Christmas Night Is Here.... And Gone

My Hawthorn Tree, on which I put strings of Christmas lights (when they are working) and some ornaments every Christmas. This year, it's my 'Christmas Tree'.

I normally do not post things that are personal here on my blog, as I like to try to keep it light-hearted, as well as possibly informative, not just about the radio hobby, but about life in general. There is enough rancour in the world, and I don't really care to add to that.

It's one reason I veer away from general news and politics in my articles here -- as a student of History, my perspective on national and world affairs is probably a little different than a lot of people's, and as a guy who no longer votes, in any election, the political process means nothing to me anymore. It's refreshing, actually. 

I think George Carlin was onto something.

My two Christmas Candles, Christmas Night. I managed to find some scented tea lights to put in them. Some of the tall, glass 'votive' style candles can be re-used in this fashion. When the original candle inside is gone, you can drop in a tea light or small votive candle, and they usually last at least a couple hours. It's a money saving trick I learned during the 2009-2014 recession.

All that said, this year 2021 has been a toughie. My mother, who I had to take care of daily (and sometimes hourly) for well over a year (approx. 2018-2020), died suddenly and unexpectedly on November 17th. She was in a nursing home for almost a year, because I simply could not give her the proper care anymore. I was also totally exhausted, and it was starting to take a toll on my own health.

Also, earlier this year, my best friend Sheryl, a former girlfriend with whom I still kept in contact, also died suddenly at the end of June, during our short heat wave of 108F weather. Sheryl and I were going to get together for a movie and some snacks on the 4th of July, and I learned from her family on July 1st that she had died. It was all completely unexpected.

It was a shock.

Earlier, at start of August, Mom's dog died here of old age. And I almost lost a cat late in August, but I was able to nurse her back to health, thank God.

So, here come the holidays. Awesome time to celebrate stuff, right? Not really.

As far as I'm personally concerned, 2021 can go piss off.

My collection of Gingerbread men, that I put on my fireplace mantle every year. Gingerbread Men are cool. They're always happy. The one wearing the chef's hat, on the left, is my newest one. The one on the right I got at the Dollar store, probably in 2008, 2009 or 2010.

So here comes Christmas, and all of the memories of some Christmases past. I recall one Christmas being OK on 2014, I think it's because I had written a kids', illustrated Christmas book that never sold, but a thoughtful and considerate overseas friend read it to her young niece and nephew, and she told me about it. She said they loved the story, and the pictures. That actually felt really good. I put a lot of work into that kids' book. It's called Woody The Woodchuck Saves Christmas! It has sold 3 copies on Amazon in 7 years. A bestseller!

This is how I look in an Elf Hat. Elf hats are kind of cool, because the bell ringing when you're walking around sort of puts you in some semblance of the Christmas Spirit. Has to.

In 2008 or 2009 I actually had a decent Christmas. I was wearing an elf hat and trying to fix my girlfriend's son's new game that he'd gotten at a thrift store. There is a photo of that somewhere.

Before that, the closest thing to a good Christmas was in 1985 I think. First love and all that seems to help make those memories... And then, before that, one would have to go back to 1982, and earlier (minus a couple years where my parents weren't getting along), there were a few good ones, because it was family, and Dad was still alive. We generally had good Christmases. When the folks determined my discovery about the truth of Santa Claus, I decided to also play Santa Claus. To keep that tradition alive, in some way. I mean, it made it fun.

Holidays are supposed to be meaningful and fun, right? 

There are many people who dread the holidays. I can totally relate.

Which brings us to Christmas, 2021. I didn't decorate much. Living alone with my cats, there really wasn't much point. I did not put up my tree for the first time since I bought it new, at Walgreens in Renton, on December 22nd or 23rd, 2004. 

I didn't put up nativity sets, or any of that. I did manage to find a couple strings of lights that still work, and put them on my hawthorn tree outside, and add my ornaments.

