Christmas is a personal holiday. The older we get, the more memories we collect of time shared with others. When I saw @shaka's photo and read his invitation to make a holiday blog, the past flooded into the present.
The Template Photo Posted by @shaka
I thought of a clock, a highly polished grandfather clock, that used to chime upon the hour. The clock stood in my Uncle John's front entrance hall. I remember only happy moments in Uncle John's house. The best of those moments were at Christmas.
As readers of this blog know, for the first eleven years of my life I lived in rural New York. My family had economic challenges. There was no money for 'extras'. But every Christmas and Easter Uncle John would send us cash, so we could take a New York Central train to New York City.
Grand Central Terminal, 2009
Image credit: Kcdtsg(David) at en.wikipedia. Public domain.
New York City is impressive to anyone. For us, it was fairyland. All the concerns we had back home disappeared. My uncle and his wife, Aunt Anna, opened their home. They took us to the circus, and Rockefeller Center. They served bountiful meals, gave beautiful presents, and held house parties. My aunt sewed dresses for me and my two sisters.
Here I am in an Easter dress Aunt Anna made one year.
I believe it was 1952 that Uncle John went on his tour to Europe. He came home with souvenirs for everyone, especially souvenirs from the Vatican. The most precious souvenir he bought for himself was the grandfather clock. He had it shipped from Italy.
Once the clock had taken its place in the front hall, it dominated the house. Each hour, it reminded us of its magnificence, and of Uncle John's Grand Tour.
The SS United States on Its Maiden Voyage in 1952
Image credit: 'My late father'(Unknown name): Public domain
I don't know which cruise ship my uncle took on his tour, but the SS United States made its maiden voyage in 1952. I can imagine Uncle John on the ship.
The chiming of the grandfather clock became a part of every memory in that house. Its chiming marked the hours. These passed too quickly, for in a week the fairy tale would end (as all fairy tales must), and we would return to the challenges that faced us at home.
It's hard to know why the mind puts ideas together the way it does, but when I saw @shaka's little cabin and thought at the same time about Christmas, Uncle John's clock was before my eyes. The cabin looked like the casing from which the melodious chimes sounded. The manger, the tree, the star of Bethlehem--all of it came together seamlessly for me.
Making the collage was a happy experience.
My Collage
I needed a grandfather clock, courtesy Anaterate on Pixabay
Then I needed to find a porch or balcony to put in front of @shaka's cabin--for Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus to sit on. I found that, courtesy of Pixibairis on Pixabay
I needed Mr. and Mrs. Claus, courtesy of Photoman on Pixabay
I found a Christmas village, courtesy of Couleur on Pixabay. Then I doubled the forest in @shaka's picture and placed that behind the village.
I placed the modified cabin, with Mr. and Mrs. Claus, on top of the clock, and put the clock in the center of the village:
I needed a Christmas tree, courtesy of finemayer on Pixabay
A few more modifications:
A manger, courtesy of Papazachariasa on Pixabay
and
Carolers, courtesy of no-longer-here on Pixabay.
The star came from Paint, the candles from Paint 3D. Lighting effects and GIF were accomplished with the help of GIMP.
Snow effect was created with LunaPic.
For those of my readers who celebrate Christmas, I hope you are able to find joy in these difficult times. To everyone else, I hope the season brings you peace and good health.
To @shaka, thank you. You can see I've had another pleasant excursion in the LMAC collage challenge. Thank you for the memories :))
The invitation to participate in this lovely exercise is open to all, enthusiasm the only requirement. The reward is a community of supportive collagists (yes, that's a word!), and the chance to win prizes. Check out @shaka's blog to see other collages, and to learn the rules of engagement. LMAC even has a collage school, with lesson plans prepared by our patient, resident teacher @quantumg.
Happy Solstice ✨ Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Thank you very much, @shasta! Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and of course, Happy Solstice :)
🎇 🎄 🎅 🎆
A great Christmas collage!
I think your phrase captures the essence of Christmas. "Happy moments" / "Best moments".
Undoubtedly, the memories of our lives increase with our age, 😄😃.
Merry Christmas!
Thank you very much, my friend. Christmas is an invitation to put aside our cynicism, for just a bit, and pretend the world is a kind place. We don't have to be adults always, do we?
I appreciate your visit and your reblog. All my votes are used up (I'm a spendthrift!), so I'll have to upvote this tomorrow or the next day.
I wish you peace and contentment, despite the challenges I know you face every day. Merry Christmas dear @marcybetancourt.
Hello friend, what a beautiful writing in your collage that reflects the pleasant company of your family at Christmas with your uncle who left a great family legacy. Merry Christmas, good luck in the contest.Excellent your collage.
Thank you my friend for your wonderful words, and for appreciating the profile of my Uncle. Yes, a legacy. Christmas is a time for legacy.
Have safe and happy holiday with your family.
