Christmas Gift Exchange

cbach8tw said:
I miss my parents of course, since thy have gone on. After my mother passed, my dad and two of my brothers would come to our house to celebrate Christmas for a couple of days, I miss that.Dad would like it because that was one of the few times he could have Oyster stew, not exactly good for your cholesterol, but it was good on Christmas morning. We used oysters bought at a local mom and pop shop, 2% milk, butter, salt and pepper, and some bacon grease. Good stuff.

Does anyone have any funny stories of gifts that were just not quite right or a joke? You know, the kind that says it is the thought that counts, but in actuality we know was just a bad idea? My father liked the old Andy Griffith show, so I found a CD of him singing old church hymns.....It was much later in Andy's life so his voice had gotten a little shaky. Later on, my father gave it back to me. :D I think I have it in the middle consul in the truck. I should just play it to remind me of him.keep the stories or traditions coming, I have enjoyed this thread too.

I just realized. I may have gotten off track from the Christmas exchange with this thread with my stories. Is that ok or should I start post in the Whatever thread?

Oh well, until I find out, I have another story. While not at Christmas, it is from Thanksgving. We used to eat at my wife's parents for the holiday. While the food was cooking, we would get in a vehicle and just drive down some country roads for a little excursion, my wife's grandfather would just relate stories of how things used to look before all this modernization!! We would see a few trucks parked on the side of the road as some people kept alive the hunting tradition on Thanksgving morning. Also our church would have breakfast in the fellowship hall for early morning hunters who wanted a warm meal before they went out to hunt. I never actually helped with that ministry but thought it was nice.
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great post! when I have some more time to burn and am not so busy procrastinating, and perhaps have a couple drinks in me, I'm looking forward to sharing some old tales of Christmas and Chanukahs and Gregorian New Years and Chinese New Years past ;)

Historically, I believe, the Thanksgiving holiday (American) is when I used to often find my way to get into something silly and or otherwise foolish and unwise; thus the latter holidays are a bit safer to talk about :rolleyes:

1066vik said:
Yes, it's for the gift exchange.
If my recipient doesn't post a pic, I will.
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If JK approves, this strikes me as a fantastic idea, sharing pics of what we get from our BF secret Santa pals!
 
cbach8tw said:
I want to share as well, but if I wait until Christmas to open, it may be awhile. If you have not guessed, I am trying to find a reason to open mine early when it arrives!! :D Maybe just a pic of the box, but what fun would that be? "hey, cool post marks!!"
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I'm willing to wait until Xmas Eve :D

just remember, G-d and Five Eyes see all. something, somewhere, someone will know if you get compromised and open your gift early ;)

then again, if you must maybe just cover the various cameras on your various "smart" internet connectable devices

and someone make me a tinfoil hat shaped like a sailor's cap! :p
 
The grape manischewitz was not bad, add a little water to lessen the sweetness. I cannot remember where it was I had some. Thanks, like the idea of first night in Chanukah, whatever is meaningful, just enjoy the thought others are thinking of you. Appreciate your ideas.

If I can ask, nothing to do with the holidays, what is the custom of laying a rock on a grave when you visit a passed loved one? I thought it was to let them know that they're not forgotten. It may sound sort of macabre, but as a former Spanish teacher, I liked Dia de los Muertos celebrations in Mexico. They would fix meals that the deceased person would have enjoyed on earth and set it up at an altar, not to worship but as a way of remembering them. The tradition says that is one night the dead come back from heaven to see the the altar and they see how they are missed. Thst is what I was told, anyway.
 
Regarding the sickly sweet wine, I have to admit I do have a soft spot for the classic grape flavored stuff. the truth, though, is that it's better to use it for cooking than drinking, as long as you have anything other than mouthwash or iso.

If you ever want to make a super tasty dessert dish, chop up some fresh walnuts and raisins, soak it in some of that sweet sweet wine for a couple hours and enjoy! Classic Passover dish, and easy and nutritious and delicious! :)

On Dia de los Muertos, nothing macab about it in this fool's opinion.

It's much more about celebrating life and family, at least IME of it in SW USA. I don't know much about a lot of the customs involved, but like a lot of Mexican traditions it's very family oriented (which I like). Screw Tijuana, I want to experience it in Mexico City someday.

Random, but I too like that holiday - and have fond memories of the Spanish teacher I had in high school many years ago who introduced me to it. She was quite the fan, as teachers can get about their favorite subjects, and I can't help but smile reflecting on how happy and excited she got instructing us as to the holiday's Mexican-American custom :)

That's a good question about the stones. There are lots of cultures that have similar practices, so I'm not entirely sure. I did just do some looking and found an interesting, slightly related article: https://forward.com/news/national/3...es-for-poor-as-jewish-burial-groups-cut-back/

Gravestones are a long-standing Jewish tradition that goes back to the Bible. In the book of Genesis, for example, Jacob marked Rachel’s grave when she died by the side of the road.

