6 • December 2016 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC. Christmas by Gabriel A. Fraire ~
gafraire@comcast.net
Healdsburg, CA. ~ Christ- mas is for kids, those young in body or in heart and that was never made more obvi- ous to me than when we had children. With small chil- dren everything about Christmas time is fun. They play with the wrap- pings, the empty boxes. They mar- vel at the lights and shinning things. Each year we tried
to constrain ourselves but each year we’d go nuts. We decorated the house, hunted the woods for trees, went car- oling, made Christmas cook- ies, all because we had chil- dren. The excitement in their eyes was worth it. If you are not a fan of Christmas have
children and you will become a fan. I take that back, that’s one of the worst reasons to have children.
Children do seem to have so much fun at this time of year and it is contagious.
But giving should mean more than just material pres- ents so we would volunteer time in the community. We also made an effort to inform
them of the holiday miracles. We would read the story of the birth of baby Jesus. We’d visit different church denom- inations to see how each hon- ored the day. We studied the Jewish holiday of Chanukah, Mexico’s Feast of the Kings, and even introduced them to
Kwanza (a Black celebra- tion). We did not pretend Santa Claus was real but explained that Santa was a symbol that represented the Christmas spirit of giving and caring. And that is what I believe is the best part about Christmas, that people seem to make an extra effort to care about oth- ers. Enjoy the holidays, en- joy each other and be thank- ful for all we have.
These columns are excerpts from the book Daddy I Need to Go Potty by Gabriel A. Fraire. Fraire has been a writer more than 40 years. He can be reached through his website:
www.gabrielfraire.com
(a leisurely 1/2 hour drive from a place called Union Creek. For 18 dollars a night you can camp in nature with plenty of delicious mountain water for campfire cooking, fish daily and hike for-ever, hypotheti- cally speaking. A Crater Lake visit makes the trip even more enjoyable, and to me, keeps me humble. Aſter all, our planet is still growing and evolving ev- ery minute. One day, it would be great to visit Hawaii and do a photo shoot of one of the many ongoing eruptions! By the way, the name of the cinder cone is Wizard Island. Te crater was originally named the “Witches Cauldron” by William Glad-
stone Steel in 1885, who also called it Wizard Island , the current name most commonly used. It’ is also wonderful that the vista points on the lake are handicapped accessible! Travel is good for all of us.
It opens our eyes and allows for new thoughts and Ideas. I hope to travel all of my life. I also want to wish all of you
a wonderful Christmas or what ever you celebrate at this time of the year!
May this issue find you well! Nature’s Masterpieces! ... continued from page 2
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6 • December 2016 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC. Don’t aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally. ~ David Frost
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