CHRISTMAS PAST

        When I was a child in the 40's our Christmas Day  was a major celebration. It was very different from  what happens today.

        What I remember is after the war. The economy was better and there were no more ration restrictions. So we were able to enjoy things that were not available in the recent past. 

        There were many preparations and these were entirely my mother's efforts. There was a tremendous amount of baking done pre Christmas. Christmas cakes took the biggest effort. Many other things were baked: shortbread, ginger bread cookies, Chinese chews. matrimonial cake, mince meat pies, Christmas puddings , fudge and other things that my brothers will have to remind me about.  As you can see my Mom did a tremendous amount of Christmas baking.

      The merchandise in our local stores was quite limited. Clothes and many other items were ordered from the Eaton's catalog. There was usually one big parcel that came from Eatons and we were not allowed to see any of it so this is where she got our Christmas presents. 

      Before the economy picked up the three of us received a tricycle for Christmas. Another Christmas we got a dog. After the war they were able to afford individual gifts for us. We usually got a book, a toy , a game. or some clothes. We also got some small gifts from grandparents and Aunts and uncles.  There was much excitement over these gifts. So much excitement that we were sometimes awake and out before 5:00 AM. We were sent back to bed but were still up early to open gifts. It was bedlam with 4 little kids. 

     Our Christmas day activities were huge. We celebrated with Mom's cousin. There were 12 people altogether. If Mom had Christmas , her cousin Margaret did the same on New year's day. The next year it would be reversed.

     I grew up in a rural community. Our roads were blocked with snow in the winter and we had very old cars. As a result winter travel was with horses. Our cousins would arrive just before noon and the horses were put in the barn.

     The big meal took place at noon. 

     Preparing the Christmas meal took tremendous effort. Turkey was the main item on the menu. They only grew 25 lb turkeys at that time! So we had stuffing , gravy, mashed potato, creamed corn and another vegetable. We were not able to get cranberries . Lettuce and other produce was not sold in our local stores so we didn't have salads. The country stores didn't have coolers and no electricity so they didn't sell produce. We sometimes had a jellied salad. These meals were prepared with wood stoves. There was no refrigeration or coolers and no running water. But these meals were some of the best that I remember eating. 

     We all sat down together to eat. Food was passed around in large bowls. Generous second helpings were common. 

     And then there was dessert! Christmas pudding and mince meat pie. Yes both of them at the same meal. 

    So our Christmas day was so huge that I have to describe it in two posts. 

A COUPLE OF CONFESSIONS

      First, I notice that I haven't posted since Dec. 16. I'm slipping up on the job. I've been busy and it's hard to keep up with reading your posts. I'm hoping the New Year will start out better. The micro Manager is in recuperation mode so I have to look after most things right now.

      Two posts ago in my title I had Meryy. Yes, it was a typo but it was a typo that I didn't catch. It's interesting that with such a glaring error, some people jumped on it and told me. Others made a rather mild comment. Most didn't comment. I would think most readers saw it and a very few didn't notice it. 

      In my last post I covered the issue of type size and it surprised me how many comments the junky little post got. It was loud and clear that the blue color I use was hard to read. I was also surprised that it wasn't just me who found color font and size made some blogs difficult to read.

     So right away I decided to  change the color. It should be easy? Well what I thought was easy may have been easy but not for me. I spent quite a few hours trying to find out how to change print color. I still haven't got my title cover changed. 

     So how many people find this color easier to read? 

      Well, how about that. I didn't get my print changed color! Maybe next time.

      Now I'm really messin with your minds. I've done my color change again. I think I got it this time.

ONE LITTLE (NOT THE LAST) REQUEST

   A phrase " Comfort of the House" is sometimes used in formal conventions. By that someone is requesting that something be improved such as the sound system.

    I would like to request that some bloggers increase the size of their print. I don't find the fine print impossible to read but it's difficult. 

    There is one blogger I follow but haven't read for a couple of years because his type is just too small. He's a good blogger but I don't read him. 

    So make your type at least the size of mine. 

TIME AND TIME AGAIN

        Your comments are what really makes blogging for me. On Wacky Idea the opinions expressed were very thought provoking. So thought provoking that I want to say more. You were very frank about what you think of time change. 

        It's not surprising that people don't like time change. People aren't sure if they want to stay on standard time or daylight savings time.

       I used to think that I would like to stay on standard time. Your comments have made me take another look at the issue. 

       The following photos were taken just before 10:00 PM on June 21. I was out riding my bike. Many people were riding and walking. The second photo shows the sun about to set a few minutes before 10:00 PM. The third photo shows my back yard when I got home from my bike ride. You could still sit outside when it was light. 

       

     So when I think about this , do I want to lose the long summer evening? I also know that at this time sunrise would be about 5 :00 AM.

    Now if we were on standard time it would be getting dark and we would not have such a long evening. The sun would rise at 4:00 AM. Much daylight would be wasted because I would still be in bed.

    So you made me have another look at the situation. 

    And no one made fun of my wacky idea and some very respectfully thought about it. 

      

MERYY CHRISTMAS

       Our city hall park has been lit up very nicely this year so I went out for some photos. Some photos are a little out of focus and some I was probably shivering from the minus 7 cold. You've got to use bare hands with the camera. 

       Many people were out enjoying the decorations. 

A WACKY IDEA

          Okay here goes with an idea on time.

          Every spring and fall we complain about time change. Less than two weeks ago a blog post contained a complaint about time change. 

         Our time system and time zones are not very old.  One hundred years go clock technology was very simple. The time pieces ordinary people used was not very accurate. You had to wind the clocks and watches to keep them running. If you forgot to wind the clock you either took a guess and set it or checked with a neighbor.

        Then somebody got the idea that if we adjusted the time twice a year , we could get more bang for the buck so longer daylight in the summer.

        In the last few years there's been much discussion about daylight savings time and standard time and changing to standard or daylight savings time all year. No nasty time changes. . Alberta had a referendum question on the ballot in this fall's civic elections. 

       So here's my solution. Technology to measure time has changed . Let's set up a time system that has the time change on our time pieces a few seconds every day. So , for example, from Jan 1 to June 29 the time would increase an hour by changing a few seconds every day. The change would be 0.32 minutes each day. Then from July 1 to Dec. 31 the time would decrease one hour by taking off a few seconds every day. 

      So there should be a chip in our time pieces that would control this slight time change each day. The chip would change your time throughout the day and you wouldn't notice it. 

     I hope this makes sense to somebody! Maybe somebody has thought of this before. Maybe there's something obviously wrong with my system. So tell me what you think. Is there a better way to achieve the twice a year time change? 

WEATHER REPORT : DEC.1 RED DEER

       We are not the only people experiencing some very, very different weather due to climate change. 

       Most of the time we've had snow for four or five weeks by now. It's not wet but dry snow. Most years our temperatures are much lower than we have today. Our average daily high for Dec.1 is minus 3. Our average daily low for Dec. 1 is minus 12. I couldn't find record high and lows .

       What's going on today?   Well, we don't have any snow and it's raining. Ordinarily our last rain is in late October. It was plus 4 C when I took these photos at 10:30 this morning. It's supposed to snow later on today but it will be wet snow not the powdery snow. Our low forecast for tonight is minus 2. 

       These two photos look across the street  from my house. It is very, very dry here and we need moisture but not this stuff. It makes life difficult for flora and fauna.