On the First Day of Canon.....

 On the Twelfth Day of Christmas my camera showed to me....

Twelve Sequined Stockings

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas my camera 

showed to me..Eleven shots of Levi

On the Tenth Day of Christmas, my camera showed to me...

Ten Striped Fingers

On the Ninth Day of Christmas, my camera showed to me...

.Nine Coated Cookies

On the Eighth Day of Christmas, my camera showed to me...

.Eight Christmas Platters

 On the Seventh Day of Christmas, my camera showed to me...

Seven Silly Toppers

On the Sixth Day of Christmas, my camera showed to me....

Six Amazon Gift Cards

On the Fifth Day of Christmas, my camera showed to me...

Five Biblical Schlueters

On the Fourth Day of Christmas, my camera showed to me...

Four Willing Wrappers

On the Third Day of Christmas, my camera showed to me...

Three Clowning Cousins

On the Second Day of Christmas, my camera showed to me.....

Two Grinning Griswolds

On the Last Day of Christmas, my camera showed to me...

One Comfy Cushion.....

And a houseful of loving family......

The Gentle Ghosts of Christmas Past

Here we are, on the cusp on December, awaiting the first Sunday in Advent, but already jaundiced by the jingles on Christmas ads and counting the calories of sweet treats not yet consumed.  Even the hyper bright displays of Christmas lights are less than wonderful; warm weather and vigilant opportunism means some homes have been lit since the day after Halloween.

But these are mere tokens of Christmas, shades, suggestions, hints.  They are fake storefronts, window dressing, stage props to the Charles Dickens' Spirits of Christmas Future, Present and Past.  How terrifying did the Spectre of the future appear to youngsters like me!  How filled with melancholy and regret the Spirit of Christmas present compared to the wholesome, uncomplicated anticipation and happiness that was my experience!  And how nebulous and evanescent the Ghost of the Past, illustrating perhaps how fleeting human happiness is. 

Or, maybe, the Ghosts of Christmases past are only wraiths because our memories are as unreliable and impermanent as Polaroids, the images fading nearly as soon as they appear.  As we resurrect our Christmases past, we people our world with loved ones long gone, with steaming kitchens and fragrant evergreens, with beloved carols and pealing bells, with fireplaces and frost, with treasured toys, games, pets, and other perishables.  Come with me for a brief visit from the gentle ghost of Christmas past....

Classic Christmas Sweatshirt

...and another!

Merriment...and a ladybug retainer

more cookies, more laughter

just one of many classic hats

At Grandma and Grandpa Hurst's..hi tech

Grandpa, Ben, 1986

the Pound Puppy Christmas

Back yard Christmas 1986

toothless

Gingerbread guys and gals

Bubble

Ninja Turtle exhaustion

Turkey at Redbarn

Super sledding 1991