We were spoiled by the warm weather of this winter before the reality set in and we now have a back to normal Christmas with cold sunshine and sub zero wind chills. It's has been dry, we have been in a stage 3 level drought and a half inch of snow won't help things much. Of course there might be a slight tick in the jet stream that might bring back the blizzards and snow that made previous years a living hell to live here. But for now we can actually sing the words to White Christmas and feel good about it.
It's been a strange year with a Fake and a Fraud POTUS and a GOP party more concerned with the one percent than the rest of the world and basically I rather not talk about it. It's supposed to be a day of peace and goodwill toward man, and not a middle finger to our government. The future of net neutrality hangs up in the air to see if everything becomes a bundle package deal. Let's face it, it's hard to come together when there's a radical split between Trump supporters and the Trump haters. Needless to say, since I voted, neither Fraud 45, nor the incompetent Joni Ernst and the senile Chuck Grassley or Rod Blum are my congressmen nor government. They do not support my ideas at all. Who decided that Joni baby should be in congress till 2020 should be hanged as well.
So now that tirade putting me in a dour mood, let's get back to the celebration of this special day. Christmas is supposed to be a time for family and friends. Christmas is where we give thanks where thanks is due. Sometimes I think about the previous girlfriends that I had in my life and hope they're doing well. It's a shame that one year you can be truly in love with somebody and then the next year they're hated for life. I have friends that have suffered through this ordeal. At least they managed to raise decent children despite the negativity.
Gas prices are 2.29 a gallon at most places. But we all know that can change from year to year, especially when we had 4 dollars a gallon a few years ago. It's easy getting to Mom and Dad's on 2.29 a gallon rather than 3.75
Christmas is the time we play Christmas with Buck Owens, family favorite and The Christmas Spirit from Johnny Cash. But there have been favorites along the way. Sock It To Me Santa, Christmas Spirit?!?, Santa Claus from The Sonics, Jingle Bells from the Singing Dogs. But I did buy the new Cheap Trick Christmas Christmas CD and by golly, these guys have really gotten back to playing power pop rock and roll without the balladry that almost ruined it for me. It was good enough to be included on the best of 2017. Yeah, Cheap Trick managed to get decent reviews of their albums after leaving Epic but once they latched on to Big Machine, they found their inner rock and roll groove all over again. Bun E Carlos might be missed but Dax Nielsen has a powerful beat all his own. For a Christmas album, this one will be played alongside Buck Owens in the future.
I tend to favor rocking albums and with the passing of Pat Diznio, I pulled out Christmas With The Smithereens and it still holds up fairly well, but after that Christmas In The Heart from Bob Dylan kinda put a downer on the mood. Must Be Santa is still fun but that voice doesn't do much justice to the old chestnuts everybody sings. Perhaps it's not the album to play after Cheap Trick or Smithereens? Yuletunes is much better.
It's hard to believe that The Townedgers did a Christmas album although Christmas With The Townedgers is still worth hearing on that drive into town although Jingle Bells may as well called Cheesy Bells since it sounds like cheese and nobody might get the Elvis reference on Merry Christmas Baby, but it's all good intentions. In keeping with tradition, we also offer up some Christmas cheer with one of Santa's little helpers. The thought that counts.
As we celebrate Christmas, death also continues to work on this holiday. Dick Enberg, one of the all time great broadcasters ever had a heart attack over the weekend and left us at age 82. I remember Dick replacing Kurt Gowdy in the football games of the 1970s with Merlin Olsen, his "oh my" the trademark next to Harry Carey's Holy Cow. Life goes on even after the thrill of living is gone.
But it's a new day and if you're still alive and celebrating Christmas, that's all that matters if you have somebody special to share it with. Happy Holidays!
