Nothing Like a Leiper's Fork Parade

It was a Leiper’s Fork Christmas Parade year with family. You know the kind of parade I’m talking about. It leads off with Rudolph and ends with Santa Claus in a sleigh as the climax to a very excited crowd of boys and girls who have waited to see him for what may seem like a year.

Well, everyone in these parts knows that the parade in Leiper’s Fork, a rural community in this county is a little offbeat if not qwerky. This year the actual parade was delayed a two weeks due to rain, but it was just as unusual as always. Maybe the additional two weeks just added to the emotional buildup. Thankfully, it was a beautiful day.

The first Christmas Parade I attended a month before the Leiper’s Fork parade included for me an Elvis sighting. It was unexpected and for me helped to make it memorable. Elvis sang “Blue Christmas.” The rest of the parade included marching bands, corrals of horses and many large floats. I don’t recall any goats, pigs, small donkeys, puppies or dogs. The parade in Leiper’s Fork had a menagerie (second dictionary meaning) for us.

Leading the parade in Leiper’s Fork, of course was a dancing Rudolph, and then there was Mike Wolfe from American Pickers on a vintage Harley with sidecar. Filling the middle of the parade were Farmall tractors, a replica of the General Lee, several antique Fords, Chevrolets and a Willies pickup truck. The parade also included a local Cub Scout pack, local high school cheerleaders, the Grinch who stole Christmas; children’s peddle cars, even a remote controlled model plane. At the end were Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus. As you can see, it was complete.

There was a lot of excitement in this year’s parade. There were many children and possibly a few adults who were ready for the big man. I can recall that when I was a young boy it was important for me to communicate with him. I suspect kids don’t really change. He needed my list if I was going to get what I wanted. The kids today need to see him too. Seeing him is somewhat comforting even though when I was a kid I was always a bit anxious about it. He was also kind of scary too. I bet the children lining the parade route were just as anxious.

Thinking about parades, I am about to conclude that nearly every parade has someone special to salute, someone we want to welcome or maybe even celebrate. We look forward to seeing them and honoring them. Parades are meant for military heroes, sports figures and teams, national leaders and talented celebrities. So it is with Santa Claus. With notice, we mark our calendars to see them and look forward with great anticipation to seeing them.

During the holidays you may also plan for and greatly anticipate attending musicals and concerts, neighborhood lightings, and other events. And too, most of us long for time with parents, children, grandchildren and other family members. I look forward to spending time with them each year. A Christmas parade kind of primes our anticipation for being with family.

My granddaughter, Analayne woke up early the other morning, got dressed, made her bed and then proceeded to her parent’s bedroom. She woke them up at 3 am ready to go to her grandparent’s house. She couldn’t contain herself she was so excited. It was Christmas Eve day! That just sums it up, doesn’t it?

When you were a child did you wake up early? Were you excited about receiving some special gift? Did you look forward to seeing someone special to you opening a gift from you to see the expression on his or her face or in his or her eyes? I know now how my parents must have felt when I found a sled under the tree. My son received a Millennium Falcon and an X-wing Fighter one year and as a parent I was thrilled with his excitement about receiving it.

I gave my wife a coconut cream pie from Dotson’s Restaurant this year. Their coconut pies are the closest of any to being like her mother’s coconut pies. She wasn’t expecting it. I looked forward to her opening the box it was in. She had not clue. For me, it wasn’t easy to hide, and that added to the emotional drama of the occasion.

Think back to when you were last excited like my granddaughter. Ready to go and full of anticipation. What a special time it is to be excited about what lies ahead.

What kind of anticipation do you think Mary, the mother of Jesus had? Or Simeon’s anticipation of the Messiah? Or us, when we think about the second coming of Christ? The parade that sticks out to me the most in scripture is the one for Christ on the Sunday we refer to as Palm Sunday. Christmas is a time for some with conflicting emotions. Loved ones who are no longer around. I guess it comes down to focus.

