New York City: The Apple is Big on Christmas Lights

Awixa Castle at Christmas

New York City is arguably the premier city in the world. The Big Apple is home to Wall Street, Broadway, Times Square and, as Huey Lewis sang, "you can do a half a million things all at a quarter to three". During this time of year, Rockefeller Center is lit up like it's high noon with a giant tree decorated to the nines. I am not too familiar with NYC, but I am sure that there are a thousand other such things going on. A little Google Fu led me to a place on Long Island called Awixa Castle.

The original deed on the land that Awixa Castle sits on, dates back over 400 years authorized by Queen Anne of England. The Castle itself didn't come to fruition until the early 20th Century. In 1999, a guy bought the place and it was in disrepair, so he decided to fix it up. And he did. Now a days, Awixa Castle is used for various charitable events a few times a year. In addition, at Christmas time, the castle is transformed into a magical lighted fantasy land, with over 250,000 lights on over three acres of land.

Here's a video interview with Joe Weiss, the owner of the castle. Throughout the interview, you'll get to see various mini-. displays within the big display. It's quite a sight to behold.

You can find several more photos and with a little site navigation, you'll also see and learn quite a bit about Awixa Castle.

Texas Tidbits: The Lamb

I spend a considerable amount of time using "bing" or "Google" to find material for this blog and my two others, Dumbass News and Because Toby Said So. I go through probably 25 stories every time I search for blog material before I find the one I feel is a good one for the Topic of the Day. Today, I went through two. One was a story I had previously posted. The second one is the kind of story, an allegory really, that is a perfect fit for our Christmas Season posts. It is from December 22, 1999 and was written by an El Paso lawyer named Ron Jackson who is/was a Deacon at the First Baptist Church of El Paso.

Mr. Jackson's story begins thusly......."A blizzard raked the Texas Panhandle with sleet that Christmas morning.
___My brother brought news of a new-born lamb frozen in the sheep pen. All of the ewes were lambing, with one in terrible distress, unable to complete delivery. We herded the sheep into the barn. The heat from their bodies and a small gas furnace raised the temperature, but the sheep still were in danger. The lambs were arriving more than two months too early. We were not prepared. The young ewes were not ready--they were barely able to bear their lambs".......

Read the rest of this beautiful story here.

I have always liked the reference to Jesus as the Lamb of God. It's such a simple, yet powerful metaphor for the sacrifice Jesus made for you, me and every other person who has lived during the past 2000 years. It is through the sacrifice of the Lamb, the Son of Man, that we may achieve eternal life and give Glory to the Lord, God.

Merry Christmas.

Quick Post - Addition to Blogroll

Spider by eremophila

Just a quick note to let you know that I have made an addition to my blogroll! It's a really cool site with some terrific photos (Which you can purchase of you like. They're that good.), poetry and other thoughts from eremophila, the blog Administrator. It's called eremophila's musings Stop by the place and browse around. You'll thank me later. :)

Toby

Plus One: Please, Lord, Grant Me the Patience...

Loot

If you are sick and demented enough to read this blog regularly, you may have noticed that I am late with posting today. Allow me to elucidate.

The language warning above should have raise a large red flag for you. You ask, "What, pray tell, could have a man in such a sour mood at The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?" You wanna know what's got my Fruit of the Looms in a wad at The Most Wonderful Time of the Years?The Most Wonderful Time of the Year has my drawers all twisted up in a Palomar Knot, that's what! Let me splain.

I went Christmas shopping again to day with my wife and Bailey the Three Year Old. having spent the great majority of my adult life as a bachelor, and damn good one, I have done very little Christmas shopping over the past thirty-five years. The main reason for that is that I was always working somewhere far from my family. I never had enough time off to make a trip back home anywhere near feasible. So, I had no reason to do much Christmas shopping. Back then, nobody owned a computer, so online shopping was nonexistent. Now that online shopping is so easy and convenient, I'd rather do that than go all over town looking for the latest money wasting toy that one or both of my little girls must have or they will be cast asunder by their friends and classmates.

 Before I go on any further, I gotta say up front that I HATE SHOPPING! I am a guy. If I need to go shopping for anything, I make a list, go in the store, grab the items on the list, pay and leave. I like it that way. My wife, on the other hand, is not quite that shopping-efficient. Over the last four and a half years that I have lived in Maine, I have tried every method known to mankind and a few others not yet made up, to get Heather to be a little more organized about shopping. I am an abject failure at trying to do so. I don't easily admit defeat, but I have given up on trying to make an efficient shopper out of my wife. I'd have better luck trying dig another Panama Canal with a teaspoon. Therefore, here I sit a defeated man.

I don't want to give you the wrong impression, I really do like Christmas a lot. Especially since I have two daughters young enough to enjoy all the guessing games, shaking the presents under the tree to see if they can "see" what's in the box and, of course, getting woke up at 4:00AM, preparing to stumble down the stairs to see what treasures Santa has delivered. I KNOW what Santa delivered(!) I have the register receipts to prove it! But, for the sake of my children, every Christmas Day, I wake up when they come into mine and Heather's bedroom sounding every bit like the Grambling Marching Band as they burst through the bedroom door. I love my kids and I would do anything I could to make them happy, so I jump out of bed, as best an arthritic middle aged man can do, and go downstairs to see all the Christmas goodies I am all too familiar with. There is one more major reason I have learned to be more actively involved with Christmas shopping. If I don't go when I am told to go, I will no longer be one with my gazebos. Heather promised me that. And after fifty-four years together, my gazebos and I have grown to be quite happy with the gazebo status quo.


