Check Santa Clause Out

Tis the season for the wonder that little ones have for Santa and Christmas .I found this sight by Google that allows you  to send a video or a phone call from Santa to your special little one this Christmas for free , the only catch is you must live in the USA .Check it out here .Imagine how exciting it would be to get a phone call from Santa .
When my children were little we live in the USA and on every Christmas eve we would go Christmas light looking by driving through different neighborhood decorated with Christmas lights , listening to the radio station announcing  Santa's progress on his Christmas night flight to deliver toys to good little children . He was being tracked by NORAD on his trip across the USA. NORAD has a special program that allows you and your children to follow his trip . The sight even has some games for the kids to play. This will be available until Dec.25th. This is really neat way for the kids to see where Santa is when they ask you  for his location you can check it together here.

Peace On Earth

Today is Christmas. Many around the globe will celebrate the birth of Jesus  today. His message was mainly one of peace and love , among the many other things Jesus was sent to teach . So, even if you are not a Christian,but of some other belief , you may wish to dedicate today as a Day Of Peace and Love For All Mankind . Merry Christmas to those that celebrate, and to those that don't , have a wonderful day of Peace.

The Real Saint Nicholas

Go to link to veiw video and picturse from CNN News relating to this articul.
	Powered by

	SAVE THIS | EMAIL THIS | Close

Turkish town cashes in on Saint Nick legacy By Ivan Watson, CNN STORY HIGHLIGHTS Hometown of the man who inspired the Santa Claus legend is in Turkey Muslim-majority Demre gets Christian and Orthodox tourists Santa Claus photos on sale alongside Saint Nicholas icons Shopkeeper Baris Yuksel: After lots of centuries we are earning money thanks to Saint Nicholas Demre, Turkey (CNN) -- The hometown of the man who inspired the legend of Santa Claus is a long way from the snow and arctic lights of the North Pole. The land Saint Nicholas is originally from rarely sees snowflakes -- it is a village of palm trees and orange groves on the Mediterranean Sea in what is modern-day Turkey. Nicholas, patron saint of sailors and children, lived and died there nearly 18 centuries ago. The legend of the 4th century bishop who gave gifts to the poor has spread since the earliest days of Christianity. Eventually, Saint Nicholas evolved from the bald and bearded man depicted in Orthodox icons -- dressed in long robes and clutching a bible -- to the more rotund and secular character of jolly old Saint Nick. Though Santa Claus is today inextricably intertwined with Christmas, hardly any of the residents of Saint Nicholas' hometown celebrate the holiday. Demre is an overwhelmingly Muslim town where the call to prayer periodically echoes from minarets over the sun-bleached stones of chapels and a sprawling Roman amphitheater that was constructed long before the days of Saint Nicholas. "Nobody celebrates Christmas here. It's interesting," said Baris Yuksel, speaking in his shop amid a sea of gold-framed icons of Saint Nicholas -- a man locals know here as "Noel Baba," or Father Christmas. Like many other residents of Demre, Yuksel grows and exports tomatoes from some of the many greenhouses that surround this small community. But in recent years he has also made a lucrative business selling images of Demre's most famous son to the hundreds of thousands foreign tourists who visit the Church of Saint Nicholas every year. "We are so happy with Saint Nicholas," Yuksel said. "After lots of centuries we are earning money thanks to Saint Nicholas." Demre's gratitude is evident in the town's official logo -- which features the familiar bearded face of Santa Claus -- and a bronze statue of a slimmer Saint Nicholas holding hands with two smiling children, which overlooks the central town square. The man behind the legend is believed to have died in Demre in 343 AD, when the city was then known as Myra and many of the inhabitants spoke ancient Greek. "Nicholas is a real man. He lived here and he died here, and he talked about Christianity in a widespread area," said Nevzat Cevik, a Turkish archaeologist unearthing history about one of the world's earliest Christian civilizations. Cevik said Nicholas of Myra was a Christian bishop, who is depicted in ancient engravings chopping down a tree that symbolizes the region's earlier pagan Roman religion. "He destroyed pagan temples also," Cevik said, referring to the Temple of Artemis, which is believed to have been razed to the ground on Nicholas' order. "They destroyed the pagan buildings ... and then they used the materials of those buildings to build their churches." As evidence, Cevik points to a 12th century Byzantine chapel his team recently discovered buried next to the house of an elderly Turkish man named Ahmet Gezer, whose bushy white beard was surprisingly Santa shaped. Part of the floor of the chapel is constructed out of stones pillaged from the sarcophagi of earlier pagans. After his death, Saint Nicholas was honored as a martyr. Cevik argues that his legend began to grow after it was retold by another Christian priest named Nicholas of Sion, who lived in the area more than 100 years after Saint Nicholas' death. Cevik theorizes that Christian believers began combining the stories of the two men named Nicholas. "After the 6th century AD, there are 2 Nicholases in one figure," Cevik said. "They come together and we know only one Saint Nicholas." In subsequent centuries, the tomb of Saint Nicholas became a place of pilgrimage for Christians traveling from around the Mediterranean Sea. Gradually, other European cultures adopted the popular saint, and added their own twists to his image. The Santa Claus we see today appears to have evolved out of a Scandinavian version of the saint, who was later popularized by 19th century American writers and U.S. companies like Coca Cola, which used Santa's image to promote their products. The mayor of Demre is a big fan of this contemporary Santa Claus, which some Turks refer to as the "Coca Cola Santa." "Indeed, he is something that the Americans invented," said Mayor Suleyman Topcu, "[but] he is nice and colorful." Topcu said he planned to put a big red Santa statue up overlooking the new street and beach he recently named after Father Christmas. But some of Demre's younger residents want to set the record straight on their town's most famous son. "He didn't have magic powers or flying reindeer. That's only in the cartoons," said 10-year old Habip Erdogan. His friend, Batuhan Katilimis, also 10, said: "He was a good man who gave gifts." No matter what version you believe in, everyone in Demre seems to agree -- it is the spirit of Saint Nicholas giving to those who are in need that is the legendary man's most enduring legacy.