Scripture

God’s sign to you will be a son, born of a virgin. Isaiah 7.14

We will be given a child who will be God, the Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9.6

He will come from the family of Jesse (King David) and the Spirit of God will rest on Him. Isaiah 11.1-5

There will be one before Him (John the Baptist), preparing the way for God. Isaiah 40.3-5

God declares a Messiah will come for the nation of Israel. Jeremiah 23.5-6

A “Righteous” branch will emerge. Jeremiah 33.15

From Bethlehem there will come one who will rule for Me. Micah 5.1-2

Jesus enters Jerusalem to many people shouting “Hosanna!” - Mark 11.7-8

Mary anticipates becoming the mother of Jesus. - Luke 1.30-33

The Spirit of God will come on you and His Son will be born to you. Luke 1.35

Simeon waits for and encounters the Christ child in the Temple. - Luke 2.25-32

I (Jesus) will come back to you. John 14.2

John foretells the second coming of Christ. - Revelation 2.16

I am coming again. Revelation 3.11 and Revelation 22.12

Santa Claus, Biometrics and The Polar Express

Two recent events triggered some odd thinking within my mind. The thinking came down to this: What will Santa Claus look like 50 years or 100 years from now? Will he look significantly different? Remain pretty much the same? Or will he disappear altogether?

A few weeks ago my family gathered in Ohio for Thanksgiving and we all went to the Christmas Light Display at Clifton Mill in Clifton, Ohio (between Dayton and Columbus). They have celebrated the Christmas season with a Christmas light display for many years. The covered bridge light display is choreographed to “Carol of the Bells” by The Trans Siberian Orchestra (There are many You Tube videos under “Christmas at Clifton Mill”. The WildScotsman has a 3 and a half minute video taken this year).

Their seasonal attraction also had a display of Santa Clauses. The photos included here were all from that exhibit. There were many, many more than what is shown here. Notice the differences in the appearance of Santa Clause, over time, in different cultures, and by different artisans. Though there are significant differences, there are common features and characteristics in the big man. He is usually big, with a large belly, wears a cherry red to dark red suit trimmed in white, has a full, white beard, wears a funny, long cap. And then there are bells that somehow accompany him, along with a booming, “Ho, Ho, Ho.”

In my experience, large men in such costumes are often quite frightening to young children. My children were frightened of the department store guy. And, come to think of it, I was terrified of the guy. It takes a brave girl or boy to approach him. Ralphie (in A Christmas Story) brings back to my mind the entire scenario. I had a hard time remembering my own name in the situation. (I am sitting on Santa's knee in the photo below.)

So, in 50 or 100 years will Santa Claus pass every kid’s biometric testing device? You know the one he or she will be carrying that is part of a “smart” device used to communicate, monitor the environment for hazards, and verify the identity of every beast, pet, man, women or child. Can Santa Claus survive the deafening alarm and defensive smog emitted by every kid’s smart device? Or can Santa Claus somehow continue to do the impossible if not mystical feat of being everywhere and still somehow pass United Nations “programmed Santa” for height and weight requirements, fingerprint test, iris test, facial analysis and saliva test.

The second event that eased the thinking pain associated with Santa Claus meeting a United Nations biometric profile, was when I sat with my nearly 4 year old grandson to watch “The Polar Express.”

The question, the boy in the movie had was the same question I had at some point in my youth. Maybe you or someone other than you asked the question at some point in your life. “Do you believe in Santa Claus?” In 50 or 100 years a second question might automatically go with it, “Is this guy the real Santa Claus?” With a biometric testing device a kid in a few years might verify this fact.

When Leighton and I watched “The Polar Express,” new questions came to mind. Things in this movie reminded me of when I was a child: the pre-occupation with things like baseball, marbles, hubcaps, model and real trains, hobos that hopped trains and radiators. Then something in the movie jumped out. The know-it-all nerdy boy was wearing a PJ top with the words “Explorer” and “Jupiter C” on it. The Jupiter C was first launched in September 1956 and the Explorer 1 Satellite launched in 1958. Woe, I was older than the time this movie depicted for a boy asking the big question.

The boy in the movie goes to a drawer to re-examine the evidence: the department store photo of Santa, the newspaper clipping on a Santa strike, the World Book entry on the North Pole. And then the Hobo asks the boy about his “persuasion: on the “Big Man.” It is a convicting question, because no one likes to be “duped” or “taken for a ride.”

