A Christmas Memory

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...and it doesn't have to be as articulate as Truman Capote's beautiful Christmas Memory.

In the Baptist Sunday school kids memorized everything from all sixty-six books in the Bible, to selected verses. I was always soooooo proud that I had the "....and there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night....." down pat, but I was always confused by the implications. "....and an angel of the Lord appeared before them and they were sore afraid..."
(Why were they sore, I wondered)

"....and they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger.."

(How could all three of them fit in a manger?)

Got any funny Christmas memories?

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hehe Multiple meanings of words can leave some things looking pretty weird eh Letty?

"sore" can also mean "distressed" so someone can be "sore" if they are in a stressful situation or feeling helpless.

The second one you list is more a matter of sentance parsing. If all three were in the manger it would read "...Mary, Joseph and the babe lying in a manger...". Buy putting the "and" between Mary and Joseph it seperates them. So Mary and Joseph were there AND they had the babe lying in the manger. Wink

But anyway, I remember the church up the road from my parents. They used to have a HUGE nativity scene out in front every year. One year they setup the lighting it was VERY obvious to anyone that drove by that the camel was a male! Let's just say he was hangin' out there. :p The story made the local paper and they ran out that day and rearranged things. lol

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Fishin', I swear the camel thing is hilarious. Was it a live nativity scene?

I, of course, realized later in life, the King James meaning of the word "sore", and also figured out that only the "babe" was lying in the manger.

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Letty wrote:

Fishin', I swear the camel thing is hilarious. Was it a live nativity scene?

No no. To cold for live camels in CT. You'd think they'd ummm.. leave that stuff off for things like that but..

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Cool thread, lol...

I have loads, as does everyone...one year, my grandmother fell (gracefully and unhurt) into the tree, and before helping her up, my uncle took a picture...

My other grandmother had Alzheimer's, I only mention this because I loved her dearly, and if you don't laugh, you cry, but one year she took bacon grease out of the freezer, walked into the living room and asked: 'is this eggnog?'<---guess you had to be there... Rolling Eyes

And then there's always fun with the karaoke machine...

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One year we went to the annual family get together on Christmas Eve. Once the kids were busy playing we sneaked back home and set out thir gifts just the way Santa would have done it. The kids were too old to believe in Santa, but to this day they can't figure who set out the gifts.

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Hey, Lorna. There's always humor to be found in any situation. I'll bet the family gets a real charge out of that picture. <smile>

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Letty wrote:

Hey, Lorna. There's always humor to be found in any situation. I'll bet the family gets a real charge out of that picture. <smile>

I think the pic was made into a Christmas ornament, that never made it to the tree, lol...

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edgar, kids don't know everything, do they. Did anyone ever explain?

When my nephew was little, all he asked Santa to bring him was a pair of cowboy boots. At Thanksgiving, the family was bustling about preparing the traditional dinner, and Anthony came bounding down the stairs; rushed into the living room--(thinking all to to do was about Christmas) and came sorrowfully into the kitchen, looked at his Mom ans said:

"He didn't bring me no cowboy boots." Very Happy

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Oh, when I was a teen, my mother owned a pub, and so had not much time for Christmas.... I remember some drunkard puking up full mushrooms, cleaning them out of the gunk and offering them to an unsuspecting victim. Gug. No wonder that I don't drink often.

We had a lunatic barman who lived in our cellar, and he painted himself white for Christmas day, with gloss paint-- the kindly fool.

I remember that my uncle always loved the toys more than the kids.

My Grandmother would always insist on cleaning up everything, even though it was supposed to be her day of rest.

We also had a senile great-grand-aunt, who died shortly thereafter, who would come over to offer us chicken legs, which all of us disliked. Still, a family gettogether is a family gettogether!

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The benefits of living in England: kids can't get confused with Winter festivals... how was everyone's thanksgiving, anyhow?

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Drom, I think I just lost my fondness for wassail.

We had a friend who wouldn't let his kids play with the electric train set they got from "Santa", 'cause he wanted to be the engineer. Rolling Eyes

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Letty wrote:

edgar, kids don't know everything, do they. Did anyone ever explain?

When my nephew was little, all he asked Santa to bring him was a pair of cowboy boots. At Thanksgiving, the family was bustling about preparing the traditional dinner, and Anthony came bounding down the stairs; rushed into the living room--(thinking all to to do was about Christmas) and came sorrowfully into the kitchen, looked at his Mom ans said:

"He didn't bring me no cowboy boots."

Aww, how cute is that? I only every asscoiate the word 'cute' with kids, lol...

Drom_et_reve---I can picture that one!

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Letty wrote:

Drom, I think I just lost my fondness for wassail.

We had a friend who wouldn't let his kids play with the electric train set they got from "Santa", 'cause he wanted to be the engineer.

I join you with your roll of the eyes, Letty! Rolling Eyes

In the infamous words, 'that is so Third Grade!'

Isn't it funny how usurping kids' toys is INVARIABLY related with guys? I mean, I've never heard of a woman taking a child's toy, although some do get very rabid with dollhouses Rolling Eyes

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Lorna wrote:

Aww, how cute is that? I only every asscoiate the word 'cute' with kids, lol...

Drom_et_reve---I can picture that one!

Me too! Cute just isn't a word for describing a partner, mode of dress, etc... it's always either kids or animals who are cute.

Picture yellow walls, many scousers, and a 14-year-old stalker, and you have my idea of a Christmas in the good ol' days!

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Drom, I think Dads get their kids what they wanted as a child and never got. I must confess, that I got my daughter dolls that appealed to me. Incidentally, all Americans do, is eat dead turkey for Thanksgiving. Even you Brits can do that.

As for fishin's camel comment, dolls were all neuter. I guess creche composers are more realistic, even at the expense of church dogma. Razz

And yes, Lorna. Cute is for kids.

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just

...
as you were...

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Letty wrote:

Drom, I think Dads get their kids what they wanted as a child and never got. I must confess, that I got my daughter dolls that appealed to me. Incidentally, all Americans do, is eat dead turkey for Thanksgiving. Even you Brits can do that.

Ah, dads should let their kids play with the toys and revel in it... rather than indulging their childish side. The saddest thing is when some convince their progeny:

No son, don't have that. Certainly don't have that! A tea set? What about 'Action Man: built for destruction,' huh? You'd like it...

Christmas is secretly for the parents to indulge in their childish sides, without the stigma of buying toys for themselves. I always asked for poetry, when I was young; particularly weird in retrospect. Christmas always reminds me of Home is so sad.

As for 'even you Brits can do that;' hey, I'm European, if you please! Anyway, we Brits (Brit-Europeans) invented your arses anyway! Laughing

*Gets into God save UK prestige mode.* Laughing

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Necessity is the mother of Americans, Drom. Razz

Back later, cute things. Gotta do something about eating...no mushrooms, please.........................................

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See... we leave you, and you return to a feudal state of necessity, where everyone is either of one extreme or the other... Very Happy

. We have a guy who made six or seven series out of the US, Louis Theroux's weird weekends, where he saw everything from bigots, to people living up in South Dakota who feared that the New World Order was taking over their brains,... we have good old fashioned coffee and crumpets for our amusement... Razz

That story's almost as bad as the time some drunks dared some other drunk to eat a daffodil with mustard. On the plus side, having the choice of either watching TV, watching the barflies, or reading, I chose reading.

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