When I was a little boy: Saturday soundtrack

When I was a little boy, of 6 or 7,  I would get my Mom's Firestone Christmas record out of the cabinet and play this song over and over.  This isn't the exact recording that was on that old promotional record, but it's the closest I can find.

Man Made Global Warming

When it comes to man made global warming I am a skeptic.  In fact,when it comes to all claims by scientists I am a skeptic.  Why?  Because scientists are, most of the time, wrong.  For example, in the 1950s pediatricians and psychologists were saying kissing and holding babies was bad for them.  No one agrees with that now, but just 60 years ago it was a scientific "fact".  Many scientists today say life appeared spontaneously from non-living matter. They are completely convinced that this idea is true. However, no one has been able to produce life from non-living matter. Why is this important?  Because it shows that scientists are willing to ignore the rules of their profession in order to assert a conclusion they hope is true. And when it comes to weather, scientists are unable to predict the amount of cloud cover next week, or the number and severity of hurricanes.  Their predictions for the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season were laughably wrong.  So, when they predict droughts, and extinctions, and rising sea levels I am pretty skeptical.  Not totally skeptical, just 60% or so.  But when they go on to say people are responsible for global warming I am 99.99% sure they are just making stuff up.

Getting Ready For Christmas

The boys with their tree at the farm.

On the 6th of December I had to work so wasn't able to go to Church on St. Nicholas Day, but I made sure there was candy for the boys' shoes, and I made sure my god children found letters from St. Nicholas in their shoes.  I also prayed the Akathist to St. Nicholas.  I had never prayed it before.  I think I have a new favorite prayer.

On the 7th of December I went to see Anselm in the St. Nicholas pageant at St. Stephen Orthodox Church.  Basil, Athanasia, and I all sat in the same row. It was a very moving pageant.  Athanasia was in tears.

On Wednesday, or the night before last, I picked the boys up after school, and took them to the Tobacco Rd. Christmas Tree Farm up in the Santa Cruz Mountains. They picked out the tree and tied it to the roof.  While I went to pay for the tree the boys played on the farmers tire swing.  It was pretty neat.  It swung way out over the mountainside, and, I suppose, at one point there was about 40 feet of air between the boys and the ground.  It was quite a thrill for them.  The big sign read "WARNING! Swing at your own risk!"

There are several Christmas tree farms up there.  We've been to several of them, over the years.  Once the tree was roped to the car,I took them to their mother's apartment, made them dinner, and mulled some cider.  I read books to them while they decorated their tree.

Three of the books I read to them were Great Joy, Papa's Itchy Christmas, and The Remarkable Christmas of the Cobbler's Sons.  It was so much fun to read these books to my boys again.  The Cobbler's Sons book was given to us by a priest's wife the year when Basil as just a newborn. Athanasia bought Great Joy in 2009.  I bought Papa's Itchy Christmas at Hicklebee's in, I think, 20011.  Athanasia didn't get home from work until late, but she heard the last of the three books.  Then I went home to my sister's house. (I have had no chest pains since I've been there.)

Today Athanasia invited me over for Christmas Dinner.  I don't know what I'll make.  I'll have to think about it.