Then the Hobo in the “The Polar Express” states firmly, “Seeing is believing.” Is seeing believing? What tests can be used to verify if the guy the boy sees is really Santa Claus? The boy was living in a time before biometric testing.

If you lived in that time, how would you verify the identity of the Big Man? What qualities would he have? What characteristics would he have that validate it for you? How would you determine the truth of the man?

What measure would be needed for you to identify Santa Claus in 50 years? Would he need to meet certain biometric measures? What would convince you?

Maybe, believing is seeing, or hearing is needed. What did it take for young boys or girls 500 years ago to believe?

Santa Claus for the young child is very real. To see him in a red suit with a large bag of toys puts skin on him so to speak. He cares about little girls and boys. The point of this essay is this: The spirit behind the giving of an unexpected, undeserved, and dearly needed gift is worth everything. It is greater than what we receive.

Scripture:

John 8.31-32 – Believe and you have the truth, which will set you free.

John 4.25 - He who is in authority will tell me all things.

John 7.26 - Those who could prove who He isn’t can’t.

John 13:35 - Followers of Christ are known by their love.

1 John 3:10 - Those who practice righteousness are the children of God.

The Wright Patterson Air Force Marathon and Half-Marathon

I love it when history turns on its head and becomes a bit ironic. If you read my post of May 5, 2012 (A Marathon in View of the Nashville Parthenon) in which the annual County Music Marathon is run in view of the Parthenon, and for which the Apostle Paul eluded to the Panhellenic Games in his letters to the church in Corinth. I thought it was a bit prophetic in a way that a modern-day marathon was being run in view of a replica of the original Parthenon in Athens, Greece.

So, recently I did a half-marathon in Dayton, Ohio. The half-marathon was one of several events at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Because of the location I witnessed a B-2 Stealth Bomber flyover, and a memorial sculpture to the Wright Brothers. Both were memorable and both occurred within the first 30 minutes of beginning my “run” or more accurately walk. For me it was another sort of ironic twist of events since I was walking and no one had Wings even though it was being held at an Air Force base.

This time I was “running” with my son, Chad. He previously ran a half-marathon in April in Nashville.

The start time of our event was 8:30 am but we arrived just before sunrise as we were advised. Since the Start line and Finish were only 100 yards or so apart (but separated by 13.1 miles), we were able to park near the National Air Force Museum. It was a beautiful, brisk morning. I was able to capture the sunrise on my small camera.

And so we walked. The B-2 fly-over and Memorial to the Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilber, came pretty early. There were also water stations and well-spaced banks of potties. These are things that can be pretty important to a runner.



At 6 miles a couple of folks walking and jogging the half-marathon suggested that they were on pace to do it in 3 hours. That was a bit inspiring. Initially, I might do it in 3 and a half hours, figuring I would fall off my planned pace of 15-minute miles. But after hearing these the two, more fit runners just in front of me I thought I might do better than my original thought of 3 and a-half hours. I picked up my pace. Maybe I could do it in 3 hours.

Well, I did not finish my half-marathon in just over 2 and one-half hours as Chad did in April. I did, however, manage to walk thirteen (13) fifteen-minute miles, walking the 13.1 miles in just under 3 hours and ten minutes. My son beat me by 3 seconds. He said, “I couldn’t let my dad beat me.”

We had a great time. This is why; when we began our “Half” was pretty focused on finishing the run. You know the bit, “I just wanted to finish the same day I started.” I didn’t want to embarrass myself. The fact of the matter was I didn’t. And the bonus was God awed us by giving us a beautiful and wonderful day. Like the runners a few strides ahead of us (set to do 3-hour Half) I was inspired to do His will. Sometimes the rewards are greater than the goals we set out to achieve.

Another bonus came after I had finished the race. I saw a Wright-B Flyer in the air. It was very nice.

It only took a few days for my knee to feel better. Things do have a price.

Scripture:

2 Chronicles 20.4 – Seeing the army against them was overwhelming, they came together to seek help from the Lord.

Isaiah 40.31 – Those who hope in the Lord will gain new strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.

Acts 20.24 – What is important is finishing the course that God gave me (to preach the message of God’s grace).