Links referenced within this article

Find this article at: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/12/21/turkey.saint.nicholas/?hpt=Sbin

Uncheck the box to remove the list of links referenced in the article.

© 2008 Cable News Network.

Busy Month Of December !

Well , it is a busy month , no matter what your beliefs may be , it seems.Like yesterday ( Wednesday Dec.7, 2010) was the Islamic New Year . Moe nor I had any idea that it was the Islamic New Years until the news announcer on CCN told us so .We're bad , I know . Then Ashura is coming , some say say on the 16th of this month . This is another Islamic holiday . You can read about it here .Neither one of these holidays are very important here in Libya. I think right around that time (?) it will be Hanukkah also , again , not too sure on that date . And of course , that isn't celebrated at all here in Libya .Next on the holiday list is Christmas on the 25th of Dec. It is celebrated by the many Christians living here in Libya. THEN is Kwanzaa which is mainly celebrated by African-Americans in America.And of course  Jan.1st is the western calendar's New Years day , can't leave that one out !So , it looks like if you are thinking about giving a party and need a reason ( WHO NEEDS A REASON FOR A PARTY ? LOL!) to throw one , just make a choice of one of the above and have a great time ! Happy Whatever everyone !!!

Got The Christmas Blues

There are like 8 more days until Christmas and I am sooo home sick for all the festivities my family in the US are enjoying  .I am  DYING because I keep thinking about all the bargin sales that can be had in every store right now.I want to shop til I drop . I want to by a Christmas tree and decorate it. I want to drink eggnog , and I don't particularly like eggnog , lol .I want to go looking at Christmas lights at night with my kids and grandaughters for their 1st time .I want to go to parties too . And have Christmas dinner with all the trimmings !I want to eat stupid nasty fruit cake that no one ever likes, but eats, because that's what you do at Christmas .I want the whole thing !Oh well , there is always tomorrow Scarlet !

Things that make me think of Christmas.

 

   

 

 

 

Merry Christmas !

All paintings seen here may be found at the original paintings for sale / Daily Painters web site .