Something I love during the Christmas season

It's something a couple of my Texas readers sent me, two years ago.  Honestly, I don't deserve the wonderful people who read this blog.  But I do appreciate every single one of you.





When I look at bubble lights on a Christmas tree, I'm a kid again.  

Well now, look what the mailman brought today!

In one of my Christmas nostalgia posts I mentioned how much I loved bubble lights as a child. Several readers left comments telling me where I might find some. I really thought no more about it until the last comment was made to that post.

A reader with whom I've never had any interaction said she and her husband enjoy my blog. They'd found some bubble lights and just wanted my address so they could send them to me.

I offered to pay for them, but the sweet lady declined, and I learned long ago that if somebody wants to give you something, you should accept it gracefully.

Today I received their wonderful gift. Next year, Christmas will be very special indeed.

These folks have a website where they sell some delightful products HERE. They did not ask me to mention them, but I'm happy to put in a word for them. They sell aprons, potholders, tea towels similar to those my mother used to make, and cookbooks.

I appreciate this Texas couple who wanted to give me a gift just because "we really enjoy reading about your adventures".

Rick and Jan, I'll be sending you a book of my poems. Watch your mail.

Thank you SO much!

Oh, and I have another post about stuff from my Grandma tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Christmas in the fifties

My parents gave me the best Christmases any kid ever had. Although we were in Church three times a week, we never celebrated Christmas at Church. I was taught that we didn't really know when Jesus was born, and that the Bible didn't mention anything about Christmas.

Oh, but we had Christmas at home! We had a Christmas tree every year, and presents and lights and decorations. Mother made fruitcake and divinity and brown sugar fudge. She bought hard ribbon candy.


She supplied nuts, with a nutcracker handy, in each room of the house.

It wasn't just Mama. My sister and brother and their families helped make the season bright each year. What an exciting time it was!

One year Mother and I went to the nearby Methodist Church on Christmas Eve to watch the children's Christmas play; when we returned home, Daddy was asleep on the couch and Santa had come to fill my stocking and leave my toys. I couldn't believe Daddy slept through Santa's visit!

I remember many of the gifts I received throughout the years: a sled; a farm set; a doll. I never got that pony I prayed for, but my husband fulfilled that wish in later years.

Above all those things, I remember bubble lights! I recall how difficult it was to get those magical lights to stand up on the limbs, because they had a strange way of falling so they'd be upside-down when I awoke each morning. All Christmas tree lights were big, back then, and really weighed down the limbs of the tree.

When the lights were plugged in, I'd stand there and wait until those bubble lights got warm enough to "perk"; I thought they were the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. I still do.

When I was working at Kohl's, a co-worker told me she'd bought a single bubble light that you could plug into an electrical outlet. I searched in vain, but never found one. Oh, I wanted one so badly!

If you know where I could purchase that particular memory from my sheltered childhood, please let me know. It would make every Christmas from here on out just a wee bit happier. Because after all, Christmas is as much about memories as anything else.

A single bubble light would be the best Christmas present ever.