1 Corinthians 9.24 – Runners in a race complete that they may win.

2 Corinthians 12.10 – I delight in my weaknesses and difficulties, because when I am weak, I find strength in Him.

Galatians 2.2 – Paul writes, “I did not want to run in vain.”

2 Timothy 4.7 – Paul writes, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race.”

Hebrews 12.1 – “Run with endurance the race that is before us, keeping your eyes on Jesus.”

James 5.11- Like Job, blessed are those who preserver.

Kamp Keck, 2012

Memories


Five pounds of freshly purchased hot dogs stands out in my mind when I think back to when I was a teenager and spent several weeks on my grandparents’ farm in East Tennessee with cousins. It was the early 1960s. My grandparents loved their grandchildren in sacrificial ways. They had little to share but opened up their small house to those who came. The girls slept in the spare bedroom and the boys in the living room. There was no air conditioning, except for what came through the screen doors and windows. They didn’t even have a vinyl swimming pool. Food and snacks weren’t extravagant. But they did want to please us. Hot dogs were the avenue to achieving it to my grandmother. She usually didn’t buy them. Entertainment consisted of nightly trips to revival services at a little country church, playing “Old Maid” with my grandmother, picking green beans as if we were contestants, salvaging tobacco after a hail-storm, “slopping” the hogs first thing in the morning, coon hunts in the dark, stalking crows and trips to town where we spent any earned money buying chocolate milkshakes at a little diner. Memories like this are precious and holdup for years. Memories, loyalties and love are the glue that hold a family together.


Back to the hot dogs, my grandmother was surprised we didn’t eat all of the hot dogs in one meal. It took a huge pot. Finding one big enough was a dilemma in itself. Maybe that is why it was all sort of fun. Grandparents can certainly open the eyes of a kid.


Purpose

Time travel forward 50-plus years. Circumstances have changed somewhat. I am now a grandparent, Saundria, my wife, and I have decided to host “Camp” for our grandchildren. Our children’s families live 300 or so miles apart. The children don’t get to spend concentrated time together so a cousin’s camp just makes sense. In fact, we can’t think of a better way to strengthen the relationships they have to one another and to us? I can’t begin to tell you how excited we were about what we had planned.

Because times have changed, this week was different than when I grew up. Then, little was planned. Activities emerged naturally, on a day-to-day basis. You know, you can’t predict a hailstorm.


Now, everything is planned. Then, I was a young teenager. Today, the campers are young school-age and pre-school age children. No comparison. Back then, electronics consisted of an electrical light switch and maybe a television. Today, we are competing with DVDs, electronic tablets and cell phones.


People have asked, “What did you do everyday for a week?” And “How did you pull off a week with four little children?” Understanding that we are in our sixties and not thirties and we had our hands full with only two children then. This blog posting provides an overview of the week, complete with photos. In the last section of this posting I will make some practical grandfather suggestions (I am not a professional child-development specialist, though I have learned some things because I know one or two) as to how to plan a kid’s camp.


Day-By-Day Activities As Originally Planned

I will begin with our “plan” and comment on what actually happened from time to time to let you know “things happen” and that you have to be flexible because of changing circumstances, like rain, heat, facility conditions, health, etc.


Here is what was planned and what actually happened:


Monday

· Ask children to share a memory from last year’s camp

· Read/Tell the “In The Beginning” (The Creation Story in “Remember, and Don’t Forget: Bible Stories for Mom and Me”)

· Art/Craft: Children work on a Sea Mural-Collage (with fish, jelly-fish, sponges, star fish, whales, dolphins, octopuses, and other sea life)

· Water Play (Possibilities: Vinyl Play Pool, Slip and Slide, water guns and/or balloons)

· Lunch (either at house or Chuck E. Cheese)

· Chuck E Cheese (riding horses, helicopters and fighters planes, Skee-Ball, and other skill games). We do this just for fun on a hot day.

· We then have dinner at Leeanne’s (our daughter), where she prepared a meatloaf. Prior to the meal being ready, the kids ride every “riding toy” imaginable (bicycles, big-wheel tri-cycles, kick scooters, wagons, etc.)


