AlmostCountryMusic.com

Here it is Christmas Eve and I am thinking of days gone by. When I was a child this time of year held such mystery. It was exciting and kinda scary at the same time. I mean, there was this strange man that gave us toys if we were good enough to deserve them. If not , we were to get nothing. Wow! I tried to be good. Not all year but at least the week before. Did that count ? I was never sure. It was enough to give a kid an ulcer! Also….The week before was the time to “play with the old toys, including our baby dolls”. You see, Christmas Eve we were to put ALL of our toys from the year before under the tree for Santa to take back to the North Pole so the Elves could “fix them up ” to give the next year to poor kids that would get nothing otherwize. Does that make sence to you?  As a kid it made sence but now it does not. I finally grabbed hold of the idea that with five kids in the house, it was my Mom’s way of “toy control”. Altho it was a good idea, I never could ask my own children to do that with their beloved toys. Oh, I should have, for my youngest son never parts with anything. Then again, neither do I these days. I am an official pack rat and he got that from me I think. Looking around at things I don’t really need I should put them under the tree this night. Saved!!! I did not put up a tree this year. No room! Ha Ha Ha…I think I fooled the old fella in the red suit. I have a chimney but it goes straight into my furnace. I am NOT leaving my door unlocked AND I will still be up at mid night, I am sure. I get to keep my stuff for another year!

One of the most exciting things about Christmas  as a small child was the turning on of the Christmas lights. Ever watch “Home Coming”…The Waltons. That was us. Country bumkins with last years lights from the year before and the year before that! SO on and so forth…. If one big bulb was out they all were out. When my Dad or my brother would plug them in after being put on the tree he would tell us to “Cross your fingers now…if  one bulb is blown they will not work!” How exciting it was when they worked. If they did not work then came the terrible job of taking an extra bulb (not knowing if it too was blown) and  going bulb to bulb on the sting. It took hours it seemed. I do not remember Dad ever getting it within the first five tries. 

After the tree was decorated, we would sing carols. Away in the Manger was my favorite one. The thought of a little baby in a barn was fasinating to me.  Dad could not sing so he would crack walnuts for me and my little sister. We were not stong enough to crack them.  I was about 4 in these memories tonight and she was about 3. Mom would tell us the story of the birth of Jesus. She was so beautiful. Her auburn hair curly from the pin curls all day long would now be brushed out and it was down past her shoulders and she was so pretty to me. Her gentle voice was music to my ears as she told us about Him. She knew how to paint pictures with words. I loved her then , I love her now. She is 80 years old and she is still beautiful to me. She still sings and plays her guitar.  I have a song she wrote,  that she asked me to put a melody to.  I think I will be doing that soon.

Anyway, wrapping this story up, Christmas is not as it once was. I do not decorate much and rarly put a tree up. I have no grand children to make things special for and my kids are grown. Therefore the traditional Christmas has changed for me. One thing that has never  changed and never will is my Lord Jesus. He did grow up and is not a baby in a  barn any more. He is not on a cross anymore. He has gone to prepare a place for us and He will come again. And take us unto Himself to live with Him forever and ever..Amen

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!! Everyone!!!!!!

JudyLynn

Here in this beautiful state of Maine, we were covered with a blanket of snow yesterday and into the night. Looks like God dumped bags of confectionary sugar on the ground to sweeten the day.

If I were a kid I would go out and play, “Duck Duck Goose” or “Fox and the Chicken” or make  snow angels. Wait a minute……Why can’t adults go out and play these snow day games? At what age did  kids out grow fun? Imagine the fun it would be to see a yard full of adults out making snow angels. Or playing games in the snow with their kids. Now a days I think the fun has turned to computer games and movies. 

When I was a kid in the little town of Newport, Maine we had a place where we could go ice skate. It was not on a body of water but rather a flooded yard where an adult led the games and another sharpened our ice skates for a nickle. We could rent skates for a quater (I think it was). It was such fun! When we got cold we could go into the skate shack to warm up but if we were in there to long the skate sharpener man would tell ue to go back out and play. He did not want to see us just hanging around.

