by Bernadette Nason | May 4, 2015 | Uncategorized
On a clear, sunny day exactly eight years ago, my brother and I picked up our mother’s ashes from Steele’s, the funeral directors on Chesil Street, at the bottom of Winchester High Street, just past King Alfie’s statue, over the bridge by the City...
by Bernadette Nason | Dec 24, 2014 | Uncategorized
I must be honest with you. I really hate this song. However, I hate it less now I’ve researched it. Here’s a little back-story from Wikipedia: “Jingle Bells” is one of the best-known and commonly sung American Christmas songs in the world. It...
by Bernadette Nason | Dec 23, 2014 | Uncategorized
When I worked for an irrigation/landscaping company near the Dubai Trade Centre, I was provided a charming apartment in Satwa, just off what we called “Satwa High Street,” quite close to Jumeirah beach. The apartment building was named, “The Pizza...
by Bernadette Nason | Dec 23, 2014 | Uncategorized
And now, as we get closer to Christmas Day itself, here’s Ebenezer Scrooge’s confrontation with “The Last of the Spirits” Scrooge with the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come Chapter 4 – The Last of the Spirits The Phantom slowly, gravely,...
by Bernadette Nason | Dec 21, 2014 | Uncategorized
Those who have followed my ramblings about life in Libya, both from TEA IN TRIPOLI and my blogs, will know that the search for seasonal spirit during my only Christmas in that country was rigorous and futile. I’ve always wondered whether my mood could have been...
by Bernadette Nason | Dec 18, 2014 | Uncategorized
Given the frenzy of gift-giving that takes place around the holiday season, I’ve been researching the history of Christmas presents. I found the following in my thrift store almanack: Gift-giving at the winter solstice goes back to the Roman festivals of...
by Bernadette Nason | Dec 16, 2014 | Uncategorized
A WINTER WALK AROUND WINCHESTER, CHRISTMAS DAY 2012 Oh no, Santa’s lost his hat! We’d better come back this way later to see if we can help. Walking by St. Cross, just outside Winchester, St. Catherine’s Hill in the distance “Maybe Father...
by Bernadette Nason | Dec 15, 2014 | Uncategorized
CHRISTMAS DAY 1987 AT THE JEBEL ALI HOTEL, DUBAI Who’s this, arriving in a Rolls Royce all covered with balloons? When there are no chimneys to speak of, how does Father Christmas, a.k.a. Santa Claus, arrive? Well, when I worked at the Jebel Ali Hotel in Dubai,...
by Bernadette Nason | Dec 15, 2014 | Uncategorized
As I head out this morning to begin a week’s worth of school presentations of Charles Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL, I thought I’d share the little lexicon I distribute to help students understand the story a little better. This is also in the program...
by Bernadette Nason | Dec 14, 2014 | Uncategorized
KING ARTHUR AND CHRISTMAS DAY According to Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte d’Arthur, the fifteenth-century romance of the semi-mythical English king, Merlin the magician called the nobles together on Christmas Day for a sign as to who was their rightful king....
