O Holy Night 

The stars are brightly shining 

It is the night of our dear Saviour’s birth 

Long lay the world in sin and error pining 

‘Til He appeared and the soul felt it’s worth 

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices 

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. 

Fall on your knees 

O hear the Angels voices. 

O night divine O night when Christ was born 

O night divine O night divine 

O night divine.

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This popular carol was written in 1847 as a favor to his local priest by a French wine-maker who then approached a composer friend to come up with the tune. Isn’t the music of the season wonderful? Merry Christmas!

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AN AUSPICIOUS occasion. A Nashville student, Dalton Wilson, celebrated his 12th birthday on 12-12-12. He is the son of Joe and Kelly Wilson of our town. The next time 12-12-12 occurs will be in the year 3012 and Dalton will be 1,012 years old. And I’ll be ….. nevermind.

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I’M HAVING A hard time grasping the enormity of the tragic deaths of Cecil and Mary Harris who were driving along, obeying the law, on the busiest street in Hope, Saturday, when they were hit head-on. Details are harder than usual to obtain, but it appears that they were innocent victims of a couple of nitwits who were racing. If so, I hope there are negligent homicide charges in the futures of those other drivers.

The memory of Cecil I choose to keep occurred in the days before desktop publishing, probably mid-1980s. We composed our ‘type’ on complicated equipment which used a mystical system of flashing light through a strip of negatives to project letters or numbers on photogaphic paper which was then washed in chemicals.

When the equipment malfunctioned, as it often did, our only recourse was to take it apart, clean it, try it again; take it apart, clean it, try it again; take it apart, clean it, try again; over and over again until it miracously worked. Usually these breakdowns occurred when we were desparately trying to put together the next issue of the newspaper.

I remember one such occasion. Jane and I had finally sent everyone else home while we took the danged thing apart, cleaned it and tried it again. But Cecil stayed with us. Until at last, at 2 a.m. the equipment finally worked. We went home for a few hours of sleep, then returned to drowsily put out the next issue of the paper.

It would never have happened if Cecil hadn’t stayed with us. He never gave up. And would’ve stayed longer if necessary. He did everything at the newspaper. He was completely reliable, modest and honest. The development of newfangled desktop publishing meant he wasn’t needed in the darkroom anymore, so he became a photographer. It was always a pleasure to cross paths with him in recent years at photo events in our community. His sincere smile and easygoing manner will be missed. And remembered.

And by the way, ‘Birddog’ was a nickname from his childhood at Dierks.

Peace to his many friends and family, and to Mary’s. And thanks to the Almighty for putting such people among us.

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THE WEATHER JURY is still out on 2012 because there are just a few days left in December. But, unless something significant happens, 2012 was even drier than 2011. In 2012 there were five months (January, February, March, April and September) which had more rainfall than the same months in 2011. That means the remaining seven months were drier.

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IN SPACE. The Chinese are getting pretty good at this. They diverted a satellite which had been used for lunar observations, and positioned it so that it could get photos of that asteroid which passed so close to Earth, last week. The space stone actually passed closer to Earth than the Moon does.

On the other hand, the Russians had another rocket failure. The third in a year.

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THE horrible murders of innocent children in Conneticut has launched the national debate about gun control. And I see where a legislator from Fayetteville plans to re-submit his bill to allow perfessors and non-certified personnel to carry handguns on Arkansas college campuses. This scary piece of legislation was booted two years ago, and I can only hope our other legislators make sure it doesn’t go anywhere, again.

Owning a gun is an American right, but owning a semi-automatic rifle with a roomful of ammo is not. My opinion is that it is too easy for a nut to get an AR-15.

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PUNS AND adult truths from my piano friend at Fellowship: I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

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HE SAID: “I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.” Alexander the Great

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SHE SAID: “She tells enough white lies to ice a wedding cake.” Margot Asquith, author

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SWEET DREAMS, Baby