Merry Christmas Message

“Although hundreds of years have passed, we still celebrate the birth of the baby in Bethlehem…and the joy of that first Christmas still lives in our hearts.” - from the Candlelight Processional

 

During this special time of year, we all take time to reflect on our lives. We remember those we have lost and those we have met along the way. We give thanks to those men and women serving in the military, protecting our country, and pray for their safety. And though miles may separate us from friends and loved ones, they continue to be close in our hearts.

 

Christmas is a season of hope and magic, a time to be thankful for the many blessings in our lives. It's a time to look in wonderment at life through the eyes of a child. For Christmas is not just a date on the calendar, it is a frame of mind and a way of life. May the joy, love, hope, and peace of Christmas be with you always.

Hollywood Lights

One of the places we definitely wanted to see again this Christmas season was the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Hollywood Studios.  What began as a father’s Christmas gift to his daughter in the mid-80s and became a wonderful holiday tradition for thousands of Walt Disney World guests for 20 years is
being shuttered at the end of the season in early January.  Why, you ask?  They are making room for the new Star Wars-themed and Toy Story Lands.

Every night during the Christmas season at exactly 6 p.m. the music starts and millions of colored lights suddenly brighten every building façade, tree, window, and holiday figure in the Streets of America.  It’s quite a sight to see!  Many of the displays were originally part of the Osborne’s yard display in Little Rock, AR, but over the years Disney has expanded it to include over 5 million
lights and a relay circuit that allows the lights to “dance”.  Every 15 minutes thanks to the magic of more than 400 dimmers, the choreographed “dancing” lights move in time to the music creating quite a show.  After each choreographed performance, the lights remain steady for about 7
   minutes while music continues to play until the next “dance”.  (It takes about 20,000 man-hours to install the display each year starting in Sept.)  Below are some before and after comparison shots we thought you might enjoy.

We had gotten to the park a couple hours earlier because we had a FastPass for Toy Story Midway Mania!, and since there was no line at Muppet*Vision 3-D afterwards, we decided to kill a little time there.  This adorable attraction combines 3D film with audio-
animatronic characters and special effects.  Though flash photography is not allowed during the show, right at the end I managed to capture a couple shots keeping with that before and after theme.  Notice the wall around the balcony where the old guys are heckling the Muppets?  Well, at the end of
   the show the Swedish Chef sets off a large cannon that “blows-up” the theater, seeming to tear a hole in the main screen and “revealing” some of the bricks and sheetrock throughout the theater.  Pretty impressive, huh?

 

  A few nights later it was off to Epcot where Mickey and Minnie were waiting to greet everyone!  OK, so they’re topiaries and not the real thing. J  We were heading to see one of our other favorite things this time of year, the Candlelight Processional.  A 50-piece orchestra
   led by conductor Dr. John Sinclair, a mass choir of approximately 200 cast members and high school and church groups from around the country, members of the nationally acclaimed Voices of Liberty, a guest celebrity narrator reading the nativity story, and a sign language interpreter…what’s not to love! 
    The narrators change every few nights with 3 performances nightly, and this time we were privileged to see the fabulous actor Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, CSI: NY).  Though each narrator reads the same script, each person brings their own personality and passion to the reading with some better than others.  Gary is among the best, and no matter how many times we see this show, we marvel at the beauty and majesty of the sound, the story, and the performers.  Truly a magical experience.

 

While waiting in line for the Processional I zoomed in the camera for a beautiful picture across the World Showcase Lagoon of Spaceship Earth and Epcot’s Christmas tree.  Afterwards we found the perfect spot to watch Illuminations: Reflections of Earth,
   Epcot’s fireworks show that takes place every night on the Lagoon. The show features fireworks, lasers, fire, and water fountains all timed to a musical score. A large rotating globe of the Earth with curved LED screens is the centerpiece and is used to project images of people and places. 
During the Christmas season there’s an additional 7 minutes of fireworks timed to one of my favorite songs, Let There Be Peace On Earth, along with greetings of good will and peace on Earth in many languages.  Always the perfect ending to a wonderful evening.

Magic In The Air

We finally arrived at our home for the winter, Lake Magic RV Resort in Clermont, FL, getting here a little earlier than we have the last few years.  This gave me the perfect opportunity to hang up the fall wreath I made many moons ago.  Usually we’re traveling in November and at a location for only a couple days to a week so never drag it out, but this time I could leave it up for awhile.  It’s nothing fancy, just a simple cherished keepsake.  A couple of hours after our arrival we were greeted by
the local sandhill cranes right behind the RV, and a couple of days later, this American White Heron had situated itself at the very tip top of a nearby tree…guess it was a great lookout spot!

