Some more actual announcements from church bulletins.

This afternoon there will be a meeting in the south and north ends of the church. Children will be baptised at both ends.

Tuesday at 4:00 pm there will be an ice cream social. All ladies giving milk, please come early. Wednesday, the ladies Liturgy Society will meet. Mrs. Johnson will sing: "Put Me In My Little Bed" accompanied by the pastor.

Thurday at 5:00 pm there will be a meeting of the Little Mother's club. All those wishing to become little mothers, please meet with the minister in his study.

This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs. Johnson to come forward and lay an egg on the altar.

On Sunday, a special collection will be taken to defray the cost of the new carpet. All those wanting to do something on the new carpet, come forward and get a piece of paper.

A bean supper will be held Saturday evening in the church basement. Music will follow.

The rosebud on the altar this morning is to announce the birth of David Alan Bleser, the sin of Rev. and Mrs. Julius Delser.

il est temps de célébrer, tous que nous nous sommes développés
nous sommes tous ici, pourtant chacun a volé
aucune matière vos haines de chauffage et persécution
subreptice
damnez une telle stupidité et grillez la diversification
elle est seulement nous ensemble sans égale
tout le d'autre semble échec condamné avant une suite
ce jour est autant vôtre qu'il est le mien
autant nôtres que lui étaient nos s'abstient
comme appartenant au monde nous prenons pour accordé
ce jour oublié, aimé, et dorénavant célébré

~~~

It's time to celebrate, all we have grown
we're all here, yet everyone has flown
no matter your heated hates and surreptitious persecution
damn such stupidity and toast the diversification
it's only us together without equal
all else seems doomed failing before a sequel
this day is as much yours as it is mine
as much ours as it was our forebears
as belonging to the world we take for granted
this day forgotten, cherished, and henceforth celebrated

~~~

Music: Grayara feat. Erik Shepard: Gravity

Continuing with my theme on trees and also, prompted by my recent trip to Germany, I wrote this;

Christmas Eve in Germany, legend tell us that rivers will turn to wine, tree blossoms bear fruit, mountains open up revealing hidden precious gems, and church bells may be heard ringing from the bottom of the sea.

However, a traditional German Christmas is a spectacle in itself, a most important time of year that actually has a beginning on December 6th, St Nicholas Day, which throughout most European countries is the evening when children place a shoe or boot near the fireplace, so during the night St Nicholas, the patron saint of children, skips from house to house carrying the dreaded book of sins, noting all children's misdeeds, but if the children have been good, the shoe or boot will be filled with very delicious seasonal food, though the sinners shoe will be stuffed with twigs instead of eadibles.

December 21st, the shortest day and longest night, is called St Thomas Day, and in parts of Sauerland, (from whence I've just returned), anyone who awakens late from sleep, or arrives late for work on this day, is given the unwanted title of "Thomas Donkey" in the form of a cardboard donkey, and the figure of fun throughout the day, lighthearted of course, and the finale to the day, is a delicious iced curreant bun called Thomasplitzchen.

So, this brings us through the heartland of European seasonal tradition, to Christmas Eve, and the presentation of the tree. (Could the commerical centres of any European city now wait that long??). The Christmas tree, in all it's significance, originated in Germany and encapsulates a mystical magic amongst the young, (and adults too for that matter), as they were not allowedto see it until December 24th, which is prepared beforehand with apples, candy, nuts, cookies, cars, angels, tinsel, candles, lights etc. The presents are placed below the tree, and near the bright display are placed beautifully decorated plates for all the family, with fruits, nuts, marzipan, chocolate and biscuits. When this is ready, a bell signals the children toenter the room, when carols are sung, maybe sparklers lit, the Christmas story read and gifts opened just after midnight, as is the case in France and most central European countries.

"Dickbauch" means "fat stomach" and is a name given to Christmas Eve because of the traditional belief that those who don't eat well on the 24th will be haunted by demons during the night. So the opportunity is given to enjoy dishes such as suckling pig, "reisbrei" (a sweet cinnamon), white sausage, macaroni salad, and many regional dishes.

