In which I remember that I do have a minor Christmas story to relate, after all...

When I was a senior in high school, this song by the Carpenters was going to be part of our annual Christmas concert.  Judy was a cheerleader who also happened to be in band.  I was just a band geek.  Judy was put together just the way a cheerleader should be--and even better in certain places.  And she had freckles.

She and I had an odd history, made rockier than necessary by the meddlesome interference of a third party who kept sticking her nose in where it shouldn't have been.  Yes, I had a huge crush on her.  What I was too stupid to realize at the time was that it was somewhat reciprocated.

I and two of my friends and fellow band geeks named Johnny and Eric came up with a plan:  just before we performed this song, our band director would announce to the audience that it had been dedicated to Judy from an anonymous admirer.  Good plan.

Several days before the concert, Johnny caught up with me when Eric wasn't around, and told me a new scheme.  "Okay, we're going to tell Eric that it's anonymous, but we'll tell Mr. (band director) that it's from Eric."  Cool.  It still sounded good.  Let's get Eric.

A few days later, Eric caught up with me when Johnny wasn't around and told me his new scheme.  "Let's tell Johnny that it's anonymous," he said, "but we'll tell Mr. (band director) to say it's from Johnny."  Hmmm...I thought to myself that our plot was getting somewhat complicated and twisted in on itself, which only made it more interesting.  I decided to sit back and see what our band director would make of it.

Then came the day and the fateful song.  As I sat there waiting to see what kind of chaos, or at least minor confusion, might arise, our band director made the announcement and I realized I had been duped.  "This song is dedicated to Judy from Alan," he said.

Well, I was first chair sax and she was second, so we sat right next to each other.  Eric was third sax, and he was sure to point at us.  Johnny (being first trumpet) stood and pointed at us over everyone's heads.  They wanted to make sure everyone in the audience knew who we were.  They were both grinning like the proverbial possums eating greased owl pellets.  Judy was so flustered she couldn't play a note during the entire song.  I managed to start playing about halfway through.

Nothing else ever came of this.  I was never able to imagine that any girl in high school would want to associate with me, and I was also extremely shy.  That was 24 years ago.  I'm still not entirely sure why my wife claims to enjoy my company, these days.

I ran into Johnny a few years after graduation.  He told me that he and Judy had dated a little after they both graduated (she was a year behind us in school).  Their brief dating affair had happened around Christmas, and that song had come on the radio twice.  The first time, she immediately reached over and changed the station.  The second time, she left it there and started wondering aloud about me and why I had never at least asked her out.

Her family moved away from our small town and I have no idea what ever became of her.

Lots of other bloggers are posting things in this vein, and maybe someone out there is wondering what I'm going to say on the topic, although it's more likely that no one gives a plug nickel what I think.  It may be hard to explain.

The church to which I have been added does not celebrate Christmas as the birth of Christ.  There are some members who do not celebrate anything at all on December 25 because they believe it sets a bad example.

We are not directed to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and we are not given the information as to the exact date of his birth.  So we don't celebrate December 25 as such.

Many of us do still have a day of fellowship with our scattered families, and that fellowship and goodwill includes the exchange of gifts and the sharing of food.

However, if people out there want to remember the birth of Christ on this day, I will not try to convince them that it's wrong or bad or anything.  I think any occasion that can turn one's thoughts to such a thing is good.

I once explained it like this:

When I was in college choir, did I refuse to sing carols at Christmastime that had religious subjects simply because I do not believe that December 25 is the actual birthday of Jesus?  No, of course not.  For he once said, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."  So if some carolers are gathered together singing "O Little Town of Bethlehem," "Joy to the World," or "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing," who am I to say that he is not there in their midst?

So celebrate whatever meaning you want.

I got bored today so I did some updates on my long-neglected and rarely-mentioned other project, The Last Ancient House.

I added some details to the template to explain what is going on there to the casual passerby, and added one poem (Where the Moon Is Always Gibbous) and one story (The Owls).

The site was put together with Blogger's novel template and I have assembled there most of my just-for-fun writing stuff in one place for easy reference, since my old website is long gone.

Reviewing some of my old stuff, I am thinking that I really would like to start writing again.

Generally off-topic for me, but I'm just wondering how long they're going to keep propping up this guy's corpse before they finally just give up and admit that he's dead?

I guess they'll be okay as long as the air conditioning doesn't break down.

From Dave Kopel, The Second Amendment in the Nineteenth Century:

This may be considered as the true palladium of liberty. . . . The right of self defence is the first law of nature: in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible. Wherever standing armies are kept up, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any colour or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction.

--St. George Tucker

UPDATE:  Great minds think alike!