Song is Feliz Navidad. Click to play.

Ladies Advance Holiday Pages Dec/Jan 2002/2003

Here is a bit of holiday cheer and philosiphizing. Please stop by and take a moment to read it. When you are done, you can return to the Ladies Advance main page by clicking here.

Well I had a lot of misgivings about putting a holiday page together. First, it is late in the season. Hanuka ended last week and so too did Eid, the feast that ends Ramadan. I am not a Pagan or Wiccan so Solstice does not really enter into things. If we get some Pagan members that may change. I am also not Christian. Now I do celebrate Christmas. I am off from work, and I can sleep in, and the stores with all their glitter and tinsel intrigue me.

a menorah what else
a dreidl

I enjoy Christmas carols too, but of course those who are "in the know" will quickly tell me that Christmas is about something more. They point to the few exemplary individuals who are doing Toys for Tots or ringing bells for the Salvation Army while everyone is busy at the mall buying gifts.

Failing that, they tell me about family and children. My family lives 1,000 miles away and I don't have kids. Ever get that left out feeling? Well, so what are all these winter holidays about and what makes them worth a web page that hopefullydoesn't sound dumb and redundant?

Well I was walking around the block last night. It was a cold rainy Georgia night and I was out to stretch my legs because I'd had it with a slow internet connection. Well there I was in the darkness and the rain and the mist and thinking of how to write something meaningful. Well, I figured, I could always write about peace on earth. Yeah, peace sure seems in scarce supply these days. We, as in my country is ready to go to "pre-emptive" war under any context our government can cook up. This is one year when even wishing "peace on earth" seems hollow. a tomato Christmas tree

Well there I was walking in the cold, damp, darkness and I saw them, Christmas lights though they could have just been lights for decoration. It hit me slowly. We all need a light in the darkest time of the year. We all need wishes for peace even when war is imminent. We all need thoughts of family or someone out there being charitable even when we are just plain busy, often justifiably so. What we need can be summed up in one word....HOPE

That single word is what these winter holidays are all about. So Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Blessed Solstice, and I hope you had a great Hanuka and Eid. May we all have peace on earth and the warmth of family and the comaradery of good friends. Happy holidays and Seasons greetings from Ladies Advance.