THIS BLOG IS MOVING BEGINNING 10/31/2013

THIS BLOG IS MOVING!

BEGINNING 10/31/2013

• Our NEW ADDRESS is http://oldxmas.blogspot.com

• Our selection of free CHRISTMAS WALLPAPER  and FREE COLORING PAGES FOR KIDS, including THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS COLORING PAGES are now located HERE.PLEASE ADJUST YOUR BOOKMARKS ACCORDINGLY!

“Christmas Trees,” by Robert Frost

THE CITY had withdrawn into itself
And left at last the country to the country;
When between whirls of snow not come to lie
And whirls of foliage not yet laid, there drove
A stranger to our yard, who looked the city,
Yet did in country fashion in that there
He sat and waited till he drew us out
A-buttoning coats to ask him who he was.
He proved to be the city come again
To look for something it had left behind
And could not do without and keep its Christmas.
He asked if I would sell my Christmas trees;
My woods—the young fir balsams like a place
Where houses all are churches and have spires.
I hadn’t thought of them as Christmas Trees.
I doubt if I was tempted for a moment
To sell them off their feet to go in cars
And leave the slope behind the house all bare,
Where the sun shines now no warmer than the moon.
I’d hate to have them know it if I was.
Yet more I’d hate to hold my trees except
As others hold theirs or refuse for them,
Beyond the time of profitable growth,
The trial by market everything must come to.
I dallied so much with the thought of selling.
Then whether from mistaken courtesy
And fear of seeming short of speech, or whether
From hope of hearing good of what was mine,
I said, “There aren’t enough to be worth while.”
“I could soon tell how many they would cut,
You let me look them over.”

“You could look.
But don’t expect I’m going to let you have them.”
Pasture they spring in, some in clumps too close
That lop each other of boughs, but not a few
Quite solitary and having equal boughs
All round and round. The latter he nodded “Yes” to,
Or paused to say beneath some lovelier one,
With a buyer’s moderation, “That would do.”
I thought so too, but wasn’t there to say so.
We climbed the pasture on the south, crossed over,
And came down on the north.
He said, “A thousand.”

“A thousand Christmas trees!—at what apiece?”

He felt some need of softening that to me:
“A thousand trees would come to thirty dollars.”

Then I was certain I had never meant
To let him have them. Never show surprise!
But thirty dollars seemed so small beside
The extent of pasture I should strip, three cents
(For that was all they figured out apiece),
Three cents so small beside the dollar friends
I should be writing to within the hour
Would pay in cities for good trees like those,
Regular vestry-trees whole Sunday Schools
Could hang enough on to pick off enough.
A thousand Christmas trees I didn’t know I had!
Worth three cents more to give away than sell,
As may be shown by a simple calculation.
Too bad I couldn’t lay one in a letter.
I can’t help wishing I could send you one,
In wishing you herewith a Merry Christmas.

Classic TV Christmas: Green Acres: “An Old-Fashioned Christmas”

http://www.hulu.com/watch/140863

“It’s a Wonderful Life,” Full Movie (colorized version)

Bellingham Holiday Port Festival December 7-9 2012

Bellingham Cruise Terminal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Holiday Port Festival  is a free, family-friendly event held December 7, 8, 9, 2012, at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal. [MAP]

This is the Port’s signature event for the community and includes:

• Art activities with Allied Arts teaching artists

• Fire truck and horse-drawn wagon rides

• Free cookies and hot apple cider

• Free performances by local choirs, bands, and dancers

• Gingerbread house display

• Visit with Santa and Mrs Claus.

• Food drive to benefit the Bellingham Food Bank (non-perishable food items)

• 6:15 – 7:20pm, Friday and Saturday only.    Lighted boat parade put on by the Bellingham Yacht Club. The boat parade route goes from Squalicum Harbor to the Bellingham Cruise Terminal. Times listed are estimates only. On Friday, boats will leave Squalicum Harbor at 6pm, and can not pass by the terminal until after the Alaska Ferry has departed. Bad weather will cancel the boat parade. 

 

For more information, schedule of daily performances, etc., see the official website.

Seasons Greetings, 2012!

And, increasingly, this is how many people kick off the holiday season on what is becoming a strange “holiday” in its own right, “Black Friday.” Which started on Thanksgiving this year in many locations. But that’s not my bag. And if you found your way here, you’re either here because it’s not your bag, either – or because you’re lost, looking for the entrance of the Mall.

Watch “Frosty the Snowman” Online

The original Rankin-Bass animated production. Click on the graphic to go to the website.

Watch the Original “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” Online

Click on the graphic to go to the website:

Mending Broken Links

Since this blog has been around for going on five years now, a lot of the posts from Christmases past have broken links therein, as folks out there on the internet move stuff around, or forget to renew their domains, etc. YouTube video links, in particular, are vulnerable – you tube is like some insane carnival of the indigent, people coming and going, opening and closing accounts, various entities contesting copyright and having material removed, etc….

Anyway, I’m working to get as many of those bad links repaired and redirected to other sources of the same material, or at least redirect you to something of comparable interest. It’s a labor of love, to be sure, with nearly 340 posts.

Here’s a start: Every single link to online christmas karaoke videos in this post was broken. I’ve gone through and redirected every one that I could; those that I couldn’t find substitutions for are gone.

I’ve fixed some other stuff as well, this evening: Bing Crosby and Marjorie Reynolds are back singing “White Christmas,” while Cheech is telling Chong the Story of Santa and His Old Lady in yet another Christmas season.

On Donner, on Blitzen, on Chewy, on Tavo….

33 New Christmas Wallpapers for 2011!

That’s right – 33 more Christmas wallpapers have been added to our already large collection!

Check them out! As you mouse over a thumbnail, the tooltips for the new papers will read “2011paper.”

Enjoy!