A Leiper’s Fork Christmas Parade with a Squeal

This is probably my 3^rd Leiper’s Fork Christmas Parade.  I posted on last year’s parade (Dec 25, 2012) and do so again this year. Each one was fun and a wacky.  This year’s parade had it all: Pam Tillis, antique automobiles, the elementary-middle school band, Arnold the pig, Williamson County Pageant Winners, the General Lee, horses, riders and dogs, the Grinch, and even Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus were at the end.

Everyone knows about the Dukes of Hazard. The TV series ran from 1979 through 1985. One of the most memorable props in the series was the General Lee, an orange 1969 Dodge Charger with the number “01” on the door.  Of course there were the Dukes.

Besides the General Lee, and a bit less recognizable, was “Arnold the Pig.” Arnold was featured in the TV series Green Acres that ran from 1965 through 1971. The sitcom starred Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor, who moved from New York City to a rural farm. Of course, the whole premise made for some silliness. Arnold lived indoors, watched TV and was treated as if he were human.

It brought to mind a visit my wife and I made to Florida one summer in the early seventies. We were in graduate school then and lived in East Tennessee. My Aunt “Bill” and her brother lived in Florida and had a small ranch in which they had several head of cattle and a bull. They were hopeful to make a living raising cattle. She and my father had one of those fabulous relationships in which a lot of teasing and joking went on. So of course, being in Florida and near where she lived, we went to see her. Behold, she had a pig and like the TV star pig, her pig was allowed to go in and out of the house as he wanted. And he did. We watched him. Thank goodness he was not as big as the pig in the parade. I asked her his name. She told me his name was “Arnold.” I thought at first he had been named after Arnold in Green Acres. But no, she was determined to have the last laugh with my dad. Aunt Bill, with a gleam in her eye, told us she had named him after my dad. His name, “Arnold.” On returning home and telling my dad about Aunt Bill’s pet pig, I am sure I heard her and “Arnold” squeal with laughter even though she was 700 miles away in Florida.

I have another story from this visit, but alas, it must wait. It involves the bull.

Enough of this story, take a look at parade.

Christmas Gifts of Red and White

This Christmas season my wife has decided this year’s Christmas theme will focus on the colors red and white. It is her way of exploring different aspects of Christmas to learn more about this rich season. I’ve come to take it as a good thing and this year I’ve decided to join her photographically, looking at the God’s gift of red and white through the lens of my camera.

It is obvious that certain colors are associated with certain holidays, seasons and events. We decorate in browns, yellows and dark red in the fall.  We use green, red and white during the Christmas season. We use red by itself to symbolize courage and the ultimate sacrifice. We cannot think of a man or woman’s love for another without seeing it. And so, we celebrate a red kind of love at Valentine’s. We see green, yellow and pink and we think of spring and Easter and orange and black at Halloween. Black by itself often accompanies the formal and serious. We see it used at death and mourning and we see white with wedding gowns, suggesting innocence and purity. In scripture, white symbolizes holiness, which is unachievable for man. In more recent years we’ve come to more strongly associate the environment with green.  There is even a green, environmental flag. If I mention red, white and blue, what does your mind do? Almost everyone visualizes the flag of our nation at the mere mention of those three colors.

Many of our associations come with the inherent colors of a season, but some do not, like the values we associate with gold and silver, emerald and jade. These colors seem to suggest things that are desirable and have value.

Many color associations are purely social, cultural and commercial. In the United States Santa Claus always comes in red and white. In other culture, Santa Claus sometimes wears red, blue and purple suggesting power, authority and royalty. Red and purple and were expensive colors to produce and are often associated with those in power. What colors do various products bring to mind? Think about Target, Southwest Airlines, The Red Cross, Pepsi, and your favorite school or sports teams? What do yellow traffic signs tell you? Some of you will remember the barber pole. You probably make other color associations too.

 

What special meanings has God spoken to you through some color or colors? Every color is a gift of God.
Ecclesiastes 3.1 says there is a time for everything.  Is there a color God has given you this year that has a new meaning for you? Remember, He has given us every good gift. Maybe, you’ve been surprised by an especially thoughtful gift? What gifts are you thankful for today? In what colors were they wrapped?

 

Scripture

God created light. Genesis 1.3

God gave green plants as food for life. Genesis 1.30

The curtain to the Tabernacle is to be made of blue, purple and scarlet thread. Exodus 26:31

The blood will be a sign on the houses where you are present. Exodus 12.13

 

After the spies had gone, Rahab hung a scarlet cord from the window. Joshua 2:21

Though your sins are like crimson they will be white like snow. Isaiah 1:18

The soldiers stripped Jesus and put a scarlet robe on him. Matthew 27:27-29

Jesus led Peter, James and John to a high mountain and was transfigured before them and his clothes became intensely white. Mark 9:2-3

There was someone dressed in a robe. His head and hair are like wool, white as snow. Revelation 1:13-14

There was one riding a white horse, and clothed in a robe dipped in blood. Revelation 19:11-13