Sunday, December 23, 2012

We Need A Little Christmas


78 comments:

Coreen said...

Yes Chloe, it seems to be the right time...

First is City Hall Annex, downtown
Bridgeport, recently renamed the Margaret E. Morton Government Center, a legend in local politics, she was the first black women elected to the state House &
Senate, she passed away early this year...

Across the street is the Christmas tree in McLevy Green (named after one of the city's mayors) in the background the large building is People's United Bank at the corner of Main Street & State Street...

Next up the GE Christmas tree outside corporate headquarters, FAirfield, just 4 miles down the hill from my home...

And home sweet home, my tree...

Unknown said...

Coreen, Thank You for the beautiful Holiday post. I looked up a little history on your first one, and found the following story:

"BRIDGEPORT -- Her dignity, spirituality and character served for decades as a story of hope and inspiration to the city's minority community.

Now, it is hoped by Mayor Bill Finch, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and others that renaming City Hall Annex the Margaret E. Morton Government Center will continue to cultivate her legacy.

"She opened the doors for so many in Bridgeport, fighting for the disenfranchised, that it's only fitting we should honor her at the doors of our city government," Finch said."
Margaret E. Morton Government Center

Unknown said...

And the tree's are beautiful. What a wonderful job your home town does decorating for the holidays -- but none of them are more beautiful than yours.

I agree, it's time for a little Christmas.

I hope you and yours all have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy the holiday

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Coreen said...

My pleasure Chloe...

Most towns around here do some Christmas decorating...In my travels I try to capture some of it...

What about where you live in Texas?

Bridgeport was a bustling city for a long time, not so much today...as with most cities...it is struggling...

A stark contrast to some of the neighboring towns here in Fairfield County...

You may like to check out this website for a neighboring town of
Westport...it has some good pics of the town every day...

Westport is a pretty high end town...one of the string of them along I95 toward NYC...
Westportnow

Coreen said...

Check out what downtown Westport was like today, lots of traffic,
on its Main Street & the major grocery store, Stop & Shop...

Yesterday we were out & about getting the fish, wine
& it was a nuthouse all over...

I was at the grocery on Friday, to beat the hectic weekend that is always nuts just before Christmas...part of the charm of the season...lots of people everywhere around here...

jan said...

Beautiful pictures Coreen. A lovely idea to have a series of pics of decorated Christmas trees. All very lovely. Thank you so much for taking the time to take these pictures and post for all of us to enjoy.

jan said...

We are home now. As always, there is no place like home. We had good weather for most of the trip with the exception of Wed. night/early thurs morning. Arkansas had tornado warnings or watches through most of wed night and Thurs morning. The wind woke me up early thurs so I pulled up the sheets over my head and went back to sleep.

Coreen said...

Yes, Jan, there is something to that 'there's no place like home for the holidays'...

As for the wind we had those howling winds Friday into Saturday & it made it feel really cold...but so far no snow...though
there are forecasts for some overnite into Christmas morning...

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jan said...

Yes, so nice to be home for Christmas. John and I traveled on many Christmases. In years past I would get a little depressed at Christmas and leaving town seemed to help. Do not know what that is about. I do not feel in the least depressed this Christmas. I am having all the Albuq family over for dinner tomorrow so have much to do.

jan said...

Thank you Coreen and Chloe for your good wishes about making it home safely.

jan said...

Carol, I am thinking about you and look forward to seeing you back here at the swamp.

jan said...

Our weather in Alb is taking a turn for the worse. We are expected to have winds, rain and snow this holiday.

I will go back to work on Wed thru Fri this week. With a skeletal nursing staff since our full time nurse left, I need to catch up on some health screenings of new families. I do enjoy meeting with the newer families so I do not mind the work.

jan said...

I was buying wine for Christmas Day and was carded at the grocery store last night. The checkout guy had to ask me 3 times for my ID and I laughed every time. Finally, he said, "I am not kidding."

He said the store has a new policy that they are carding everyone who is buying liquor. Too funny. I did get carded up into my 30's, but this is too much to be carded in my 70's.

jan said...

There were 3 days and nights on our trip (in LR) that we stayed with John's brother and SIL. They have wifi but could not remember the code, so I was not on line for that time. I missed much of what you all wrote in the previous post. I went back this morning and read some of what I missed.

jan said...

