Christmas greetings

"In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge lit the first National Christmas Tree. Later that night, African American community centers held an outdoor worship service on these grounds.  And during that service, the Washington Monument was illuminated with a beautiful cross, a powerful reminder of the meaning of Christmas... And at Christmas, we remember this eternal truth: Every person is a beloved child of God.  As one grateful nation, we praise the joy of family, the blessings of freedom, and the miracle of Christmas. On behalf of Melania and our entire family, Merry Christmas and God bless you all. Thank you very much. Merry Christmas, everybody.  Thank you." - President Donald Trump, 2019 National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

Trump haters even criticize the White House Christmas decor

  

Melania Trump was raked over the coals by social media nobodies and the somebodies in the anti-Trump know nothing media.

This Amelia, Ohio, florist was part of the team that put this stunning display together.

“This was one of my Masterpieces! 10 feet high this big one behind me. We pinned each and every one of these single little cluster of berries on one by one. It took hours! All of the styrofoam cones underneath had to be totally covered. We even had to go back and paint the silver pins each one with a red paint pen to cover the mechanics. I thought we would never get finished. We had 45 of these trees to cover and complete in 3 days. It's a miracle they turned out so perfect.” (Facebook)

https://www.aim.org/aim-column/media-sees-red-on-melanias-white-house-decorations/

https://amp.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/nov/28/melania-trump-defends-red-christmas-trees-i-think-/

https://people.com/politics/melania-trump-red-white-house-christmas-trees-online-criticism/amp/

And the Washington Post, always with the evil eye on the White House, said a red tree is a diseased tree.

Abandoned art

Artist (at the Rhein Center, Lakeside, OH) Bev Beatty is leaving small pieces of art around our little community called “abandoned art.”  Whoever finds them can keep them, or leave them for someone else to find.  Today at the Wellness Center I noticed something on the window sill and thought someone had forgotten something.  Then I noticed the note inside that it was abandoned art just for me to find or leave as is.  It’s a tiny Christmas tree in blue, pink and taupe, just the colors of our cottage, so of course, I brought it home for the fireplace mantel.

So easy even a librarian could do it

A solution to the book overflow?

Most of the books designated for give away have at least left the garage counter (one bag is still in the car, one box is on the porch of our summer cottage, and 2 titles snuck back into the house).

Friday Family Photos—Christmas 2014

Phil won a set of jade green dishes in the company Christmas drawing.

Bob is loving his guitar lessons and received a number of accessories for Christmas

It’s hard to get them to smile, so I really worked on this one.

Phil’s cheeseburger bacon lasagna.

A lovely tree and decorated fireplace.

Friday family photo, Christmas 1982

Gabby Hayes was his nick name—his beard was coming in white but his hair was still red. The cat’s name was Mystery and she lived to be 18. After that Christmas I became the shortest person in the family.

Ornament for the White House tree

We've been hearing some stories about some of the odd and hyper-political ornaments on the White House Tree--like Obama's face on Mt. Rushmore, Mao Tse Tung and drag performer Hedda Lettuce. The left wing bloggers/journalists are criticizing the right for being upset (although they don't refer to themselves as left wing). Actually, Mao wouldn't be the first marxist at the White House. Last year the only ornament out of 370 submitted that was rejected was political. The artists was anti-everything, including life, and that's not particularly appropriate for a Bush Christmas tree. That the Obamas kept the highly political ornaments that pleased and agreed with them, reflects their tastes.

Too bad bloggers at both ends don't focus on some of the really great ornaments, like my friend Jeanie's, a local artist, retired teacher and member of my church. She created an ornament to reflect the history of the Ohio Theater in downtown Columbus.

"The tree on which Auseon's bulb hangs is one of several trees First Lady Michelle Obama asked artists nationwide to help decorate. Obama said she wanted as much input from the country as possible when it came to celebrating the holidays in the White House.

That meant recycling about 800 ornaments left over from previous administrations and sending them out to community groups nationwide for artists to decorate. . .

She artfully covered the orb in glittery red and green ribbon and rhinestones, mixing in pictures and facts about the theater's history in three days.

"It's very ornate," she said of the piece which incorporates decoupage vintage photo of the theater on the bulb's face and nearly a foot of hanging ribbon.

Looks aside, the bulb's design is meant to tell a story, Auseon said.

"I just hope that ... they might go up to look more closely at it and, as they look more closely, that the story might reveal itself and that they'll think, 'Hey that's really neat,' " she said." SNP News

From an archival viewpoint, I would have preferred that White House ornaments not be recycled, and I don't know how far back they went (at least the 8 years of the Bush administration) and I don't know if they are federal property or belong to whoever lives there. But it would seem a "blank" canvas ornament/bulb could have been sent to the artists rather than reusing the old ones.