Christmas Eve I slept part of the day, and when I awoke, it was night. So I grabbed a radio, to DX the MW/AM band and see what was out there. There was a lot of Christmas music, naturally. Even KGO San Francisco was playing a lot of Christmas music. Previous nights I tuned to 1270 khz and heard a bunch of stations, all competing: KVMI Tulare, California playing Christmas music, and Reno's KBZZ playing Classic Rock (they've just flipped to that format from Sports). Mixing in with those stations was KAJO, Grants Pass, Oregon, with Classic Hits and local spots, along with all-talk KEDO, Longview, WA, which has switched channels with KBAM, a long-time country station from that part of my state -- which was on 1270 and now is on 1400. 

As you can tell, it was quite a lively music and talk mix! That's one thing that's interesting about the AM band at night, even on one channel, you can get a lot of variety.

My Sony SRF-59, which still works off of its nine year-old battery, in its 'holder'. The SRF-59 still works. The Arginine supplement bottle came in handy as 'holder' for the radio, so it could be set next to a loop antenna. I just used a thick cutter to cut the bottle's top off. 

The back of my Sony SRF-59 with the first battery I used, a Sunbeam AAA I got at the local Dollar store. The battery is about nine years old. Some of these portable, analog tuned radios are very good on batteries. The SRF-59 is one of those models.

It was pretty cool. I then saw my Sony SRF-59, sitting in its homemade 'case', on the bed's headpiece, and switched it on, and DXed a little, using the crate loop I have on my nightstand near my bed. Now, the Sony SRF-59 is a little wonder radio for MW DXers. They unfortunately no longer make them, but SRF-59's are good performers and excellent emergency radios. I got my SRF-59 at a local box store in early 2012, for $15. It still works off the original battery I put in it.

Did I say an SRF-59 is perfect for disasters and other occasions when there is NO POWER? Yep. I just said it.

Obviously, I haven't DXed a ton with the radio -- as it still works on its original battery -- though I did log a bunch of stations on it in 2012, 2013, and did some DXing with it probably in 2014.

But it was a bit of fun tuning around during Christmas Eve on something I've had for a long time.

My Penncrest 1993, AM-FM-SW -- I heard South Africa and Australia on this radio, and did a lot of DXing with it over the early years -- and when I was a teen we'd go camping in Eastern Oregon and I first heard Wolfman Jack on this radio. It still works -- even the dial light is still working on it. The radio works on 4 C-Cells.

GHOSTS OF CHRISTMASES PAST

Then I grabbed my old Penncrest AM-FM-SW multibander, Model 1993. The radio was a gift from my great aunt on Christmas Eve, 1967 I think. Penncrest was a brand name for Japanese-made electronics sold by J.C. Penney's, a large US department store. The radio itself may have been made by Toshiba or some other Japanese manufacturer at that time.

The radio still works, and actually, it works rather well. In 2011 I took the back off, lubed the bandswitch, and overall checked it out to make sure nothing was broken. Then I put it back together and left it alone. I switch it on once every month or so, just to keep it working.

With a loop it will DX really well, and the sound through headphones is very pleasing. When I was a little kid, the radio used to pull in WSM 650 Nashville on a good night (without an external loop -- back then I didn't even know what an external loop was!). It would pull in WWL 870 from New Orleans on rare occasions, too. It doesn't have a TRF circuit (which boosts signals on an AM radio), but it has a hefty ferrite loopstick antenna inside, which definitely helps. And its sound is really pleasant.

I used to use my Penncrest 1993 to listen to Shortwave every night and early morning on this radio, hooking it to an 80 ft outdoor wire. I used to hear Radio RSA from South Africa, Radio Nederland, HCJB, Radio Moscow, and most importantly I heard Radio Australia on it during 1-2 in the morning when they would play their hit music program, Countdown. That was a rush. I heard all these Oz bands that no one here in the US had heard of at the time -- AC/DC, Skyhooks, The Angels, Supernaut, Hush, Chariot, Red House, Sherbet, John Paul Young, Pussyfoots, and a host of other artists that were part of the Melbourne-based Oz music scene at the time.

I was musically influenced by most of those bands -- thanks to me finding Radio Australia on my little Penncrest 1993.

So I fired it up on Christmas Eve, and listened for a while. All the memories came back -- stations I'd heard, going over to my Grandma and Great-Aunt's place every Christmas Eve, Dad and Mom still being alive, my former GF Sheryl still being alive, all of that.

