Christmas snow gauges

Thankfully we're not Buffalo or Minneapolis or so many of the other cities that took such devastating hits from the storm that made its way across the country this week....but we did have a very, very cold, windy and snowy Christmas weekend.

All of these pictures were taken from indoors, through windows!

My bedroom bird feeder.

Right outside our rooms on the east side.

St. Francis and one of the inner courtyard's sculpted drifts.

That's the statue of Mary on the left.

The trash can of bird seed, the rubber maid container of garden tools

and the orange cones that look like little trees!

All the window screens on the west and north sides of the Mount were abstract designs.

 Well, the O Antiphons began this weekend, decorations are starting to be put up, the huge boxes that hold the large nativity scene for the community room have appeared, last minute Kris Kringle gifs are being bought. the handbell choir and the community schola have settled on their songs for the weekend liturgies---the week of Christmas has begun.

This weekend brought our second snowstorm with a hoped-for white Christmas now in sight. I see on our guest list that a few overnight guests will be with us for Christmas--do join us yourself for the liturgies if you're in the area.

May the peace, joy and happiness of the seasons (the last day of Hanukkah is the 25th) be with you and yours.   

Christmas concerts

After a two year hiatus because of the COVID virus and the reluctance to be in large crowds, the North East Choral group brought back its annual Christmas concert this weekend and it was as special and finely done as I remember it the last time.

In addition to some sacred and regular holiday fare, they sang a song that I had never heard of "The Twelve Days After Christmas" a funny and very clever story of what happened to the twelve daily gifts once Christmas was over! There are versions on youtube and other sites, but here's one where I think the words are the most clear. You'll enjoy it, I'm sure.

Click here to listen to "The Twelve Days after Christmas." 

Sunday afternoon

Sunday afternoon, by an uncommon quirk in the schedule, found us "free" to catch three of our favorite winter sports teams on TV or streaming online. The Pittsburgh Steelers were playing the Atlanta Falcons and since Pittsburgh is led by a young rookie quarterback, along with other rookies in the starting line ups, they are struggling with growing pains this year. However, this Sunday afternoon everything worked out and lo and behold they played beautifully and won! Oh, how I wish Sr. Jerome were still with us...she loved Pittsburgh, wore clothing with their logo sent to her by her nephews and nieces, and just plain enjoyed  being part of the "terrible towel" gang.

Then, we caught most of the Philadelphia Eagles game. They won, too, much to the delight of the half dozen sisters who grew up in the Philadelphia area. They are having a fantastic season, with the best record in the NFL right now. Fly, Eagles, Fly!

Finally, we watched the Notre Dame women's basketball game. This year the major TV channels have started to carry the college women's bball games, the most competitive games between the best teams, of course. This one was a classic between ND and UConn, two teams that have been in the thick of the national scene for a couple decades. We got hooked on ND's team because an Erie gal played for Notre Dame in the early 2000s and now is with the WNBA Minnesota Lynx. On this day, ND beat UConn, who had dominated their games for the last few years. Go Irish! We should see both teams in March Madness for sure.