Carol, I am concerned about your back pain and sleeping in a chair. Is there anything you can do about your pain?

jan said...

Coreen, I do appreciate what you said about paying attention to those people and events going on in our own areas. We can make a difference there.

jan said...

Chloe, I too feel this is such a hectic time of the year that we often fly through it without taking time to enjoy the things that are real. I think that having Emma around gives you a chance to see all of this through her eyes and enjoy the true meaning of Christmas.

jan said...

Chloe, you asked about the experience of our trip. Like the famous line in a classic book "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." I am not sure about how accurate those words were - and they are words that express extremes as well. We enjoyed seeing family but when we only are with them a couple of times each year, we tend to share the more unfortunate aspects of our lives, probably too much. It is called "catching up."

jan said...

We love our family members so much, but there were some things I would have rather not heard about.

We did have some fun times though. I took my 2 granddaughters shopping for clothes- just the 3 of us. The younger one (15) is a lot of fun. She could be a stand-up comedian. She has experienced some difficult times this past year and is in counseling. The counseling is helping a lot. My older granddaughter (20) has just experienced a break-up with someone she cared very much for and is going through some grief. She was trying hard to be cheerful. She and I talked about this in the short time we had alone together. I felt so bad for her, but know this is part of growing up and part of life.

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jan said...

John has a son there who is also experiencing some tough times, but Overall, everyone is coping in the best way they know how.

It is hard for me to leave my family members when I know they are having a tough time, but I know in my heart that they have to cope in their own ways.

I too have experienced tougher times in my life and survived. I only hope and pray that my loved ones will also get through this time in their lives and be able to look back on this as another learning experience.

jan said...

Chloe, so the ID issue is more universal. Glad to hear that.

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jan said...

Coreen, I love your title to this post. Yes, we do need a little Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all my friends here in the Swamp.

Now I need to get off the couch and start getting ready for tomorrow.

Coreen said...

Chloe, Jan, your comments this morning are wonderful expressions of the good there is in life, though adversity awaits
all of us...for the most part, we still come through to appreciate what is important in each of our lives...

I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas...& that the spirit of the season carries through the year for all of us...

You may remember around here Christmas Eve is the night we gather with family & friends, so I better get back to those preparations...

Carol, you are the one who always
makes everyone check in here, so I hope you do soon...

jan said...

Carol, I am missing you here. I hope you get back to us soon. I am wondering about the kitties. Did anything happen to them that I missed. I love and miss you.

Coreen said...

Hope you are ok Carol, not like you to be missing for so long...

Hope everyone has had a nice Christmas...all went well here...but it is tiring to prepare for it...

Carol, if you are around, (& anyone else as well) did you look out at the evening sky?...
Jupiter appears very close to the moon...was surpised when I saw it, don't remember ever seeing that before...pretty neat...
Earthsky tonight

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jan said...

I telephoned Carol. No answer. I left a message. It is 10:30 in her time zone, so she may be asleep.

jan said...

I talked with Carol on phone this afternoon. She is ok.

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Coreen said...

Some days there are good things that happen...
Blind dog finds her way home in depths of Alaskan winter

Coreen said...

Another feel good story...Gotta love New Yorkers...well, most of them anyway...

Some slug stole the puppy & a good samaritan found her & paid to get her back....
Girl reunited with stolen puppy

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jan said...

Beautiful dog stories. Thanks for sharing the links Coreen. We all need a story with a happy ending with all the shootings lately.

jan said...

In our neighborhood lives a little chi-wa-wa who has one eye who is also an escape artist named Willie. In the 6 years we have lived in the neighborhood, Willie has gone missing more times than I can remember. Each time he has been found and returned. We have a neighborhood newsletter (it is actually one block) and a couple of people who print a list of residents, e-mail addresses, tele #'s and names of pets. When Willie goes missing, we all get e-mails and everyone keeps an eye out.

jan said...

I am also a dreamer who likes happy endings Chloe.

I like the quote too. Reality has a way of doing that.

jan said...

The moon is beautiful tonight.

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Carol said...

Actually not OK at all, just too frightened to talk about it now.

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jan said...