Then I turned off the radio for another day.

Two books I read during Christmas time. Every year I read Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. I used to watch the movie every year -- the 1999 'A Christmas Carol' featuring Patrick Stewart as Scrooge always gave a little extra meaning to the holiday. My former GF and I usually watched it every Christmas Eve. Now I merely read the book -- which is an easy enough read, and grittily realistic in its portrayal of life in Victorian England. It has a lot of heart in it.

When I got up earlier this evening I read a little book I probably got at Borders Books when it was still around, "The Little Book Of Christmas", and dug up my copy of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", which I either watch or read (or both) every Christmas Eve or after. It's my own tradition. I don't know why I do it, but I adhere to it I guess because it doesn't depend on other people being here.

Right now as I finish writing this, it's time for me to go on my nightly bike ride. I do it because at night it's quiet, and it's easy to reflect. It's quite pleasant to ride at night, and it's safe on the local Trail. We had a slight dusting of snow earlier, and it's 0C / 32F outside. My bike, luckily, is good in snow and freezing weather, as it is quite a stable ride.

Then I'll have to hunt up some pics to throw into this blog post and publish it. 

Here are a couple pics from the Fall, which I had once intended to put in here, but never got around to doing it.:

The Cedar River during a fairly bright Autumn. The biggest problem with this Autumn, and Winter so far, is the rain. Drip, drip, drip, drip. And it's cold rain -- 40 degree weather (4C). And it never stops. As this picture looks soggy, so has been the weather. :-)

My soggy Zebra-Kenko, purple, 10-speed bike. It's an amazingly stable ride. My mother used this bike to commute to work at Boeing for several years. I refurbished it around 2010 or 2011 (a little automotive wheel bearing grease works wonders) and it's my number two bike. As one can tell, it was raining. Terminally.

Halloween is my favorite holiday. And fortunately, it is one that City laws can't outlaw (like they did with the 4th of July), and even a pandemic can't destroy it. I only put out a few electric Jack O' Lanterns, and didn't carve any this year. My neighbors down the street carved three of them, and they did a good job, too. I had nine trick-or-treaters, including parents (that I always give candy to, should they want it).

I'm sorry if  this blog article is a bit reflective. But it's how I feel, and there is no point in lying about it. This time of year is a variable time for people. If you have love, family, financial ability, and all that goes with it, Christmas can be an awesome time of year.

For the rest of us? YMMV (your mileage may vary). I lit a couple candles in a safe place atop the refrigerator earlier tonight, when it still was officially Christmas Night. I had to hunt for tea lights to put in them. One candle is in a clear glass holder Sheryl gave me one Christmas years ago, the other one is a red Maria candle (Virgin Mary), that is colorful, as it shines up the night with a red glow. My cats seem to be OK with it. As I type this I am listening to an Irish Carol on KIXI 880 -- they are still playing Christmas music, as they usually do until around 5-6 a.m. on the 26th. Christmas Morning I heard the Nutcracker Suite on local KING-FM, a classical music station. They play a lot of Christmas Carols during the season.

This is an early 2012 pic of my grey cat Fluffy. She took ill from a virus during this past August, and I almost lost her. I couldn't take her to the vet, because of their corona restrictions. They were booked out for more than a week. Giving her frequent doses of freshly mixed, warm kitten formula and keeping her on a heating pad brought her back. It's one positive thing that happened this year.

Another pic of Fluffy when a kitten. She has the same expressive eyes now.

I will end this by saying I wish for everyone something decent out of every day. Sometimes, that is all we have. Your loved ones may diminish. Sometimes all you have is your pets, whatever hobbies you may have, and your memories. But at least that's something.

As I have said before, this infernal pandemic is socking it to us all, even if we don't think so. But humanity has survived pandemics -- probably numerous ones, over the 40,000 + years of our existence as modern humans on planet Earth. As H.G. Wells said in the book War Of The Worlds, man earned his or her reason to exist here, by getting through these challenges, as we are a human race of survivors.

We'll get through this. Stay strong as you can.

Peace. 

C.C., Christmas Night, 2021.