asking to have a tooth pulled without using anything to kill the pain.”
So the dentist asks him, “Which tooth is it sir?”
Martin turned to his wife and said, “Open your mouth and show him dear…….”
In my radio career, I have been lucky enough to work with some fantastic people. Pictured with me above are two of them. Sadly, I received word just after Christmas that the silly guy holding the coffee pot, passed away. Richard D. Haase was one of a kind.
Readers of this blog may remember that I have blogged about him in the past. Last year, I posted the following:
Richard was a fantastic mentor to me. His guidance, advice, and coaching made me a better on air personality. His love of humor, bad puns, old jokes, and silliness helped us to become instant friends. I used to love sitting in the Honey Radio office listening to him on the air. I would anxiously await the “Keith Allen” joke of the day. Sometimes there were more than one. “My part time secretary and full time airhead, Lulu, said the last time Keith was on the air he sounded funny. She thought he had a worm in his Adam’s apple!”
Later in the same show he quipped – “I’m pretty sure the year that song came out was the same year that Jon Ray (pictured to my left in the first picture) got kicked out of grade school. He was caught drawing naked pictures of Wilma Flintstone on his Etch-A-Sketch”
In past blogs I have written about Richard:
From the blog “World Radio Day Thank You” written 2-14-2018:
WHND – Honey Radio
Before I say any more, let me say that working at WHND was not work at all. It was like play. We had so much fun. Anyone who tuned in and listened to this station could tell that the DJ’s were having as much fun as the listeners. Honey was the first “Oldies” station in America. I was honored to work here and honored to work with everyone here.
Richard D. Haase: Richard D. remains to this day one of the guys who offered me some of the most amazing advice. I was probably a big pain in his ass. I was always asking him something. I had this want and need to be better. I wanted to be the best. I was forever asking him to listen to my show tapes and offer criticism and advice, which he did always.
One of the things I learned from him, was the importance of talking to one person. To create the illusion that it is just me and you listening to our favorite songs and hanging out together. I understood what he meant, and began to drop phrases like “everyone”, “all of you”, and “out there”. He also connected me with a mentor who would take that premise and continue to grow into a better personality, the late Jay Trachman.
Richard’s show was full of “benchmarks”. Poor Richard D’s Almanac (This Day In History), The Off The Wall Record (a rare song that he played each day), and “The Top 12 at 12” (His countdown of the top 12 local songs from a specific year). He also featured many characters on the show that were sometimes referred to and never heard (another gimmick of old time radio).
His show was also filled with insanely bad jokes. I often kidded him that even Milton Berle (who was known for stealing others jokes) wouldn’t touch his stuff. He often poked fun of the other DJ’s on the station, which I found to be a unique way of cross promotion.
There were many days that we’d sit in his office and talk about radio, computers, and life in general and we’d laugh until tears rolled down our faces and our sides hurt. Richard was a legend who had been on the air for many years, a far cry from being young! Yet, when we worked together, we were like a bunch of elementary kids laughing and hooping it up.
From the blog “Some Old Radio Stories – Part 1” written 8-21-2018:
Richard D was one of the funniest men I ever worked with. He gave me lots of direction and I have talked about him in previous blogs, as well. I was producing his show the Top 12 at 12, which was an hour of his show which featured the Top 12 songs in Detroit from local charts from different years. It was a fun show to produce. It included new stories, TV and movie clips, old commercials, info about how much things were from that year, etc…
Richard had to play the 12 songs and sometimes there was extra time and we’d give him songs that were on the charts from that week to play as “extras” if he needed them. He was doing a countdown from 1966 and I had put a Dean Martin song in there as an extra and he played it. He made some comment about it not being the greatest song or something and moved on. I went into the studio, as I often did, to give him crap.
I said something along the lines of “Why are you messing with Italians! Dean was Italian and so I am I! Look here you Old Bastid (a term of endearment), If I were you, I’d watch what you say about Dean Martin … and Frank Sinatra for that matter!” and left the room as he laughed hysterically. After the next song he said on the air, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I must offer an apology. A little while ago I played (whatever the song was) by Dean Martin and made some negative remarks about it. Well immediately after that, Keith Allen came in here with about 12 goons who roughed me up a bit and told me that my comments were distasteful. So I must now publicly apologize. I really had no idea that Keith Allen was the President of the Dean Martin Fan Club!”
From that day on, I always tried to find a way to sneak a Dean Martin song into my show, so I could say I was President of the Dean Martin Fan Club. When Honey went off the air, I received a package from a listener named Sandy (who I remain friends with to this day), who sent me a membership to the REAL Dean Martin Fan Club with a note that read: “I thought you might actually want to be a member of the Fan Club you claim to be President of….”
From the blog “More Musical Memories” written 3-2-2018:
WHND
Richard D. used to have a feature called The Off-the-Wall Record. He’d say, “To my right is a wall. On the wall is a peg. On the peg – records. When I take one of the records of the peg on the wall and play it on the air, it becomes a Tricky Dickie Off-The Wall Record”. When he did this feature it usually consisted of rare or obscure tunes. One day I gave him Stormy Weather by the Spaniels to play. He LOVED it. He told me that was one of his favorites.
