Early Christmas Lights

Here in the Shire, darkness falls early this time of year.

Generally by five o'clock, it's pitch black outside.

And that means a lot of us are driving home in the dark.

Tonight as I drove home from Virginia Beach,

I was surprised to see so many Christmas lights already.

I passed by big inflatable snowmen, reindeer, and Santas like this:

And lots of curtain lights:

www.cpsc.gov

And lots of trees and shrubs wrapped in lights:

www.homedepot.com

I love seeing the lights in the darkness.

It almost makes getting home late worth it.

<>

The Christmas Star

Star light, star bright

first star I see tonight ...

 The other day, 

I was listening to a radio program. 

Neil deGrasse Tyson, the director of the Hayden Planetarium was on.

He's a fascinating man and I always learn a thing or two when I hear him.

His recent remarks were no exception.

There are two things he said  that stood out for me.

One, that all the matter in the universe only takes up 4% of the available gravity,

meaning, what is taking the other 96% of gravity's force? 

That's a mystery.

And two, that humankind can't help but look up into the night sky and wonder.

I thought of that tonight when I was coming home late.

Venus, the evening star, was shining brightly, 

sparkling low in the southern sky.

It was so bright, I wondered how much brighter and more fabulous

the Christmas Star might have been.

It must have been spectacular.

Here's an article from  NBC News online that describes 

scientists attempts to identify any astrological events that may have occurred

at the time of the first Christmas.

All in all, a wonderful mystery.

<>

Christmas is Coming

December 1st, 

and that means the Christmas holidays

start in my house. 

And how did I mark the first day of the season?

It turned out to be very warm--in the 50s and sunny--

so I went outside and put wreaths on the doors,

a wreath on the wide picture window,

one on the deck gate,

and two on interior doors.


www.katecourysfarmhouse.com

Decorating with wreaths dates back centuries,

so it's one tradition I particularly enjoy participating in.

These two Still Waters blog posts have more details 

about the history of wreaths: 

http://avirginiashire.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-history-of-wreaths-part-1.html
and more here:
http://avirginiashire.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-history-of-wreaths-part-2.html

<>