Peanut, a 7 month old terrier mix, wants a home with lots of laps to curl up in, please. A bubbling personality, great with people, dogs and cats – what more could you want? Come see her and all the other animals at the Port Lavaca Animal Shelter, 201 Stringham Drive (across from the rodeo arena), Monday through Saturday, 10 to 2, or call the Calhoun County Humane Society, 553-8916. You can also view her and other animals ready for adoption on line at :
www.calhouncountyhumanesociety.org
Thanks and we’ll be waiting for you!

Well here it is December and that means Christmas. This year , even though, we are way down South it also means pretty cold. It is probably colder and messier up North but it still at least takes a jacket here.  December is also the end of the old year and the beginning of the new.

It seems providential that Christmas with  the promises that it implies happened at this time of year. The winter solstice and Mother Nature brings about a big change as she starts the Sun on its Northward journey. This is the big calendar change from one year to the next. One begins to wonder how many changes have come to the calendar?  As religions and cultures change over the centuries ,calendars are adjusted to vary around the things that are important to those differences. That adds up to at least thirty-three different now. However, those can be categorized into three main groups.

The first is Solar. That is the one we mostly use in our civil works currently. The second is Lunar. That is fairly common in the older societies.  And the last is a combination called Luni-Solar.  This one is where the calendar designers use some formulas and other tricks to combine the differences between Solar and Lunar.

The simple fact is that for one to be sensible to us folks we have to do something to make things come out into something integers rather than fractions. Mother Nature doesn’t mind fractions near as much as we do.  We have come to say that a year is 365 days except for Leap year. That fellow has some complex rules for when it happens.  If you use a day as a 24 hour period the actual Mean Solar year is 365 days, five hours,48 minutes ,45.2 seconds.

We simplify that to add a leap day every 4 years.  But things can get messed up because in decimal talk it is 365.242 days, not .25. So every 100 years or so we have to make another adjustment and skip a leap year. They skipped one in 1900 but didn’t in 2000.

Then when you change to lunar years it gets a little fuzzier. A lunar cycle or month is 29.53 days. When you put 12 of those together to make a standard year there are only 353  days.  Using that figure a lunar year is 97% as long as a solar year. On that basis if you count from the same point instead of 2013 it would be 1953. I like that thought because I would be back in high school and have many less aches and pains.

But we have even more problems because the earth really rotates once every 23 hours 53 minutes and 4.1 seconds.  It is just too fuzzy for me.  I really believe that the world would be simpler if Mother Nature had made all those revolutions a little neater. We will just leave the detailed adjustments to the calendar guys.

The December 3, 2013 meeting of the Bunco Group was held with a number of players all quite interested in celebrating the start of the Christmas Season. This meeting meant a no-host dinner composed of various covered dishes for all to enjoy. And following the sampling of all dishes by this energetic group, they all drew numbers to distribute their gifts. Play for a very short time then got underway somewhat lazily as all players were still enjoying their dinner. Next meeting will be January 7, 2014. And if you decide you want to participate in this funloving activity, contact Shirley Gordon at the Library for further information.

BRRRR! I guess Winter is here, even unofficially, when we get mornings of 35+/-! I know it’s more than a little chilly walking my little Schnauzer, especially when I head into the North wind! Granted, we’ve been forecast a chilly Winter by the Farmer’s Almanac, just wish the sun would come out too! But that really doesn’t stop those bundled-up fishermen! And if you want to see what the winds do here, check out the attached picture of the Santas by Cotton’s place.

Our local chapter of the LIONS CLUB organization, though currently small locally, has a lot on its upcoming schedule including the Second Annual Arts & Crafts Festival on Saturday, March 8, 2014. Contact the President, Joyce Jordan, 655-7999, for further information concerning that event. And if you think you’d like more information concerning this active group, the first meeting of the New Year will be Wednesday afternoon, on January 8th at 4:00 p.m. in our Bank.

If you enjoyed listening to our School children singing at the Sr. Luncheon on the 6th of December, they performed again on Friday, the 10th at our local Bank, and once again, at the annual Christmas Program as staged by the Elementary School on Tuesday, December 17th prior to Christmas Vacation. Do hope you had the opportunity to be there and hear these excited singers as coached by Diane and Jim Cooley, wonderful residents who have taken over the musical training of these kids. The responses from these kids are phenomenal, and they enjoy as do you their performance.

Why is it that there are so many people who seem to be suffering from lack of confidence or personal insecurity complexes that they must raise their voices to denigrate so many others? Sadly, this is not just a local problem, although it has become very apparent within the last few days, but a global problem as well. For those who have this lack of confidence, they must exert themselves into a position of control and power, and heaven help so many others. Often you find this in a store where someone blocks the way on an aisle and refuses to move; this is their power over you. What is even more sad is that this push for control is coming at the most glorious season of the year, our Christmas Holidays.

I welcome any correspondence from any organization re their happenings or information to add to this column. Also welcome any remarks from our readers, good or otherwise.

kubeckasue@yahoo.com
361 798-0560

Christmas season is always a very busy time at the church, as well as in the home. There is shopping for gifts, baking for company and parties, sending out Christmas cards and the usual duties around the home and the church. I really wonder if we stop and realize what Christmas is? Do we really act and push ourselves to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? After all, it is His birthday. The appropriate thing to do is, on Jesus’ birthday, at least have a family prayer around the tree and thank Jesus for His birthday and to bless you and your family this coming year.

The church enjoyed a very fun time last Sunday evening at the annual Church Christmas Party. The church enjoyed a beautifully decorated fellowship hall. And a “feast fit for a king”!! All of the food was prepared and donated by Grady Jean Clark as the Clark’s gift to the church. Grady Jean, in turn, dedicated the entire affair to the Church Hospitality Committee, which she chairs. There was delicious foods and many cakes, pies and candies. Everyone was filled with food and then the party began.

Everyone brought a gift wrapped in a grand Christmas style and Debbie Michalek had all who brought a gift to draw a number. When your number was called, you choose any gift around the Christmas table. You had to open the gift and show it to everyone. (Because when your number is called, you may choose to take their gift instead of picking an unwraped gift.) If you get a great gift, the odds are, someone will take it from you. A lot of laughs and a lot of strange gift exchanges, all in fun!

The Church Choir Christmas Music Presentation was this past Sunday morning, December 15. The Choir presented “The Story of Christmas” under the direction of Raymond Grant. The choir sang a total of twelve Christmas hymns, which were enjoyed by all.

The Church will be observing the Ordinance of “The Lord’s Supper” on Sunday morning, December 29, in the 11:00 am service.

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas this year and a healthy and Happy New Year!!

See you in church Sunday !!