Back in Dallas

 

It's that time of year when you barrel down I35 to Dallas on a mission to set up Christmas at Ma LSP's place in North Oak Cliff, and it feels good to be back with all the houses lit up for the holiday, all very festive. Nice, but then you drive a few blocks over to the 7-11 to pick up a phone charger and everything changes.

The 7-11

There's a homeless guy slumped over by the doorway, a couple of fat little tackheads in dirty pajama bottoms getting loud over pizza slices, one's wearing a mask, why? and the whole place stinks of pot. Neck tattoo store clerk takes your cash with a snarl and you get the feeling this inconvenience store could go off-hook  at any moment, which it could. 

Typical Oak Cliff Street Scene

Like no kidding. Back in June a store worker was shot and killed in this 7-11 by some random POC who was after cash, I don't know if he was caught. So I was glad to get back to Christmasland HQ and tomorrow we'll venture forth in search of a tree. 

Stay tuned for more of this urban Texan story as it unfolds.

Texit,

LSP

Is This The Way?

 

Maybe it is. Keep it simple, right? That in mind, I powered this wreath with green LED lights and a battery pack. What a compact solution, and green too.  Speaking of which, do you remember Climate Change?

You know, the biggest disaster in the history of disasters which would raise the sea level so high it'd flood out the coasts, kill all the polar bears and... and... destroy the planet? The God King Messiah Barak Obama was a big booster, maybe that's why he bought a seafront mansion in Martha's Vineyard, because what a green socialist. What a colossal scam.

Ma LSP's Ready For Christmas

And now we've got COVID. Better vax up and wear your mask, even though neither protect you from getting and spreading a disease which 99.7+% won't kill you. Leap to it, serfs, and guess what. If you don't, you won't be allowed to enter a shop, much less leave your country. So you'd better OBEY.

Is that the way? Sure, the way of slavery, perdition and corrupt deceit. We walk a different path at the Compound. And lest we forget, remember Pearl Harbor, a day of infamy.

Your Crypto Pal,

LSP

Lights On

 

I went for a walk to the old Shamrock tonight, and nothing much had changed except for the lights. They were on, in all their Christmas glory. Hold on, this is Advent, but they hadn't got the memo.

Still, the Holy Family, and I like that. Mary, Joseph and the infant Christ. There it is, salvation, come into the world. Beautiful.

The church, on the other hand, looked a bit shaky. We must hope that'd not be some kind of metaphor. And if it is? Draw the moral as you take it.

God bless,

LSP

Lights Out - Minnesota

Imagine the scene. There you are, living in the suburbs of middle America in December 2020; it’s cold outside and you think back on the year that’s been. Who’d have thought it? 

A potentially deadly virus, lockdowns, riots, looting, a contested election, job uncertainty and on. What a dark landscape, so you decide to lift everyone’s spirits by putting up Christmas lights on the house. 

Well done. “Merry Christmas!” you say cheerfully to yourself while decorating a festive tree; things are starting to look up at last, about time. Then boom, the Postperson arrives with a letter blasting your Christmas lights for intolerance, division, and “systemic biases.”

Wow, systemic bias, that's pretty bad. So hurry up, you suburban criminal, and report yourself for wrongthink. That's obviously before you work through struggle sessions in the nearest Maoist Minnesotan reeducation center. 

Satire? If only. Four Minnesota households in a suburb of Minneapolis, St. Anthony, received an anonymous Advent letter this year, excoriating them for decorating their houses for the holiday season. Here it is:

 

I couldn’t help but notice your Christmas lights display. During these unprecedented times we have all experienced challenges which casual words just don’t describe what we’re feeling. The idea of twinkling, colorful lights are a reminder of divisions that continue to run through our society, a reminder of systemic biases against our neighbors who don’t celebrate Christmas or who can’t afford to put up lights of their own.

We must do the work of educating ourselves about the harmful impact an outward-facing display like yours can have. I challenge you to respect the dignity of all people while striving to learn from differences, ideas, and opinions of our neighbors. We must come together collectively and challenge these institutional inequities; St. Anthony is a community of welcoming of all people (sic) and we must demand better for ourselves.

