Poinsettias, Sleds, Safety, and Sing Alongs Blogmas Day 5

 

Picture taken pre Christmas Tree.

     It  was quite a week after  my part of the world slowed down a bit for four days last weekend, but fired up all engines on Monday. I see though more and more festive touches as  more lights are out when our walk is delayed and I have to go after 5:00. The other night I got more lights and not the kind anyone wants when four fire trucks were outside a house across the park and on the other side of the street. I did not see any damage the next day nor could I smell smoke. Even the neighborhood  town criers on our local neighborhood Next Door site didn't clue me in on what happened, but I was very relieved to see the issue seemed to have been resolved. In our town, the fire department puts out a lighted wreath with all with all white bulbs. They replace a white bulb with a red one whenever there is a fire-the goal is to keep the wreath white. Here's a little reminder from our fire chief (who used to be DS and DD1's Karate instructor-got to love small towns).

".... fire department has again placed a large wreath on the fire station with all white lights; the wreath will stay in place from Thanksgiving to Jan. 1. For every preventable structure fire, within the response area of the Fire Department, a white bulb will be replaced by a red bulb; our goal is to have all white lights remaining on the wreath at the end of the holiday season.

During the holiday season it is important to remember some simple safety precautions we can take to keep our families and homes safe. Cooking continues to be one of the top causes for fires in the home; please remember to never leave cooking unattended and never store combustibles on or in your stove. Holiday lights, and the many extension cords and multi-plugs which go along with them, should be inspected for frayed and damaged wires; exposed wires can cause fires and injury to anyone handling or coming in contact with them. Candles should be placed in an appropriate container to keep them secure. Place candles away from things which can catch fire; never leave candles unattended. Christmas trees should be cut before securing in a stand and keep them freshly watered to avoid drying out. Place Christmas trees at least three feet away from any heat source including candles, fireplaces, heaters, and always unplug lights prior to leaving the home and before sleeping.

These are just a few safety reminders to help our community keep the wreath white this year and make this holiday season safe for you and your families."

 

     The picture on the top of the page is the poinsettia that my mother-in-law brought on Thanksgiving. It is a cheery little plant, but must stay away, leaves and all, from pup. He is very fascinated with leaves-has to shuffle through them on walks, and will sniff, lick, and even sometimes sampel a bite. Poinsettias though are highly toxic, so if it dries, I need to make sure none of the leaves fall. I have no clue why the enjoys leaves so much, but he goes out of his way to walk through clusters of them. With no snow right now, the October version having long melted, he's getting extra crunches.

     Earlier in the week when I launched blogmas, one of my favorite readers, JoAnn, shared that a son of her friend refurbished a classic sled for her. She wished she could share a picture in comments, but sent them to me via email so I could share on her behalf. Isn't it gorgeous! I am picturing her children wearing snow pants and ear muffs, and finding the steepest hill they can find and whizzing down it old school style. Thanks so much for sharing JoAnn!

     Finally, I want to share our Thursday work lunch buddy meet up. Despite not being able to get together in person, we wanted to offer a little fellowship time, voluntary participation, each week leading up to to the new year. One of my colleagues is a music therapist, but also a earning musician on the side. for our first festive cheer event, he led us in a sing along via Microsoft Teams. Yes, there was a time delay, and yes it was chaotic, and at times vocals were down right atrocious, but it was also really fun as several folks with school age or young kids had their kids join along. Our new mom with a 6 month old baby had her just giggling dancing around with her. You have to take cheer where you can get it and this was a highlight of the week. Folks were feeling particularly down as it would have been the day we hold our annual lottery/breakfast gathering, all proceeds going to Second Harvest Heartland, an organization that does tremendous things in the twin cities to battle food insecurity. All the items for the lottery and food for the breakfast (suggested $3 donation) are all provided by our staff. Literally thousands were raised and donated from this one event.

     I hope you had a festive start to the first week of December. We've got the usual household stuff to do, and will finish what I intend for decorations. We'll take in holiday lights tonight as well as hopefully play a board game and have some cocktails. Happy Blogmas Saturday!