It ain't over til it's over

One of the great things about living here in the Wyoming Valley is that Christmas lasts a long time. Folks here love to decorate their houses with lights and put them up even before Thanksgiving. (They just take down the Halloween ones and replace them with Christmas.) And many of the lights are still up. Our neighbor's are all blue. They're new this year. The first time they lit them up, I felt like I was having a UFO experience.

Yesterday was Epiphany which is the day that many Orthodox Christians have their Christmas. And there are tons of Orthodox Churches of every type around here. So they're still celebrating. And check this video of the wildest Nativity scene in America. My cousin found it online. It's in Plymouth where my dad was born and is evidently still running today. I just found out about it yesterday and couldn't go since I had a rehearsal. I'm not sure whether Michael and I will go tonight. I'm afraid I might have a seizure from sensory overload.

So no worries that my tree is still up. Or that the wreath is still on the door. One of my  lovely daughters told me the other day that Christmas was magic at our house when she was growing up. That was the most inspiring compliment I've received in a long time. I cannot take all the credit. Some of the magic came from Michael and his family traditions. Michael's best man contributed the recipe for anise biscotti. It's a family recipe and he asked us never to give it out. But we didn't make them every year. A recipe that takes more than ten cups of flour is a hassle. But these cookies in the photo look very much like them. This is a picture of an Italian bakery in the Reading Station Market in downtown Philly.

So if you need a little Christmas, come on down. We're not done here yet. And we're still doing Christmas music at church on Sunday because my soprano finally came back after being out of town for the past three Sundays. If you're Grinchy or Scroogy, I'd avoid Wilkes-Barre for at least a couple more weeks.