Marking the exact spot where someone is buried is important because “if we stand 2 feet to the right, we might be praying at the wrong person’s grave,” said Rabbi Nechemia Schusterman of Chabad of Peabody Jewish Center, in Peabody, Massachusetts.

Gravestones are, in a sense, connected to what it means to be Jewish, said Reform and Reconstructionist rabbi Joe Blair, from Harrisonburg, Virginia.

“Part of what makes Jews — Jews is that we maintain memory,” he said.

In Judaism, it is customary to mark the grave in a timely manner — at most a year after a person dies, the rabbis said.

If you wait years, “you’ve gone through several yahrzeits and you’ve ignored [the deceased],” Blair said.

{{Note from Hijo de Luna: a yahrzeit is essentially a ritual memorial prayer/service for lost loved ones, especially deceased parents}}
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In my limited experience, the Jewish tends to be more oriented towards maintaining continuity with one's Jewish heritage (i.e. saying prayers in Hebrew is important even if you have no idea what they mean), whereas the Christian tend to be more oriented toward maintaining a community of faithful, faith as in belief, (a bit more nuanced, but hell this isn't a religious studies essay... or IS that what it's become?! :p), belief not being quite as central to the Jewish faith as practice of ritual (again, horrible generalizations being made here...).

Then again again again again, there are many types of Judaism, and, as far as I can tell, multiple more types of Christian traditions. So that's why I am loath to mix generalizations with religion or spirituality. But, of course, one cannot help but realize that which one loaths ;):rolleyes:

I remember searching really really old graveyards in New England looking for graves of relatives from long ago, and placing a stone on the relative found. I should speak to my mom about that, as I have already enjoyed the infinite amounts of historical curiosity preserved even in the simplest tomb stones (or lack thereof - like that that article is about).

(if posting the article crosses any lines in terms of content, please let me know or just removed it and leave a note - thanks!)
 
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Thanks, for the insights, to me it is more of remembrance, history and love and respect through the generations. I also like history, and enjoy hearing about old grave stones that have almost been lost to history and time, and memories fade...and they would have been forgotten but for the diligent and persistent efforts of others. Former slave burial sites, family sites on the old home places or farms, long gone churches, etc, etc. We need to remember history, warts and all. You cannot know where you are going or where we are now, without knowing where we have been. Just my two cents.
 
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time for me to hit the sack...

my final, if slightly sentimental, thought:

I'm grateful for "running into" a former high school Spanish teacher on BF, as it has triggered some pleasant memories of my past Spanish teach :)

cool lady :cool: did I mention she had a super dog?
 
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you know, I have been looking for a horseshoe crab hat :confused:

eDIT:

fyi my gift finally is going out in tomorrow's post :)

apologies for the delays and such

the difficult moods seems like their finally beginning to let up as the winter approaches. starting to have less difficulty waking up early, less difficulty sleeping. doing work is still a tad arduous, but little by little I'm getting back after a couple weeks of treading water

AND finally was able to deal with the local bar association, so that's a big, big thing off the place that I won't be able to worry so much about anymore, for now at least, and I can just get on with studying

the autumn equinox seems like it's a bit tough for me these days, though I adore the fall season and temps cooling down (august and September are the hottest months of the year here)

I'm looking forward to the holidays continuing :) it's going to be a very, very good winter

because I'll get to go hiking with my new Seven Pines Forge Finnish forest ax and JK knives!!!!!

I really need to put some ax pics up in our thread here...
 
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Hijo de Luna said:
you know, I have been looking for a horseshoe crab hat :confused:

eDIT:

fyi my gift finally is going out in tomorrow's post :)

apologies for the delays and such

the difficult moods seems like their finally beginning to let up as the winter approaches. starting to have less difficulty waking up early, less difficulty sleeping. doing work is still a tad arduous, but little by little I'm getting back after a couple weeks of treading water

AND finally was able to deal with the local bar association, so that's a big, big thing off the place that I won't be able to worry so much about anymore, for now at least, and I can just get on with studying

the autumn equinox seems like it's a bit tough for me these days, though I adore the fall season and temps cooling down (august and September are the hottest months of the year here)

I'm looking forward to the holidays continuing :) it's going to be a very, very good winter

because I'll get to go hiking with my new Seven Pines Forge Finnish forest ax and JK knives!!!!!

I really need to put some ax pics up in our thread here...
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Glad things are getting better and we are praying for you too. It is always cool to see outdoor pics when people go out, either with the knives posed against fence, tree, post, etc or just to,see where you have been.
 
It's deer season here, so those 8 tiny reindeer had some dodging and ducking to do before trampling all over my mailbox this afternoon.
 
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