It is December, and our neighborhoods have exploded with strings of sparkling lights spilling off roofs and hugging hedges. The colder, crisper nights, like the pathetic fallacy of a Shakespearean play, have lent a modicum of credibility to the artificial icicles dripping off the eaves. Chubby inflatable snowmen, Santas, and cartoon characters sway gently in the chilly breeze in improvised choreography to some unheard night song. Nativity scenes softly lit offer a quiet counterpoint to the eclectic spectacle, reminding those who dare to ponder that there is a Christ whose quiet incarnation in Bethlehem brought hope to the world.
I recently heard a sermon from my home church, First Baptist Orlando, that 100% inspired this column. I love Christmas for many reasons, but first and foremost because we are celebrating and recognizing the significance of the birth of Jesus. How does the world celebrate Christmas? By giving gifts and acts of kindness to one another to demonstrate our love for others.
Dear Santa, the FHSAA could use a clue.
I know it’s a big ask. Perhaps a bigger ask than that time when I was 8 and I circled every toy in one of those old department store catalogs hoping for the best on Christmas morning.
Santa Rosa County is fortunate to have a committed group of citizen advocates, small but vocal, who monitor local government to protect the interests of “We the People.”
Over four of the five weeks of December, many churches will, in some fashion, observe the season of Advent. By most liturgical calendars, Advent began the last Sunday in November, but the church I pastor, like some other churches, has opted to begin its observance on the first Sunday of December and ending on Sunday morning, December 24.
Last Saturday was a complete washout for many of the events scheduled across Northwest Florida with very heavy rain across the area, but all was not lost. The Merry Market went on as scheduled with a change of venue to get it out of the rain. The Navarre Christmas Parade, “Cheers to 50 years” was cancelled with no rain date scheduled. And the Navarre Jingle Bell Run was able to be rescheduled to this Saturday, Dec. 9 at 8 a.m. same location (Holley Navarre Fire District Station 45 behind McDonalds).
This newspaper is dated Dec. 7, 2023, the 82nd anniversary of the devastating surprise attack by the Japanese against the U.S. Navy’s facilities at Pearl Harbor, Hawai’i. Most Americans know today is Pearl Harbor Day, that the attack precipitated the United States’ entry into World War II and that President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in condemning Japan’s aggression, called Dec. 7, 1941, “a date that shall live in infamy.”
My closet has been the longtime home of two shirts. Like the best of friends, they literally have had my back through thick and thin offering their familiar and comfortable embrace. Cotton. Soft. A comfy fit. They are my favorite shirts.
You killed my dream Texas A&M.
Just when I thought I’d be the next head coach of the Aggies and looked forward to a future of one day being the guy who would get paid millions of dollars to do nothing, Texas A&M goes ahead and hires Duke head coach Mike Elko.
I have an idol…well, not really an idol, but a TV character whom I jokingly claim to be my hero. His name is Onslow, and he is the brother-in-law of Hyacinth Bucket, much to her chagrin. The TV show is “Keeping Up Appearances,” a Brit-com in which Hyacinth, a matronly woman with working-class roots, desperately tries to prove to everyone that she is upper class. “It’s Boo-kay!” she corrects with exasperation whenever anyone correctly pronounces her last name as “Bucket.” Her henpecked husband, Richard, resignedly goes along with her elaborate attempts to put on airs. Unfortunately, her relatives keep showing up.