 

Demand better? Yes indeed. Let's start with calling an end to leftist gibberish and tyranny masquerading as tolerance and "welcome." A false welcome to everyone except those who disagree with you. This isn't about toleration, it's about forcing your will on other people, in this instance on those who choose to display the outward signs of Christmas, of celebrating Christ's birth, on their houses.

How dare you, Nazi! As if for a second that a garish if cheerful twinkling light was anything other than a sign of good cheer. But of course our latter-day puritans hate the sign because they hate its significance. 

It proclaims, consciously or not, that God became a man and lay, as a child, under a star in Bethlehem. And with that birth salvation came into the world. 

This is abhorrent to the enemies of Christmas and, if they can, they'll ban the feast of the Incarnation from the public square, like their spiritual ancestors, the Bolsheviks of 1917 or the Puritans of the seventeenth century. But you know what?

The gates of Hell shall not prevail against the angelic host, which cries out, Gloria in Excelsis Deo, glory to God in the highest at the birth of the Christ Child. Nothing, much less mean-spirited, narcissist, Midwestern killjoys and their rich Ivy Satanic League (sorry,  add Berkley) friends can stop that.

Here endeth the Lesson,

LSP

Tree Wrangling

In the olden days, which I can just remember, you didn't decorate your tree until Christmas Eve but that's changed now. We went looking for trees in Dallas on Monday with a view to getting the job done. 

First stop? Lowes, and I'll be honest, their selection was rubbish. Home Depot was better and we found a tree without too much hassle; a bit on the small side but it'd do. 

Small!

Back at HQ the tree went obediently into its stand and there it was, a Christmas tree in a stand, looking annoyingly short. "I have to say, it looks a bit dam short," I told Ma LSP, who suggested we raise it on some kind of platform. But we didn't, the Angel would make it taller perhaps.

Angel

It helped, along with lights and ornaments which glittered and gleamed like Christmas is supposed to do. Blue ADC did his bit to help, which mostly involved sleeping at guard and that seemed homely and somehow reassuring. 

All Lit Up

Dog and Christmas tree, sort of thing. A few hours later the tree seemed pretty much there, so we moved outside and lit up the front.

Getting There

Good work and well done, team, you've put up Christmas or most of it anyway. Mission accomplished, we fell back to the kitchen and celebrated the victory. For Blue Voracious that meant treats, well deserved. 

And that readers, all six of you, is the story of that. If you're a Puritan you'll disapprove because you think Christmas, when we celebrate the birth of Christ, is pagan, popish idolatry. Long story short, no, it isn't.

God bless,

LSP

All Lit Up And Ready To Go

Dallas HQ looks good, all lit up and ready to go. Saying that, the tree was bought at the last minute and needed some attention. Still, it glitters like Christmas should and its ornaments shine back at you like old friends. Beautiful.

Buying last minute presents in the metrosprawl in near freezing rain was less beautiful but Half Price Books came in handy. You're not allowed to carry a gun in Half Price, leaving you rather less than half safe; fortunately no one was shot by an outraged anti-Christmas Muslim while I was there. 

The Game Stop allowed concealed carry, I think, which is perhaps unwise. Think of all the gun toting parents getting ready to unload on hideously overpriced gaming consoles, the games themselves, controllers, add-ons and the whole nine yards of the very expensive, destructive to young minds gaming industry. Anyway.

Back at the urban compound all was well and the light shineth in darkness. What do I want for Christmas? A good double, a ranch and the unity of Christendom.

Light it up,

LSP

Light It Up

This small farming community's all lit up, literally and figuratively; I know this because I've seen it. And you know what? I like it.

So don't be a sad puritan killjoy, light up the town instead and get ready to celebrate the Nativity. Just don't jump the gun and detract from the enjoyment of the Feast. This should be maximal.

With that in mind I drive around the town at night enjoying the lights. It's uplifting and given that Baptists weren't to keen on Christmas, 25 December not being in the Bible and Roman Catholics do it, encouraging. We've moved on and up in this shiny buckle of the Bible Belt.

So light it up.

God bless,

LSP