All I Want for Christmas…

…is nothing I really need.
May Jesus be your reason for the season.

The Holidays

Seeing as how we’re now officially into the season known “the holidays,” I thought I’d put up a couple of polls inquiring as to my readership’s Christmas tendencies. The first two are below (with comments available to elaborate on your responses).
 
 

Black Friday on the Farm

I’m doubtful many folks are checking blogs today, but if you are:

We had a great Thanksgiving here on the farm – fun with family, amazing food, some basketball, a star-filled evening hayride, a couple of naps
No one has so much as even mentioned doing a little Black Friday shopping
Megan and the girls are going to [...]

Veterans Day

In honor of Veterans Day, here’s a link to a World War I blog I heard about on Public Radio International. Basically, a grandson has taken the time to type in his grandfather’s letters on the dates they were actually written during his service, documenting the latter’s experience throughout the so-called “war to end all [...]

Retail Therapy

In honor of Missouri’s sales tax “holiday”, I actually looked at – lo, even tried on – hangers full of “upscale resale clothing and accessories” this weekend at both locations of St. Louis’ Scholar Shop (caution: clever homepage, though a bit naked).
After a family trip Friday night to the first store (in which Megan took [...]

It’s Hard to Soar Like an Eagle When You’re a Turkey

In case you didn’t know, Founding Father (sounds like a band name) Ben Franklin thought the turkey should be our national bird instead of the eagle. (I first learned this when I was doing the show 1776 – I played Richard Henry Lee – back in 1990 at the Jacksonville Theatre Guild.)
Though Franklin argues his [...]

Remember Not to Forget: Update

On Monday, I told you about my idea to offer 15 of my songs for $10 to raise the $3,000 Megan and I need to close on our house this month. Here’s an update on how things are going:

Good news: So far, we’ve received $286.24, which is almost 10%. Several folks have given (all cheerfully, as far [...]

Happy Earth Day

Are you/how are you acknowledging Earth Day today?

Easter Haiku

Easter happiness
Where, O death, now is thy sting?
Since love made a way

Some Presidential Self-Help

Our first President, George Washington, copied the following list as a teenager (probably as a homework assignment) from a pamphlet called “Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation.” The list contained 110 such rules, was composed by French Jesuits in 1595, and was later rendered into English.
According to historian Richard Brookhiser, who [...]

A Thought on Puke Day

In honor of today being Puke Day (an old college moniker that has always seemed appropriate; for a more inspiring history, click here), I thought I’d share a little meditative exercise to bring some perspective to our modern-day understanding of love.
If you’ve ever been to a wedding, you’ve heard 1 Corinthians 13 read ad nauseum. [...]

Free Punxsutawney Phil

From The Folklore of American Holidays:
“Groundhog Day or Groundhog’s Day is a holiday celebrated in Pennsylvania, New York, Canada, and other locations on February 2. In weather lore, if a groundhog, also known as a woodchuck, marmot or ground squirrel, emerges from its burrow on this day and fails to see its shadow because the [...]

Dreaming of the Mountaintop

“Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. [...]

Ho, Ho, Hum

I’m not Scrooge incarnate, but let’s just say I’ve never been accused of being a jolly old elf around Christmas time. It’s not that I’m ungrateful for the Reason for the Season; it’s just that when I look at all that goes on in the name of Christmas, it sure seems everyone else is. (I’m [...]

Thankful for Thanksgiving

As you may have been able to tell, I haven’t felt like writing much (at least not anything longer than a paragraph) these past few weeks. Though I had planned to remedy that this weekend, I spent most of it recovering from some achy 12-hour flu bug that laid me up all day Saturday, and [...]

Happy Halloween

Tonight, I’m hanging out with Hermione Granger, a Cardinals cheerleader, an angel with wings, and Tigger. Talk about your unusual group of usual suspects…
Struggling whether to “do” Halloween? Do yourself a favor and read this article from Ransom Fellowship. What do you think?

Red, White & Boom

It’s been surreal reading your many thoughts on American government and politics during this Fourth of July week (happy Independence Day, by the way). I’d like to say I purposely coordinated the overlap, but that wouldn’t be true. I will say that processing your observations has been particularly pointed as a result of the fortunate [...]

Daddy’s Daughters

As most of you know, I’m the father of four girls. They are the most interesting, different, engaging little people I know, and I love being their daddy. When people ask me if I’m ever sad that we don’t have any boys, I tell them that, honestly, I don’t even think about it. And I [...]

Russ

So, immediately after my pathetic post yesterday, we got our collective rear in gear and made it to the Memorial Day service at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. It was hot last year, but the weather was overcast for much of the morning this year, so that was nice.
Probably the highlight of the morning, though, was [...]

Memorial Day Paralysis

Well, it’s Memorial Day, and I’m dealing with a fair amount of guilt due to the fact that we have yet to make solid plans to 1) honor our nation’s fallen or 2) celebrate the beginning of summer.
All weekend long I’ve read or heard how Americans are using Memorial Day less as a memorial [...]