AAA Newsletter of things to do in SJ for Christmas

In case you aren't a member of AAA automotive organization, here are some things from their bulletin that you can do to celebrate the season: WinterFest Ice Sckating at Cooper River North Park Drive on the right or East side over the bridge.

Dec. 16 Merchantville Holiday Party 6:00 pm to 8 pm, Downtown Merchantville, food and crafts along the way.

Drive through Light Show at Diggerland, 100 Pinedge Drive, West Berlin, Wed. through Sunday until Jan. 1st 2023, $35 per car

Drive through Creamy Acres Winter Wonderland with Christmas Musicd, warm up at fire pit and get snacks from food trucks #30 per car 448 Lincoln Mill Road, Mullica Hill through Friday, Dec. 31st

The other events on the list are already over. This Friday, Woodbury Meeting Members will gather to sing carols, decorate the tree and eat Pizza and then Christmas cookies for dessert.

My Christmas tree is up and decorated as is the bannister (with garand and lights and stockings) in my living room, and my outdoor lights are almost finished as soon as my Landscape guy comes back to hook up the last extension cord. Somehow between last Christmas and this one, I lost two of my extension cords in my shed. Truth be told, my shed is not as tidy or organized as it used to be or that it should be, or the Elves may have been at it - who knows? Anyhow, today they should be finished as well.

This time of year always evokes sentimental trips down memory lane and when I drove over to Carr's Hardware Store on Broadway in Gloucester City where I go for EVERYTHING hardware or yard, I couldn't help thinking of my old teaching days in Gloucester City, when the kids came in with jingle bell bracelets and ankle bracelets and Santa hats and the halls were filled with their anticipatory energy at old M.E.C (Mary Ethel Costello School). The teachers all outdid one another with decorated Christmas sweaters and all the classrooms were filled with Christmas projects. In my Art Room we made stained glass window ornaments with black construction paper and colored cellophane which decorated our windows. Also, outside the Art Room was a display of pets' photos for our food drive for local animal shelters which was run by me and a colleague, Dr. Jacky Brady. I collected and she delivered. It was a fun time. Poinsettia were on the desks of teachers and the main office, and our classroom doors were decorated with Christmas lights. We all looked forward to the long winter break.

I also miss the family I used to be able to visit in the old days when I was a child and my parents would take me and my brother (the one closest in age, Joe), to visit the grandmothers and uncles and aunts. They are all gone (not my brother - he will by up from W.Va. for Christmas). On my bureau is a doll I have had with me through all those years. She is almost as old as I am and was given to me for Christmas, by my beloved Godfather Neal Schmidt, also long gone.

It isn't good to look back too much however, best to keep your eyes forward as in driving. Enjoy where we are and live i the moment and let the past stay where it is, in the past. Inevitably, when you look too hard at those old memories, the hardships come up as well, the struggles with money in the early days, trying to juggle Christmas preparations with full time work and housekeeping - all that! But, now I am old and retired and I can snuggle more easily into the season and contemplate the deeper meaning, to me, of this holiday, which is the Passage of Time and the celebration of the season and survival and all the other living things, the things that remain green in the depth of winter's sleep. The part of the Christmas season that is older than the Christian aspect.

For me, the decorated tree, the trappings, the warmth and comfort of having survived long enough to retire with the companionship of my animal friends, these are the real holiday treats these days. But it is good to get out and about and share the seasonal celebration with others!

Happy trails, through the snow, the leaves, the Christmas Lights! Jo Ann and if you wish to contact me please use my e-mail - comments funtion has been poisoned by spam. Merry Christmas be well, be safe and be happy!

wrightj45@yahoo.com ,