MY CHRISTMAS CARD
Click to viewDear Family, Friends, Fellow Workers and Other Worthies-
We are definitely going to have that White Christmas everyone sings about here in McHenry County. With more than a foot of snow already on the ground, we are being blessed today with several fresh inches. While cars in ditches along Route 14 lack some of the charm of a Currier and Ives sleigh ride scene, we are all getting in the holiday spirit any way.
I was casting about for art for an e-card-hey, It’s late and have you seen postage rates lately?-I stumbled across this. Absolutely perfect! But I was unsuccessful in finding a way to send it out as a card without having to manually load a lot of addresses into a YouTube program in batches of 25. Too tedious for me. So welcome to all of you on my “Christmas card list” who got here by link. I hope you will find the trip worth while.
One of the loveliest of the many great contributions to the Christmas tradition by Unitarians and Universalists is the plaintive I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on Christmas Day 1864 upon hearing that his son had been grievously injured in a Civil War battle. Originally set to music in the 19th Century, holiday songsmith Johnny Marks set the poem to this haunting melody in the 1950’s. Many artists have recorded it, none better than Karen Carpenter with her rich, clear voice.
I wish you a Merry Christmas, a Happy Chanukah, Joyous Solstice, and a Happy New Year!
Patrick Murfin