He often spoke of the group the Hi-Los and told me about the “tight” harmonies that they had. He was right. Good stuff! As a fan of the big bands, I let him listen to The Spitfire Band’s version of Cherokee, which featured an AMAZING trombone part. Again, he loved it and I think of him when it plays on the iPod.
Tying in with the Dean Martin story above:
After his last show on Honey Radio, a listener suggested I play a Dean Song in Richard’s honor….I chose “I Will”. The first line of the song is “I don’t wanna be the one to say I’m gonna miss you, but I will…” it fit the somber occasion.
I found this article was posted on the Motor City Radio Flashbacks page and is from the Detroit Free Press. It is from March of 1981, one year after he took the reigns of WHND.
There were things in that article that I didn’t even know. He mentioned his accident briefly in a conversation once, but he didn’t want to dwell on it. He spoke a lot of his days at CHUM and WXYZ. I loved listening to those stories! I remember the young Keith sitting there in awe of the legend. He spoke of long lines for autographs at remote appearances, hanging with celebrities, and performing magic with vinyl records and reel to reel tape machines. I hung on his every word!
Every day, listeners tuned in to “The Richard D Wireless Act” to hear The Top 12 at 12, Tricky Dickey Off the Wall Record, Tricky Dickey Trivia, facts from the Poor Richard D’s Almanac, and hoped to be Richard D-clared a winner. Watching him work in the studio was like watching a kid in a candy store. He was constantly moving, constantly writing, constantly thinking. He often laughed to himself just before cracking the microphone because of whatever line popped into his head. He was a master.
I’ve said before that the man you heard on the air was also the man that he was off the air. His quick wit and ad-libs were brilliant. I marveled at how his mind was able to come up with those things. In later years, I found myself mimicking his on air delivery because it was just so “personal.” He understood talking to one person and connecting with his listener. I took away a lot from his coaching and from listening to him.
Honey Radio went off the air in 1994. I was lucky enough to keep in contact with Richard through Facebook. As the years went on, life offered many changes for both of us. For me – a divorce, second marriage and new life. For him – the sad loss of his wife Pam. He spoke of her often on the show (calling her “Oldielocks”) and off air, too. In our last phone conversation, it was obvious that he missed her very much.
My heart breaks for his children and grandchildren. As a fellow Honey co-worker stated when I shared the news of his passing, “He is now reunited with the love of his life in heaven.” There is comfort in knowing this.
I hope that his family and friends will always remember the fun he had. I hope that they recall the happiness that filled a room when he was there. I hope that they remember the love that he had for each of them.
Thankfully, there are many recordings of his show available online. His voice will live on. His memory will live on. His jokes will live on (this could be a good thing or a bad thing!). You can enjoy some of them here:
What a blessing it was to have shared the same studio with Richard. I am thankful for the many laughs we shared over the years. I am forever grateful for his guidance and support. I only hope that he knew just how much he meant to me.
I’d like to think that there was an opening at God’s radio station and he needed Richard’s talent for the heavenly airwaves. I am going to miss my friend very much, but I will look back on our friendship fondly.
Hello, my friends. When I last blogged, we were gearing up for a big snow storm. While we didn’t get as much as they were saying, roads were still dangerous and as a bonus we got our white Christmas. I had to laugh at something I saw on Facebook, and had to share here. This pretty much sums up every winter storm forecast here in Michigan:
Snow was to move in on Thursday night and into Friday morning. Many patients called to cancel their appointments that night, so because of low volume, I got to stay home. It was nice to have extra family time. It is very rare to get that time.
I had already taken Friday off. Usually my boys will come over and spend the night and we do Christmas Eve morning as our “Christmas.” Because of the storm, we decided it was best to postpone things until the Monday after Christmas.
On Christmas Eve night, we usually go to Crossroads Village and do the drive through light display. It’s not too far from us and it is always a beautiful sight. On certain nights, you can board the train and see more lights, but the drive through is neat because you get to go through the little village. They pipe Christmas music through the speakers and every thing is just beautiful.
We got the kids dressed and ventured out. It didn’t take long to see just how bad the roads were. We hadn’t been out since the storm, but the roads were just awful. We take many back roads to get there and the wind was blowing across the fields and made the roads solid sheets of ice. It was actually pretty scary. I would have kept driving, but Sam told me to turn around and go back home. That’s what we did.
Earlier in the day we made cookies for Santa. Ella told Sam that Santa should drink milk from a “fancy” cup, so we put it in a wine glass. A few years ago, Sam’s sister Grace (who passed away earlier this year) made a Christmas plate. We have decided that as part of our Christmas tradition, Santa’s cookies would always be put on on that plate.