Christmas Day brings with it a banquet of plump roast goose, "Christstollen" (long loaves of bread bursting with nuts, raisins, citron and dried fruit), "Lebkuchen" (spice bars), marzipan, and "Dresden Stollen" ( a moist, heavy bread filled with fruit, and now sold everywhere).

The custom of trimming and lighting a Christmas tree, as has evolved to the present day image, had its origin in pre-Christian Germany, the tree which symbolized the Garden of Eden. It was called the "Paradise Baum," or tree of Paradise. Gradually, the custom of decorating the tree with cookies, fruit and eventually candles evolved. Other countries soon adapted the custom. Charles Dickens called it "The Pretty German Toy" and the Victorians in Britain can lay claim to popularizing the Christmas image to it's homely and heavily commercial appearance.

I know that many counties of England now shun Christmas, and even ban it...so I hereby declare my post an historic article and not a religious pontification!!!

The world should celebrate the sharing of brilliant cultures and traditions, I do and always will...isn't it nice to learn about how we all came to this point in our world?

by lauren6

German Christmas recipes: bon apetite

~~~

Music: Blank & Jones feat Bobo: Perfect Silence (E.Craig's remix)

My mind is refreshed, if not my body, and the Germany trip, solely for health reasons, I declare a success, even if my bones seem to hurt me more than before, I have been bequethed the quiet benedictine town's natural, herbal medicinal remedies to use myself, to a lesser degree, at home here in England.
The most memorable being those heavy hot crystals weighed down on my hurts...the thigh, spine, shoulder and neck, all along the right side which is where I've suffered damage to my nerves and spinal area. This was interrupted by massage, lemon drinks, and a very well-qualified nurse walking ON my back, which was initially envisioned, (by me), as simply, 'the end', but after a short time, soothing waves passed the damaged spine area. This was no sadistic rural ritual, but a highly advanced kind of oriental therapy, ('conducted' by an oriental nurse), passed down through generations, resulting in some form of effective pain relief. Dare I say it, had I stayed there longer, the results may have been even better.
Some ointment containing, at least beeswax, among other things, was dapped and rubbed onto my temples and shoulder, down the slipped disc area and to the cartilage, ligament-torn knee.
The water therapy too, was memorable in that I could see distant larches freezing over outside, while I lay in visually cold yet pleasantly warm water, within the rambling building.

I ate frugally, rotbread and cheese mostly, some fresh salami, eggs, and on the 22nd a Chinese/Filipino meal consisting of one of my all-time favourites, siopaw.
This was washed down with a Philippine whisky, straight, and delicious. I have survived Thai Mekhong, and now this latest delight from the pearl of the orient...both simply electrifying!
That was the ony alcohol I consumed, and all else was decidedly abbatial, without the wine.

On the 23rd I was invited to the local football game, 3 boys and 18 girls playing an under-18 match by nightfall with the crispness of rapidly freezing grass discernible underfoot, and I think this was my only mistake, because the following day I was struck down with bronchitis, lasting to this moment!

It was a total success however, and atmosphere of that place is now deeply entrenched within me, forever.

~~~

It is well, you live in a dry country, but do not your lakes overflow? Can any thing get from Norwich to Blundeston? 200,000 acres are drown'd in the Fens here, and cattle innumerable. Our friends at Worcester, Gloucestershire, etc. are sailing through the streets from house to house.
-Gray, Cambridge, November 25th, 1770

Morning all~~
This morning I had that nice, yet disorientating feeling of waking up, and not knowing where I was, or even in which country, but the snow tapping on my bedroom window woke me, as Norwich seems even more wintry than Germany did.

Monday evening, I landed at Dortmund, and saw the frozen car roofs and salted autobahn, the grass banks white with hardened frost. I arrrived in rural Sauerland by 10.30pm and immediately tried the hot crystal therapy that night. I was on a high, and full of happiness, awaiting the few days of better health, beneath Germany's cold skies.

I'll write more soon, with a photo or two.