It was interesting to hear from our grandchildren what they remembered from last year. One of the children remembered the police whistle I used to summon them on occasion.)


Water play this day was confined to the vinyl play pool. We wanted to save some options for another day.

We ate lunch at our house before going to Chuck E Cheese.


Since two of our grandchildren live nearby, many riding toys were available for all of the grandchildren to use.

Tuesday

· Read/Tell the “Two by Two” (The Story of Noah in “Remember, and Don’t Forget: Bible Stories for Mom and Me”). Bible story charades.

· Go to The Treehouses at Cheekwood (a Botanical Gardens in Nashville). This special exhibit featured 7 books. Treehouses included “The Jolly Roger” (Peter and Wendy), “The Conch House” (Lord of the Flies), “The Rainbow Fish” (The Rainbow Fish), “Walden Treehouse” (Walden), “The Giver” (The Giver), “Ocean of Notions” (Haroun and the Sea of Stories) and “Up and Down Again” (The Hobbit).

· Paint Rainbow Rocks and Make Collages with paint chips (from paint store).

· Water play

· Work with clay

Many of the treehouses at Cheekwood involved water in some way. The Rainbow Fish especially tied in with the story of Noah. After lunch the children painted “rainbow” rocks (obtained from a local landscaping firm prior to camp and washed) with tempra paints. We told their parents the rocks would look good in a flower bed or alone their front walk. The Up and Down Again Treehouse may have been 3 of our grandchildren’s favorite structures because they enjoyed the long slide. One liked the Jolly Roger because he is into boats.

The most interesting project made from clay was the hot dog in a bun one of my grandsons made. Another child made a volcano and later painted the top of the cone red.


Wednesday

· Read/Tell “A Little Girl Helps an Important Man” (The Story of Naaman, a man with a terrible skin disease in “Remember, and Don’t Forget: Bible Stories for Mom and Me”)

· Slip & Slide in the backyard

· Mud pies and dirt play

· Nashville Adventure Science Center

· Face and arm painting (each one had a skin-wound painted on their arm also, reminding them of Naaman’s diseased skin)

Getting wet and playing in a small pile of dirt just seemed right for our grandchildren. After making mud cakes and pies one of our granddaughters simply lathered-up in mud so to speak. By comparison Naaman would have looked well before he was healed by God.

Thursday

· Read/Tell Story “Breakfast on the Beach” (The Story of Jesus and his disciples eating breakfast on the shore of the Sea of Galilee after a night of fishing in “Remember, and Don’t Forget: Bible Stories for Mom and Me”)

· Breakfast on the Shore

· Park shore on Percy Priest Lake

· Captain D’s Seafood Kitchen for lunch

· Paint stumps with tempra paints.

Although we were in the middle of a drought, it was a cooler, rainy day. Breakfast on the lakeshore was in our plan. Instead, after breakfast at the house, we traveled to the park, observed the boats and imagined a campfire on the shore and had a snack. After an enjoyable time throwing stones into the water, we drove back to Franklin and ate seafood at Captain D’s Seafood Kitchen. One of our grandchildren loves going to this restaurant. It wasn’t exactly fish cooked on a campfire, but it did include fish.


After returning home, the guys painted some log-sections (I had cut a tree down a year or so ago and had 4 or 5 sectioned logs) with tempra paint. They enjoyed pounding nails into the logs afterward. It looked like so much fun the girls joined in later. While the guys were doing “guy” things, the girls were inside working on the sea mural. Although it was a rain-day, it did not rain continuously, allowing the kids to work/play outside in the afternoon.

Friday

· Read/Tell “When Jesus Said ‘Shhh’” (The Story of Jesus Quieting the Sea” (from “Remember, and Don’t Forget: Bible Stories for Mom and Me”)

· Chick-fil-A (dress up like a cow) and enjoy a free lunch for Cow Appreciation Day

· Monkey Joe’s (an indoor play center featuring inflatable jump, slide and bounce structures)

· Water Balloons, Toy Fish frozen in ice-blocks, Squirt guns, Swimming Pool and Creative Truck Play.