We placed the cookies on the plate and started to get things ready for the rest of the evening. We had to get the kids in their Christmas pajamas, they had to brush their teeth, and Santa had to get ready to build some stuff. After walking to the living room to gather up a few things, I walked back in the kitchen to see Andrew standing on Ella’s step stool – eating Santa’s cookies!!! Smart kid!
Once the kids were in bed, I went to work. I only had to put together a couple things, and I love being Santa. Ella got a Frozen Castle (she calls it the Elsa and Anna castle) and Andrew got a vacuum (he is all about the vacuum when we clean). They also each got a book from Santa and the rest of the gifts were from mom and dad.
It was nice to see the tree lit, with presents under it, and the baby gate out of the way!!
Honestly, I anticipated that Ella would be the first one up on Christmas morning, but instead, it was Andrew. We actually had to go in and wake Ella up. She seemed uninterested in getting up until we reminded her that it was Christmas and Santa had come.
Andrew loved his vacuum and played with it all morning. It was a hoot to see him “cleaning” the rug!
Ella loved her princess castle and when she got a princess dress, too, she had to put it on!
She was so into it and had all her princesses playing on the castle. I was lucky enough to capture this very cool picture of her playing –
I just love it! She had no idea I was taking this.
We were invited to Sam’s folks for Christmas dinner, which is always nice. My mother-in-law always puts out a big spread with ham, turkey, scalloped or potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and a ton of desserts. My nieces and nephew were there, so the kids all got to play together. It’s always kind of crazy with all of Sam’s siblings there, so I neglected to get any pictures.
Andrew gave us a memorable moment while we were there. Sam’s folks have one of those thin Christmas trees. Andrew, of course, is always curious. While my back was to him, he grabbed something on the tree (probably the string of lights) and started pulling. Naturally, the entire tree came crashing down on top of him!! When I turned around I couldn’t even see him! Thankfully, only one ornament broke. That boy is something else!!
I’m not sure when we left but it was later in the evening and Sam and I were talking about being a bit hungry. We decided to be like the Christmas Story family and we ordered some Chinese food and grabbed McDonald’s for the kids. As crazy as it sounds, we may need to do that every year because it was delicious.
On Monday, the boys came over in the morning. I made up some chocolate chip pancakes, sausage links, eggs, toast, and coffee for me. Ella and Andrew don’t see their big brothers often enough, but they seemed glad to see them.
My dad and Rose came over a bit later and I was glad that my dad got to see all his grandchildren. He brought Ella a Little People Barbie apartment, which is huge and now serves as a “neighbor” to Elsa and Anna’s castle. He brought Andrew some waffle blocks and a bowling set. The boys are older now, so the each got an envelope with cash, much like his mother (my grandma) used to give my brother and I.
As crazy as it was to get everyone together, I am so glad to have gotten this picture with my dad, Rose, and the kids.
As I stated in my Facebook post, it is never long enough when we get together, but I do treasure the time with them.
I am so glad to have had time with my wife, my children and my dad over the holidays. God willing, we will all be able to do it again next year.
It will be a white Christmas for us this year! Thanks to the winter storm that is rolling through. Snow continues to fall and the warning remains in effect until after midnight.
I was a bit worried that I would be driving home in the middle of the storm this morning. I knew that road conditions were going to be awful. Thankfully, enough people cancelled their appointments that I got to stay home.
It has been nice to be with my family. Earlier today, Ella and I watched A Charlie Brown Christmas then I made chocolate chip waffles for breakfast. Afterward, I whipped up some chocolate chip cookies – for Santa.
Sam got all the gift wrapping done. The kids are down for a nap. I have some laundry to fold, dishes to wash, and a few things that need cleaning.
I didn’t write anything ahead for the holidays. It’s been fairly busy here. However, I figured while it was quiet, I would take this opportunity to say thank you for following my blog. I am so glad to connect with you here. Thank you for sharing yourself with me through your writings. Even though we have never met face to face, I feel as though I know you.
From my family to yours, I wish you the Merriest Christmas. I wish you a holiday season full of many blessings, family, and friends. I wish you peace and joy. I wish you health and happiness in the new year.
Thank you again, my friend. May God bless us all in the time ahead.
We’re supposed to get a huge snow storm here over the next few hours. I was hoping to find a second to write a Christmas wish to my readers, but I am not sure I will be able to. I found this poem and thought it was worth a share, just in case I don’t get the chance to write something more personal.
Christmas Magic
Are we too grownup to feel a thrill As we light the Christmas tree? Are we immune to cookies, Christmas cards and Christmas glee?
Are we too adult to “Ooh” and “Aah” At the Christmas candle’s glow? Are we blasé about our gifts; Do we shun the mistletoe?
Are we too mature for carols, For merry or for jolly? Do the decorations leave us cold, The ornaments and holly?
Fat chance! We’ll never grow too old To love the Christmas magic. A year without a Christmas Would be boring, even tragic.
So bring it on! The candy canes, The feasting and good cheer; O Christmas, lovely Christmas, You’re the highlight of the year!
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 