As a teen ager , in love for the first time, my boyfriend was a country boy. He had a horse and sleigh. Being a town girl convert for about a year I was thrilled to go to his house. His Mom and Dad were always very nice to me. His sisters were too. The thing I enjoyed the most was the fact he lived on an old dirt road with hardly any traffic. We could go walking while his sisters rode their bikes with no fear of cars.

One day while I was visiting, he and I went walking in the woods out back of his house. We were singing and laughing and just having fun! All of a sudden, a deer jumped out from the blow down she was hiding under and took off running, making me scream with fright and making him laugh with amusment.

I guess what’s got me going down memory lane today is all this snow. It makes me re-call the sleigh ride with my boy-friend (we married later on). Again, we were on that old dirt road and no cars were on it that day because of the snow. The horse went real good tho. It was a very cold evening. The moon was full and bright. We were dressed warmly and off we went. He had bells on the sleigh that rang out clearly against the frozen air. I snuggled up to him as close as I could, partly because of the cold. (wink) Oh what fun it was to ride on that one horse open sleigh. Alas, now I am older and live in a small Maine town and when it snows everything closesdown. No one is out doing anything. We all stay inside were we are warm and do not fear of falling down. There are no horses or open sleighs or anything like that. In my little spot on this great big planet, my thrill of winter now is trying to knit warm socks. No more ice skating or sliding for me.  I have no snow mobile so that is out of the question. My winter activities include playing my guitar, writing songs, learning my banjo, playing my piano, my bowed psaltry, playing games on my computer, watching movies on my dvd player and knitting. I no longer go to the old dirt roads (tar now anyway) to visit my boy friend and go sleighing with bells on. Time changes so many things in our lives. However, if you know someone fortunate to live on an  old dirt road and has a horse and sleigh…..Just say, “Sleigh ride anyone?”

Merry Christmas and happy Sleighing ,

JudyLynn

I received this in my e-mail and thought that I would post it for it is to cute to not share. I hope you like it even tho  you might be at that age. I think I am but I don’t remember . Oh well. Enjoy!

JudyLynn

Forgetter Be Forgotten
 

 
My forgetter’s getting better,
But my rememberer is broke
To you that may seem funny
But, to me, that is no joke

For when I’m ‘here’ I’m wondering
If I really should be ‘there’
And, when I try to think it through,
I haven’t got a prayer!

Oft times I walk into a room,
Say ‘what am I here for?’
I wrack my brain, but all in vain!
A zero, is my score.

At times I put something away
Where it is safe, but, Gee!
The person it is safest from
Is, generally, me!

When shopping I may see someone,
Say ‘Hi’ and have a chat,
Then, when the person walks away
I ask myself, ‘who in the world was that?’

Yes, my forgetter’s getting better
While my rememberer is broke,
And it’s driving me plumb crazy
And that isn’t any joke.

CAN YOU RELATE??

I am very excited about my new forum here. Please join in.  Of course there are rules here. Keep It Clean! If not you will not be accepted. This is a place to disscuss our likes and dislikes about Country Music. You can even tell what other types of music you like. I think it will be a pleasant site and informative as time goes on.

As Christmas approaches us I realize less people will be posting due to lack of time. That is fine. I figure that instead of just making up something just for  the sake of writing, we should wait untill we have something real to write about.  This site is about quality , not quanity.

Well, that being said, I will log off for now and get back to things of the day.

God Bless you and Merry Christmas.

JudyLynn

WOW>>>Dec. 8th already. This year has gone very quickly. I am sitting here thinking of what has happened this year in my life that has made a great impact on me.  This will take some time for there are so many things. Some involve my family and some involve my friends. Hmmm.

Well, while you wait why don’t you tell me things that have made and impact in your life this year. I would love to have some stories here.

Later,

JudyLynn