· Camp Awards (trophies and attribute rocks)


After reading our story, we spend a fair amount of time creating cow costumes for our lunch outing. It was free lunch day at Chick-fil-A for those wearing a cow costume. Grandparents had help from the grandchildren in making their costumes.

After lunch, we went to Monkey Joe’s. It wasn’t the best of days there inasmuch as the children’s play center had two busloads of older children and they were a bit intimidating. If we ever do that sort of thing again, if we see two buses in the parking lot we will substitute some other activity for it. It is wise to have alternative activities as back-ups. We left early from Monkey Joe’s and actually do something they enjoy immensely more, squirt-guns, thawing toy fish frozen in large blocks of ice and playing creatively in the back of Poppa’s truck.


I especially enjoyed watching their imaginative play in the bed of the truck. They played with noodles and rope and hauled “fish” from out of their boat into the boat with the use of the rope. Shoes and booster seats were favorite “fish.”

 

After dinner that evening, Mimi presented trophies to each camp participant. The youngest child was so proud of his accomplishment. He had a trophy! We also presented each grandchild with a smaller, attribute rock. Each rock had the name of a grandchild, an attribute we would like to see develop in their lives and a Bible verse characterizing that attribute. The notion is that we need to we encourage each one to focus on a characteristic and observe it in their lives.

Saturday

Travel Day – Meet the mother of two of our grandchildren in Louisville, Kentucky (half-way from our house and their home).


Camp was over and Saturday was spent taking two of our four children to meet a parent. For us it meant driving to Louisville, Kentucky. We stopped frequently for potty breaks, drinks and planned to meet their mother for lunch. Unfortunately rain and a traffic accident prevented their mother from meeting us at the designated hour and so we played checkers and bought ice cream and drove around a bit until she was able to arrive.


Notes:

Prerequisites (understand ages of children, age-appropriate activities, simple & fun, be flexible to weather and other changing conditions. Move activities to another day if necessary. Plan additional art projects and games (indoor and outdoor) to use if necessary. Be ready to think on your feet, if something doesn’t seem to be working. And don’t be surprised if something planned energizes into something big, bold and wonderful or fizzles because of some lack of interest. Last year art was given a lot of attention by campers; this year it wasn’t a very big deal. At the end of the week the wall of art in our house was half of what last year’s gallery contained.


“Remember and Don’t Forget: Bible Stories for Mom and Me” is age and developmentally appropriate for children ages 3 to 8. It paraphrases scripture relating a Biblical truth that children can understand. Stories are not above the heads of children. The way I think of it is: We don’t expect children to do calculus, repair refrigerators, or compete in the Olympics. Children are concrete thinkers. The stories in this book help young children understand that God loves them. Isn’t that why Christ came? It’s foundational to our faith.


The book “Raising Boys and Girls, The Art of Understanding Their Differences” by Sissy Goff, David Thomas and Melissa Trevathan is another resource you may want to utilize. Boys and girls are different in the way they view and act on things during the various stages of development. Saundria and I try to take those differences into account when we read or tell stories and plan activities that complement those stories.


The week you plan needs to take into account the number, gender and ages of your grandchildren. Older children can help younger children. Sleeping arrangements, schedules and menus need to recognize allergies, likes and dislikes, preparation requirements and finances. You may or may not have access to a vehicle or vehicles to transport all of your grandchildren. In our case, our daughter lives nearby and assisted us with two meals. Our youngest camper also went home with her each night because he hadn’t spent that many nights away from home and needed just a little more rest than the others. She was also a part of some activities as her schedule allowed. One day an older neighborhood girl joined our camp and helped manage activities.


Back in my day, “Camp” wasn’t even called camp. And it wasn’t perfect, but it did happen. My memories, loyalties and love for my cousins remain.

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 6.7 – As you go, teach your children that God is good.

Deuteronomy 6. 20 – When your son or daughter asks you, you can say what the Lord has done for you.

Psalm 78.4 – Tell the next generation what God has done, His power and wonders.

Psalm 79.13 – God’s people will praise Him and from generation to generation they will recount it.

Psalm 145.4 – One generation will commend God’s works to another.

Ecclesiastes 11.9 – Enjoy your youth within God’s boundaries.