I am so ready for a 4 day holiday weekend. I am curious about what you usually do on New Years Eve. John and I watch the festivities from Times Square on TV and share in their welcome of the new year and then we go to bed.

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jan said...

I have not seen many Tom Cruise movies. I can never remember the name of the movie I am going to and usually give one or 2 words in the title and the ticket person always understands. I want to see La Mis movie and the one about the kid on a lifeboat with a tiger - see what I mean???

jan said...

I think we will see a movie tomorrow. Not sure what just yet.

jan said...

We got a box of rice from John's sister and her husb. They live in rice country in AR. It came by fed ex and the box was pretty flimsy and one of the rice boxes was broken ( I think it was rice with mushrooms) and John brought it in off the porch and strung rice all through the house. I put Ryley into her pet taxi until I cleaned it up. I did not know if raw rice would hurt her. She is a canine vacuum cleaner.

jan said...

We rented the movie, "Looking for a friend to spend the end of the world with" or something like that with Steve Carell and Keira Knightly. It was an interesting concept. The best part of the movie was the music - I think it was 70's music which is my personal favorite decade for music. It was a little depressing at the end.

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jan said...

Chloe, yes we have to be so careful what we drop on the floor around our little friends.

We are going to see Les Mis, I think. I have managed to talk John into it.

jan said...

We had Ryley's teeth cleaned recently, so I talked to the vet yesterday about buying something called "happy mouth" that will help keep her teeth cleaner. Vet also recommended a couple of foods that include mouth care in the food. The happy mouth costs $50.00 and you mix it in water and they drink it. Also she explained how to clean her teeth. I bought doggie toothbrush and paste recently but hard to get in her little mouth. So I am cleaning her teeth with a damp rag. She will let me do that. The vet said after a while doing this, she will be more likely to let me clean her teeth with a brush. She has already lost some teeth due to this condition so I hope to save the rest.

jan said...

I realize that taking care of a little dog is somewhat like taking care of a child.

jan said...

Chloe, Even though the plot of the movie with Steve C. was about an astroid hitting and destroying all of earth in a matter of a few weeks, it was more about fully living your life rather than just going through the motions. Again, the music was worth the price of the movie.

jan said...

I get all these "deals" over e-mail for hair removal for all parts of one's body. I have to laugh at these. I have always been very hairy in places I would rather not have hair and when younger would have been interested. One of the nicest parts about my age now is I have no desire to put myself through any of that needless pain and pay for it too. Now, I still shave my legs, etc and I pluck out little stray hairs that show up on my chin, but do not care if I have a little bit of a moustache.

jan said...

Probably that last comment was "too much information" LOL.

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Coreen said...

Well, was hoping to make it out of December with no snow, but not to be...good news, we only got about
4-1/2", while the eastern part of the state got much more...it is light, but still a pain to deal with...& it is really cold & windy...& not going to warm up the rest of the week...so we are stuck
with the white stuff (well dirty white stuff once the plows, sanding push it off the roads) for awhile...did I ever mention, I really don't like snow...I can deal with the cold, but snow is nothing but a problem...

Carol, not sure what is preventing you from commenting lately...not like you to be silent for so long...whatever, hope you find your way back soon...

Jan, Chloe, seems like Christmas was a long time ago....& now a New Year is approaching...Add me to those who do not celebrate New Year's Eve...but hope that everyone
enjoys what plans you may have...

jan said...

Good to see you here Coreen. I have missed your comments. I was a little tired of talking to myself.

I don't like extreme cold. I do like winter in albuquerque. We are having cold weather right now. I think the reason I like winter is I cannot do yard work. I don't like yard work but I do like flowers and trees with leaves.

jan said...

Coreen, I hate to say I don't like snow because we need it so badly here in NM. We are still in a serious drought and one of the reasons is less snow these last few years.

Snow is so beautiful when it is falling and new. I don't like driving in it or shoveling it. I do like getting out and making snow people. But the areas in which I have lived have had little snow - except for Montana for 2 winters. Talk about a lot of snow. I did get very tired of it there.

jan said...

We have snow this morning.

Coreen said...

Hey Jan, good for you to see a little winter's white stuff...hope it doesn't disrupt your plans...

It is just cold the rest of the week here...

Coreen said...

New Post is up...