 

The 20th International Food & Wine Festival had begun at Epcot, and it’s been a few years since we had attended.  For those who don’t know, this festival is held for about 6 weeks each year offering food and beverage samples for sale from more than 30 different countries.  Not far from the entrance was a cranberry bog sponsored by Ocean Spray that contained more than 1,500 pounds of fresh fruit.  Disney cast members wearing waders stood knee-
deep in the bog, demonstrating how rakes are used to turn the fruit during harvesting, explaining the entire process of growing and harvesting.  At a nearby booth you could even get a free sample of Craisins!

 

Also included in the Festival at no additional charge is the Eat to the Beat concert series held at the American Pavilion featuring an incredible line-up of top name entertainment with different artists every few nights.  They perform three 40 minute shows nightly, and
we were able to catch two of the acts.  First up was Dennis DeYoung, one of the founding members of the rock group Styx (The Best of Times, Come Sail Away, Too Much Time On My Hands).  He’s been married to Suzanne since 1970, who sings backup vocals, and must be the band photographer as she was
taking pics of the audience with her phone during the show…what a hoot!  Dennis still has a great voice and the show was really good though he didn’t sing any of the big hits we knew.  As it turns out, he said they do different songs every show and we were not planning to stay past the first one…oh well.

 

The other show which I really wanted to see was Grammy award winner, Chaka Khan (I’m Every Woman, I Feel For You, Through the Fire).  Known as the Queen of Funk, her career has spanned more than 4 decades, and I remember dancing to her music during my disco days.  She still has an incredible voice and has some amazing backup singers who got to perform on their own at one point while she relaxed, fanning herself in the humidity.

There was also a new opening act before the first show of the evening known as the American Music Machine. This 5-member a cappella group sings excerpts from about 30 songs in 20 minutes ranging from the oldies to modern to of course Disney.  They are high energy and their voices create all the percussion and backup needed.  They were ok but not great…maybe we just caught them on an off night.

 

One of the things we always do during our first trip to Epcot is visit our "photo" on the "Leave A Legacy" sculpture, which is basically a “photo time capsule”. A digital image was taken (for a fee), the image etched onto a 1"x1" piece of steel, and then mounted on the Leave a Legacy sculptures, granite monoliths arranged under Spaceship Earth just inside the gates of Epcot. (Spaceship Earth is the big golf ball thing everyone associates with Epcot.) The program was started in 1999 but discontinued in 2007 so no more images have been added, but the over 550,000 that are there today remain. We had our image taken in 2003, and every trip we find it using our specific locator number and together touch our image.

 

We also made a trip over to the Magic Kingdom which was already decorated for Christmas.  It takes quite awhile to get all those decorations up, and besides, they had to be ready for the Christmas Day parade.  Contrary to what you might think that parade you watch on TV is not live, it’s taped many
weeks in advance, and it just so happened that the day we were there was the first day of taping.  As we made our way towards the Castle, we passed an area where they were rehearsing a song from this year’s Disney Channel Original Movie “Descendants”, and on our way out they were actually taping it in full costume with a small audience being instructed when to cheer for the cameras.

As we made our way through Frontierland, we discovered a musical group we hadn’t seen before, the Notorious Banjo Brothers and Bob.  This comical musical group has two banjo players and a tuba player performing a mix of songs from cowboy to bluegrass to yes, of course, Disney.  We caught the end of their act, and as nearly all things Disney, they were quite good.

 

The park was crowded but easily navigable especially since we weren’t in a hurry.  We wandered around and rode some of the more low key rides including Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin for which we had a FastPass.  Russ beat me as usual, and I snapped a pic of the photo they took of us during the game.  Can you tell we’re concentrating?!

 

Shortly after we arrived in Clermont I was lucky enough to see the planetary conjunction of Venus, Jupiter, and Mars.  We had read about its occurrence but the best time to see it was before sunrise, and we figured with all the lights here in the big city, we wouldn’t get the chance.  As it so happened, Abby needed to go out one morning very early and there they were bright and clear!  I quickly grabbed the camera and actually got a halfway decent shot.  The bright white spot at the top is Jupiter, the one in the middle is Venus, and the smaller reddish spot to the lower left is Mars.  (The other faint spots if you can see them once you click on the photo are stars.)  Thank you Abby for needing to go out early!