Merry Christmas Friend
Merry Christmas Friend
🎄 🎅
I think happy memories and the kindness from others are the ones that stay with us. It would be nice to go back, for even a hour, to tell them what they did to make Christmas special stayed in your heart forever.💞
You had a kind and generous Aunt and Uncle A.G. and the grandfather clock is a wonderful memory. That’s a marvellous village. Love the moving Santa with his missus on the top of the clock, the star and sparkling Christmas tree.
A lovely dress your Aunt made for you. You look lovely but your face isn’t very clear in the photo.
Tip
It is a joy for me to share the memory of these wonderful people. Their generosity extended to others. What an amazing example they set for me. It's only as an adult that I realize how much they gave.
Thank you for enjoying this personal blog. My aunt was a pattern maker in the garment district, so she got all the great designs before they appeared in stores. If she made you a dress, you were bound to look good :))
Thank you, @redheadpei for your kind words and your tip. Once again, you have to wait for my upvote. I keep spending votes faster than I earn them (just like money in my actual wallet... which also empties quickly).
Merry Christmas friend. May we all have a more healthful New Year.
How beautiful and interesting, congratulations, in this year I wish the best for you and your family, it was nice to go through here. Seeing this publication I felt like a girl discovering the most beautiful things about Christmas and the memories are part of it. Greetings with affection from 🇻🇪😘
Que hermoso e interesante, felicidades, en este año deseo lo mejor para ti y tu familia, fue lindo pasar por aqui. Viendo esta publicación me sentí como una niña descubriendo lo más hermoso de la navidad y los recuerdos forman parte de ella. Saludos con cariño desde 🇻🇪😘
What a wonderful comment. Thank you very much for visiting my blog and for appreciating my collage. Christmas is about family and memories. I'm glad this reminded you happy times.
🤗🥳🌲🇻🇪💝
Thanks for sharing your memories with us and for this wonderful, colorful and kitschy collage.
Good luck with it! 😎
Thank you, my friend. I'm glad my kitsch and cheer do not distress you. You are kind to describe my pedestrian collage as 'wonderful'. I love it when you can see merit in my rough attempts at 'art'.
Please be well there in Portugal :)
Dear @agmoore, I will tell you a secret, now that Christmas is approaching. It's very special for me to come and see your collages in every edition. I think we share some reading affinities; maybe some form of sensitivity. Christmas as a personal experience of memory is a concept that I recognize, and you have managed to put it in beautiful family photography keys. You look beautiful in the photo, by the way!
Christmas has always been a happy time in my family. For a few years now we have not had the abundance of previous years, but we have always managed to get together to eat and drink at my father's house, around a huge table where several generations meet.
Your post has pulled a beautifully colored thread from the skein of my memory. Memory is time, right? Maybe Uncle John's watch has ended up becoming an emblem of your own family memory. A sweet memory, associated to the house.
Merry Christmas, dear @agmoore!
¡Feliz Navidad!
Thank you my friend @adncabrera for appreciating my collage. It is a pleasure to share memories of my wonderful uncle and aunt. They deserve such respect and honor. The clock is a perfect emblem of their memory. Yes!
I'm glad you perceive a sympathy between our world views. The beauty of this platform is that it brings people together. So easy to see differences, but an open heart and mind senses sympathies.
I believe I understand somewhat the hardship you and others suffer today in Venezuela. When I was very young, as you may guess from this blog, the necessities of life were often wanting. There were tragic events. This experience was instructive. I survived, and learned what no book or play could teach.
As for our reading inclinations: you may have guessed (and I hinted on your post tonight) that I studied comparative literature. A comparatist has a perspective, a habit of looking across cultures and past cosmetic differences. (Though no one can accuse me of being a 'serious' student--I'm a dilettante 😆.) A comparatist rarely sees something in isolation, but almost always in relation to something else.
Thank you for your kind comments and for visiting my blog. This is always a pleasure.
Merry Christmas. Health and peace to you and your loved ones.
Hermoso collage, muy propio para una postal navideña. Suerte! 👍
Thank you very much. Yes, I can imagine a Christmas card like that. What a nice thought.
Have a Merry Christmas!
Beautiful collage and blog about happy memories including Christmas. This holiday season will be tough but next year will be wonderful. Great job.
Hello @pokerm. Thank you for your kind comment. It's a pleasure to share these memories with nice people like you.
I wish you Merry Christmas and I wish all of us a more peaceful New Year.
Ho Ho Ho! @agmoore, one of your Hive friends wishes you a Merry Christmas and asked me to give you a new badge!
HiveBuzz wish you a Merry Christmas!
May you have good health, abundance and everlasting joy in your life.
To find out who wanted you to receive this special gift, click here!
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
Do not miss the last post from @hivebuzz:
Thank you, @hivebuzz. Merry Christmas to your busy crew :)
Merry Christmas to you and your family 🎅