Having said all that, I wish just once, that my gazebos and I could sleep in on Christmas Morning without the threat of a gazebo-ectomy looming large. Until then, I stand a conquered man, gazebos thankfully intact.

Maine Minutiae: Vet Makes Christmas Merry for Soldiers

Christmas Across the State***

I have mentioned that when it comes to serving in or showing support of the United States Military, Mainers are second to none. Literally. Per capita, Maine has the highest percentage of active and retired veterans of all fifty states in the Union. I know that to be true because I have substantiated it before, I just can't remember where. So you gotta trust me on this one. Most of the people I know in Maine are members of Heather's family and off the top of my head, I can name seven men that have served or are serving as I type this, and that's just a small part of her family. I know that's a bit anecdotal, but it also is representative of the larger group,the total population of the state.

Your average enlisted man/woman in the military is not exactly raking in the dough. Sure, they get some good benefits, but many of our bravest also have families to take care of. In a trying economy, like we are currently experiencing, it's all the more difficult to make ends meet for service members.

There is an organization here in Augusta that is a beacon of hope for military personnel during the Christmas season. I discovered an article in the Lewiston-Auburn area newspaper the Sun Journal that tells the story of Christmas Across the State and the man behind it, Kerry Birmingham, himself a Viet Nam Vet.
 
Daniel Hartill, a Staff Writer for the Sun Journal, gets the props for a job well done for bringing Christmas Across the State to the attention of the masses. Sun Journal.

Isn't that article a perfect example of selflessness, patriotism and a damn fine man? Daniel, again I thank you for your work in bringing this to the fore, and to Mr.Birmingham, I salute you, Sir, for your service to our country and for your continuing efforts to make sure our Bravest and Finest young people are looked after during the Christmas Holiday. God bless you and may God continue to bless the United States of America.

***Photo shamelessly swiped from the Sun Journal ***

Texas Tidbits: The Trykoskis and the Square Lighting It Up!

Quick Note: Thank all of you who stopped by the place yesterday and took the time to read the birthday tribute to my wife, Heather. She was in wow of have many of you visited . Thank you all.  :)

Trykoski  Manor***

Today it's back to traveling around Texas in search of extraordinary Christmas light displays. We don't have to go too far from the D/FW Metroplex to find one of the best Christmas light displays in Texas. It's located in Frisco at the home of  Jeff and Bridgette Trykoski on Bryson Drive. Synchronized to computer-controlled music, the Trykoskis have 0ver 85,000 Christmas lights that dance and flash in rhythm to the tunes. You can listen to the music from the display on their low-powered FM radio station, 99.9FM. Besides the lights and music working in tandem, I think the low powered radio station is one of the coolest things since sliced bread. If it's too cold to get out of your car, you can simply tune in to 99.9FM and enjoy the show right there in your own ride! Ain't technology great? I'm making an educated guess here, but I bet the Trykoskis had a helluva time getting the OK from the FCC to run their low powered radio station for the light display.

We have covered several Christmas light displays from around the country, and the Trykoskis have an added a unique touch to theirs that is in keeping with the spirit of the Yuletide Season. They ask that if you visit their display, please leave a canned good in a big receptacle right next to their mail box.  They do not accept cash donations, so a few canned goods would be a big help to the needy in North Texas. All the food donations got to the Frisco Food Bank/Frisco Family Services Center. That's a damn good idea. Nice work, Trykoskis!

When you are visiting the Trykoskis in Frisco, be sure to drive through the town square in Frisco to see the fantastic light display there. It is absolutely outsatnding! How about a preview?

I know a lot of my long-time friends live in or near Frisco, so what do ya say? A canned good donation at the Trykoski's place and a trip around the square in Frisco would make for a nice evening ride, don't you think? I knew you'd see it my way.  :)


***The Trykoskis' Website***

Heather's Birthday!

You say it's your birthday....

Today is a special day in our home. It's my wife's 35th birthday! I have written on several occasions about what a great wife and mother Heather is. See here and here, for starters. Whatever I did to deserve such a wonderful woman, I don't know, but I want to do it some more because it worked out real good. Heather and I had a long distance relationship for about 18 months until one day I was on my way to Texas and God must have spoken to me, because out the blue I went to Denver and grabbed a Greyhound headed East Bound  and Down. I was on that damn bus for 3 days and had to lay over for 13 hours at the Boston Bus Station waiting for the next ride to Maine. I got here in Augusta May 13, 2006 and have never looked back. Easily, this was one of the best decisions I ever made. Thanks, Lord, there.

Heather's strength is what holds our family together. Besides being a mommy and wife, she is a nurse, a counselor, a mediator, a friend, a maid and chief cook and bottle washer amongst any number of other things that slip my mind at the moment. Best of all, she is ours. I know that if she were not in my life, I would be a lost soul. Simply by being there for me, she changed my life completely.

I know that until the Good Lord calls me home, I will get to spend every day with the woman I adore, if she can put up with me.  :)  Heather, thank you for filling the void in my life that I thought would stay with me forever. Thank you for believing in me when sometimes there ain't a helluva lot to believe in. Thank you for the gift of your unwavering love and support no matter the circumstance. Thank you for being my soft place to fall. Thank you for my two beautiful little girls. Thank you for you. I love you.

Happy birthday!