My Christmas Top 10.

I tend to get overwhelmed by the sights, sounds and tastes of the season—all in a good way.  Here’s a list (in no particular order) of some of the things that put a tear in my eye and a song in my heart...

Food

Fruitcake (with fake fruit)

Red raspberry filled candies

Egg nog

Banana bread smeared with butter

A grapefruit for Christmas breakfast

Slice after slice of ham

Swedish meatballs

Orange sticks

Ribbon hard-tack candy

Sugar cookies from Mom’s old cutters

Music

Goodyear’s Great Songs of Christmas, 1965

John Denver and The Muppets—A Christmas Together

Perry Como—’Twas the Night Before Christmas

John Denver—Rocky Mountain Christmas

Barbra Streisand—A Christmas Album

Bing Crosby—White Christmas

Harry Connick, Jr.—When My Heart Finds Christmas

A Motown Christmas

Johnny Mathis—Merry Christmas

Nat “King” Cole—The Christmas Song

Gifts

Mom’s Scotty Dog Quilt

Little School Desk

Case of Dr Pepper

Fiddler on the Roof and A Chorus Line cast albums

Bean Bag Chair

My First Bike

Doodle Art

A Lite-Brite

Calphalon skillet

Boxed set of ‘50s Records

Sights

Christmas Street (Glen Arbor Drive)

Temple Square (when they did it up big)

Candle light posts, reindeer and carolers with beady eyes

Looking for Santa through Grandma Bishop’s window

Grandma Perry’s porch

The spinning angels tinkling candelabra

Aunt Doris’ cardboard fireplace

Grandma Bishops old plaster nativity scene

The tubing runs in the snow-covered gully

Our living room the year Santa went crazy

Smells

Rum sauce

Pine boughs

Fresh snow

Spray snow

Jovan Musk

Burning logs

Gingerbread dough

Melting plastic from the Time Machine®

Candle wax

Cloves