Long Winter Moon

Somewhere, somehow, along the way I found out that the full December moon is called a long winter moon. Anyway, it was a super bonus that the full moon was Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve day was crisp and clear. Not too cold. Amanda had to work from late morning until late afternoon. I dropped her off and headed for my shipping place. Yep, two sets of keys to send out and then I was free for the holiday! I wasted the rest of the day with some wandering around town. As I walked past our town Christmas tree I took a photo of the sign that had been added that day. Rockport just must be a special town as after Santa has spent a long, long night flying around the world delivering all those presents in an amazing feat that defies time, he makes an extra stop in Rockport before heading home to the North Pole for a hot shower, hot chocolate (possibly with added chocolate liqueur), and his favorite recliner. Christmas morning, at precisely 10:30, Santa arrives at our tree and personally hands out bags of candies and fruit to the children of Rockport. I'm not sure, but I think that this has been a tradition for more than half a century.

(Rockport also presents an annual Christmas Pageant which is a live nativity. The Christmas Story complete with Mary, Joseph, wise men, shepherds, sheep, donkey, torch bearers, and more as a procession from Dock Square, stopping at 'the Inn' aka Rockport Art Assoc., and being refused there on to the 'barn' erected on the front lawn of the Congregational Church. Following The Story everyone participates singing "Silent Night". And...on Christmas morning, everyone over 79 years of age, or anyone who has had a tragedy during the year receives a large basket filled with fruits and candies delivered to their home.)

For the first time in several years Amanda actually got out of work early on Christmas Eve. This year 'the three girls' went to Christmas Eve service together. I must say that our choir was outstanding. If you closed your eyes so to just listen, they sounded as if there were at least triple the voices. It was the best part of the service. We didn't stay for goodies at the church, instead going home to eat a late dinner and then putting our gifts under the tree. By the time we finished it was well on to bed time.

Christmas morning was quiet with just the three of us taking turns opening our gifts. We missed my Dad being there. He was always so much fun shaking the boxes and trying to guess what was inside before opening them. At 11 a.m. it was time to start preparing Christmas dinner. This year, as in the last five years, A and his girlfriend G, and 'the other' S joined us for dinner. It always seems that so much preparation goes in to the meal and it disappears so quickly! This year I cooked a ham, mashed potatoes, carrots, whole green beans, carrots & turnips, and dinner rolls, along with cranberry sauce and apple sauce. Dessert was a choice of pumpkin pie or chocolate cake.

After our guests left we started the massive clean-up of the dishes and pans. Three dishwasher loads later we sat down to a quiet late dinner of leftovers. They always taste better. No rush, no fuss, and totally relaxed in front of a mindless TV show!
And then the day after rolls around. All goes back to normal. More work. Next the New Year.

Rockport has it's own New Year's celebration. Would you expect anything different? I'll be a volunteer at the 6 performances hosted at our church. You can check out what will happen in Rockport for New Year's by visiting the official web site here.