Christmas Boat Parade

Are we all in the Christmas spirit yet?  This time of year provokes so many emotions on so many different levels; it’s hard to sort them out sometimes.  I start to miss family and friends I haven’t seen in what seems like forever.  I sit in quiet moments reflecting on Christmas Seasons past. 

I remember my mother, as I was growing up, always trying to provide us with a Christmas to remember for a lifetime.  She liked to get the tree up as early as possible and always tried to find something new to add to the decorations.  We would have holiday music on the stereo as we came home from school each day.  There was the planning of shopping excursions, lists being made, and something special always seemed to magically come out of the oven as we arrived.

I try and capture at least a little bit of that same feeling each year.  Time just seems to move faster as I grow older, though.  There doesn’t seem to be as many days now between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day as there used to be.  Did someone take some of those days off the calendar or did the world start turning faster? 

My mother was the type of person that liked to sing when she was happy in the kitchen.  Not by herself, but along with the radio when an old favorite would start to play.  As I got better on the guitar each year, I would pull out the Christmas sheet music and play while she puttered around singing to the tune I was playing.

Mother has been gone many years now, but every year I pull out the Christmas sheet music sometime around Thanksgiving and start practicing the old songs again.  This year has been no different.  It makes no matter that I am usually alone when I play the favored songs.  In my mind I am surrounded by family and good friends as we mangle our way through verse and note.  I still think about you Mom, and I still play our favorite songs.  God Bless You!

Christmas season on the waterfront is kicked off each year with a boat parade.  The boats are decorated like Christmas trees and, on the designated night, they motor by the viewing area in single file as each boat is judged for Most Creative, Best Overall Theme, Best Use of Lights, etc, etc… 

This was the first year our facility hosted the Thunderbolt Boat Parade, not to be confused with the Savannah Parade of Lights that was held the week before on the Savannah River.  This Parade is held yearly on the Wilmington River and meanders through the waterfront community of Thunderbolt and the surrounding area.  We really had a blast and will probably be hosting the event now for years to come.  I am not very experienced at using my camera in total darkness, so many of my shots did not come out at all and most are rather dim, but I put this collage together to give you the flavor or the event.

This next shot is one I took that afternoon because I did not think this little boat would show up very well in the darkness.  It does put a festive look to the little craft though, don’t you think?

Some of you asked about the crafts that Paulette created that were mentioned in my last post.  Her main endeavor this year has been with scented crystals.  It’s her thing, though and I am just on standby as chief gofer and bottle washer.  If she has any degree of success, you may hear more about this next year.

I’d like to end this on a lighter note and, in my attempt to get you into the Christmas spirit, I may just send you into a fit of laughter.  Let me just say now that I am not a professional singer.  This song I offer up as one of my favorite songs I used to sing with Mom in the kitchen chiming in.  Sister Jan and Cousin Lynn, if you are reading this and listening, I hope it evokes the same good memories for you as well.  Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas, J-land; I will be posting again before Christmas.  See you all then.