Book Group report 2011 Dec texts of seasonal readings

Here, to help make your holiday season merrier, are the texts from what turned out to be our Silly Seasonal Readings at Anne's apartment on Friday, December 9th, as well as the less frivolous texts. PeggyF told us that her husband wondered why she was going to spend her afternoon listening to friends read, and suggested she should go to the library instead. It was a truly lovely afternoon, and I was glad to see that at least some people are aware that reading is not an obligation at these annual meetings. Just come and enjoy, but now you'll have to wait until next December.

Denise read an excerpt from The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, which is the book we will discuss on January 13th.

Katharine J read two funny Christmas poems which she found on the internet, "A Christmas Tale" and "Grandma Got Run over by a Reindeer," which is a song that you can listen to on the internet.

Leslie read two excerpts from the gospels of St.Luke, from the J.B.Philipps version of the New Testament in Modern English (Revised Edition).

Chris read "All I Need to Know about Life I Learned from a Snowman," to which text Leslie added "Keep cool."

Julie told us that the Hannukah celebrations last for 8 days and nights. This year Hanukkah will start on December 20th. It is the festival of lights. Julie explained, in answer to questions, that each night the center candle, or "janitor," in the Menorah is lit, and then lights another candle, so that by the eighth night all 9 candles are burning. This ceremony is a reminder of the siege of the temple in Jerusalem, when the Jews had only enough oil to light the lamps for one night. They prayed, and the oil miraculously lasted for 8 nights, by which time the enemy gave up and went away, believing that those under siege would never surrender since they still had plenty of oil. The four Hebrew letters in the word Hanukkah mean "a great miracle happened here." Julie sang us a few verses of "The Hanukkah Song," by Adam Sandler (the video link to hear Sandler sing the full version of his song is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDV_reO930A ). She then taught us another song, "Chanukkah, Oh Chanukkah," which we all sang. For our efforts, we were rewarded with little gifts, as part of the Hanukkah tradition. Julie would like us to remember to sing our new song at Hanukkah, this year at least.

Rosie and Terri read an excerpt from the chapter "Christmas Dinner," from the book Leaving Home, by Garrison Keillor. Rosie mentioned that she has tapes of Garrison Keillor, and she even confided that she sleeps with him. She feels that he has been keeping radio alive in the U.S.

Jan read an almost classic poem, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," by Robert Frost, and the perhaps less well-known free-verse "little tree," by e.e.cummings. She called our attention to the fact that Frost and Cummings were contemporaries, although Frost was born twenty years before Cummings, and was thus much older when he wrote "Stopping by Woods..." in 1922. "little tree" was first published in 1920. Cummings died in 1962; Frost died in 1963.

Laurence read two opposing versions of New Year's wishes, which she called "Dead End" and "New Age." The text is Lost Generation by Jonathan Reed. The video on the internet is interesting in that the pessimistic text appears on a sort of wheel that spins, and then reverses back with the optimistic version.

Anne again read a couple of chapters from The Frozen Thames, by Canadian author Helen Humphreys, noting that the book is only available in Canada, but perhaps LeBookshop could order it. This year's selections were 1691 and 1695, reports of a mother and her son.

Maggie read a list of reindeer facts, gleaned from the internet, but Julie remarked that the facts did not include how fast they fly, and PeggyR asked at what age they start to pull a sleigh. Maggie reminded everyone not to forget the reindeer when setting out a snack for Santa on Christmas Eve. Rolled oats and some red and green sugar sprinkles mixed together make a wonderful treat for the reindeer. The mixture, sprinkled on the lawn, will sparkle in the moonlight and attract Santa's team. She also read the poem "Eight Little Reindeer" and a reindeer riddle, and then performed the Reindeer Hokey Pokey.

The entire group sang "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" before gravitating to the well-laden cakes table and singing "Happy Birthday" to Anne.

Thanks once again to our birthday lady, Anne, for permitting us to continue this annual tradition, which gets merrier each year.

27 Jan.2012