As published in the White River Current - Thursday December 4, 2014
My
deepest apologies to those faithful readers who were upset when the Ramblings
did not appear as scheduled in the Current two weeks ago. Lucille, for one, came up to me at the
grocery store informing me that she had searched the paper from front to back
several times looking for her favorite column, but it was missing. I thought she had a tear in her eye and might
even be having Ramblings withdrawal symptoms.
I got her settled down and explained that the Ramblings column had been
bumped to make room for the six pages of the Delinquent Personal Tax List for the year
of 2013 and that the column would appear in the next issue and again one week
later. Ramblings did, in fact, run in
last week’s Current and here we are on the biweekly schedule again today. Thanks, Lucille, for the support you have
given me as a loyal reader of the Ramblings column for several years. I do not remember being bumped before so
maybe it won’t happen again. However, I
understand that the publication of such a list represents a sizable amount of
revenue for this publication. I suppose
this gentle reminder to those listed will result in adding enough revenue to at
least cover the publication costs. Hope
so. On to other things. We celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday with all
our family at the home of our granddaughter, Sara, in Ozark, Missouri. We had a very delightful day, especially
watching the antics of our great-grandchildren who we hadn’t seen for quite
some time. We have a lot to be thankful
for. With additions from most of the
others, Sara had prepared a delicious meal of traditional Thanksgiving food
that was eagerly consumed by all present.
When I say “traditional” of course I mean turkey, dressing, mashed
potatoes and giblet gravy, which were served, plus a few extras, including
desserts. At choir rehearsal several
days ago, one couple announced that they were forgoing the usual event of
having all the family over to their house and were, instead, going out to the
Chinese restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner.
“Unbelievable, unpatriotic, etc.” we countered. I’m not sure if they were joking or not but I
guess it doesn’t really matter what the meal consists of as long as it is
consumed with the right attitude of being thankful for what the Lord provides
for any and all of us. Did you get up
early on Black Friday morning in order to take advantage of all those
“bargains” that were out there? I slept
in. Saturday we helped decorate the
sanctuary at church to be ready for the first Sunday of Advent. The lighting of the Advent candle is always a
large part of our Sunday worship for the four Sundays preceding Christmas. The choir members are also working hard on
their anthems for this period. Are you
ready for a little culture? I saw
Charles skipping up the aisle at church a couple of Sundays ago. Watching his cadence of Ta Ta-Ta-Ta Ta Ta Ta
Ta Ta, which I immediately recognized as the overture to the Nutcracker, Charles
confessed that he and Janis had attended a performance of the North Arkansas
Dance Theatre’s 10th anniversary of this famous ballet by Russian
composer, Tchaikovsky. A front page
article in the week before last Current announced this event. Maybe you attended. I wanted to go but didn’t make it. Charles
said that he was “impressed.” I was
impressed that he was impressed. I have
been acquainted with the Nutcracker Suite since I was in high school and my
piano teacher ordered me the piano music, which I still have. I played one of my favorites, “Waltz of The Flowers”
at a recital. Another favorite is “Dance
of the Sugar Plum Fairy.” The Nutcracker
ballet was first presented in 1892 and has enjoyed enormous popularity since
1960. It is now performed by countless
ballet companies primarily during the Christmas season, especially in the
United States. If you didn’t attend the
Dance Theatre performance, you can still watch the ballet from the comfort of
your living room. There are several
selections to choose from on YouTube.
And if you just can’t make yourself watch the performers tippy-toeing
across the screen, kick back in your lounge chair, close your eyes, turn up the
volume and treat yourself to a Christmas musical treasure. Enjoy!
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