Growing Bolder Community

Someone just reminded me that Christmas eve is two weeks away. Another nine or ten days and I'm going to have to get serious about it.

If you have been reading my recent musings, you might have noticed a common theme over the last week - Christmas. It is a special day and a special season for most of us. So it is with that thought in mind that I'll be posting about a half dozen musings about Christmas over the next week. I hope you enjoy them and more importantly I hope this Christmas is all you hope it to be and more.

We happen to have XM Radio in our car. Now that the Christmas season is here they have changed to music on one of the channels from 40s music to traditional Christmas music. My guess by traditional they mean the Christmas songs were recorded in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. For someone who is older and grew up with that Christmas music, it is enjoyable; it puts me in the Christmas spirit...

I know it's not even December yet but our Christmas tree is up and decorated! After resisting it throughout the early part of November, I'm now ready to embrace the holiday season. Here are a few things I'm excited about: Listening to Christmas music 24/7 Looking for the perfect stocking stuffers for our family Starbucks' red cups. Bring on the peppermint mocha! What are you excited...

DAY 5 in "Santa’s 12 Tips for Celebrating an Ideal Christmas" series is, "Enjoy Others’ Traditions". We manage to get fairly narcissistic in this country about our holidays, particularly as it relates to Christmas. December is host to other holidays, including Chanukah, Kwanza and even Boxing Day. A little participation and recognition of someone else’s tradition will go a long...

It is obvious to me that Christmas does not respect speed limits. It seems like only yesterday that I was looking forward to the 4th of July fireworks display, and no sooner did the last one burst in a glory of color and sounds, Christmas was here again. I know somewhere along the highway of time I passed Halloween and Thanksgiving, but they were a mere blur. I have learned that the speed with...

This is day 2 of Santa's 12 tips for celebrating an ideal Christmas. Today's tip is "Hang Out with Friends" and features Santa arm in arm with his pal, Frosty the snowman. The holiday season between Thanksgiving and Christmas is often fraught with frenzy so try to set aside a little time to hang out with your pals.

Over the past years, I have touched upon Christmas in a few of my blog entries. Given it's the Christmas season again, I thought I would go through all I have written and extract those paragraphs wherein I mention Christmas and republish them here. I have excluded titles and any kind of context for the items. Consider it, if you like, as me performing a magical trick by pulling cards from a...

Charles Foster Kane had his Rosebud and I have my equivalent. You remember Mr. Kane? He was better known as Citizen Kane in the 1941 movie by the same name and Rosebud was his xxx. In case you haven't seen that classic movie, I won't reveal the precise identity of Rosebud. I sometimes wonder how many of us still recall that one special gift from Santa on that long-ago, but long-remembered...

I wrote this poem in 2009. Since it seems nothing has changed, I thought I'd reissue it in this musing. A Christmas Poem – 2009 My cup runneth over My blessings so many It is the best of Christmas'. Their cup near empty Their blessings so meager It is the worst of times. In a land of plenty In a land of comfort Many have much....