 

We had forgotten how warm and humid it can be here during November and were told by several who are regularly here this time of year that the temperatures were actually about 10 degrees hotter than normal…oh, lucky us!

Celebrating Good Friends

From Columbia it was on to St. Louis, and once again we parked ourselves in the lot of the Hollywood Casino (www.hollywoodcasinostlouis.com) located just north of the city limits (that's ours on the near right). Being in St. Louis even for a short
       visit of course means time with friends and as what seems to have become a tradition, our first night in town brings a visit from Steve, Patty, John, and Rick for a few beers and lively conversation.

   As usual I met up with Gloria and her bowling team one day, and Dana and Diane were able to make it, too.  It’s always a great way to catch up with some of the gals who are on her team that I’m not in touch with as much.  Afterwards it was off to Culver’s for lunch, then
   some shopping, and finally a happy hour margarita at La Fiesta Mexican Restaurant!  Diane had to leave while we were shopping, but Mary Ann got off work early and was able to join us.  Hadn’t seen her in a couple years so it made this extra special!

Of course we couldn’t be in St. Louis without a visit to Russ’ brother and his wife.  As you may recall, they live in the city of Wentzville about half an hour from the casino, and it’s always a nice drive to get to their farm.  We got to meet Bella, their new German
      Shepherd, and though Jackie has her in training, she still has lots of puppy in her!  We stayed a couple of hours chatting and catching up on our lives…always a very pleasant and enjoyable visit.

    This was a great time to be in St. Louis because Cardinals fever was high throughout the city.  The team was in the playoffs!  I managed to get together with my friend Pam, and it just so happened that Gloria was off, too, so the three of us made plans and you can see that great minds think alike…all wearing our Cardinals shirts!  (You notice we don't get any pictures of Russ out with his buds unless I'm along! J)

When in town we generally try to pay our respects at a couple of cemeteries.  Our first stop was Calvary Cemetery to visit the graves of my mom’s parents, grandparents, brother, aunt, and several other relatives.  However, when we arrived, a huge dead tree was covering the headstones. 
   I managed to check between the branches to see that all was well though a nearby headstone for another family was knocked over.  One of the workers stopped by and said that the tree had been cut down due to disease but said the workers would be clearing it in the
   next day or two.  From there we headed over to Memorial Park Cemetery to visit the graves of Russ’ parents, uncle, cousins, and grandparents.  Afterwards it was lunch at Lombardo’s (www.lombardosrestaurants.com).

   One thing that I was especially looking forward to this trip was a birthday celebration.  There were 7 of us who were close in high school, and though two are no longer with us, the remaining 5 have stayed in touch, all but me
still living in St. Louis.  Since a couple of us had already turned 60 this year and the rest would do so next year, I made plans for us to get together for a birthday lunch at Rizzo’s Italian Restaurant (www.rizzostl.com).  We toasted to our 60 years and to 45 years of friendship through all its ups and downs.  We were stuffed afterwards but split a piece of cheesecake anyway.  (Gloria supplied the party hats, and I supplied the centerpiece to add to the fun.) 
However, this wasn’t the end of the celebration I had planned.  Though neither of the Dianes could make it, Gloria, Dana, and I continued on to include Ellen and Mary Beth in our 60th birthday celebration.  Ellen would have been the first of us to turn 60 and Mary
   Beth would have been the last.  After making a stop at Resurrection Cemetery to celebrate Mary Beth, we ventured over to Missouri Botanical Gardens (www.missouribotanicalgarden.org) where Ellen has a brick engraved with her name.  It was a gorgeous
   fall day, and we managed to find someone to take our picture at the circle of bricks.  We wandered around the Gardens a bit more, enjoying the beauty and each other's company.  What a truly wonderful day it had been!

  We crammed a lot into a short stay, and this didn’t even cover watching Cardinals baseball (they lost the Series L) and Tigers football games either at the RV with friends or at Steve and Patty’s (and a special thanks to them for letting us use their washer & dryer!).  As you can see, the guys
can be pretty intense when watching their alma mater even on TV. And what’s a girl to do when two of her favorite teams are on at the same time?  Well, wear her Tigers t-shirt and her Cardinals necklace!  Didn’t do any good, though, since both teams lost that day.
 

The day before we left, we had one more visit with Gloria as she came by the RV after work.  With the beautiful weather, she and I sat outside, drank some wine, and enjoyed each other’s company one last time.  The perfect ending to a wonderful trip.