¹ And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

² (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

³ And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

⁴ And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

⁵ To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

⁶ And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

⁷ And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸ And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

⁹ And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

¹⁰ And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

¹² And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

¹⁴ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

¹⁵ And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

¹⁶ And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

¹⁷ And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

¹⁸ And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

¹⁹ But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

²⁰ And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

—- The Gospel of Saint Luke, Chapter 2, Verses 1 through 20

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head…

Silent night, holy night….

We three kings of Orient are;
bearing gifts we traverse afar,
field and fountain, moor and mountain,
following yonder star.

Penultimate edition!

Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn king!”

Joy to the World! The Lord is Come! Let Earth Receive Her King!

If I cannot bring you comfort, then at least I bring you hope….

Third time is the charm!

Baby, it’s cold outside

All I want for Christmas is you

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart

Language warning, but I’m about done with this nonsense.

Stuart was making his way down the sidewalk a few paces in front of me. A cold wind coming down from the hills that ringed the city blew an odd bit of trash down the dirty, snow-covered street next to us. In the dim light of the full moon, I could see it was a discarded MRE wrapper, probably from one of the aid convoys that had arrived a few days before.

I swept my eyes at the broken windows and roofs across the street for what felt like the thousandth time since we’d stepped out of an alley half a mile back. Snipers almost never made their way down this far into town, but I couldn’t see far enough out into the hills for it to matter, and I had to look at something in between looking for a place to take cover every few seconds.

The wind caught the sweat running down the back of my neck, bringing a chill down my spine. Steam was starting to stream off the curly hair below Stuart’s watch cap, so he was feeling it too.

At my feet, the faint glow of a gas lamp came through a crack in the old curtains someone had hung against a basement window. The locals came out during the day, especially if there was fog, but there wasn’t any food or fuel to be scavenged at this hour. The stumps of trees that used to line the street, cut off as low as they could to gather something to keep folks warm, didn’t offer anything to them after dark, either.

Only fools and people up to no good were out and about after dark. I’m still not sure which category best fit us.

I was glad Stuart didn’t take a moment to look around while my legs were silhouetted, though. Drawing someone’s attention wasn’t a good idea just then.

We came to an intersection with a bigger road, wide enough that there was a cement median in the center. Under the light of the moon, I could see a few dark spots in the concrete where potshots from the hills tagged someone recently.

Another shiver ran down my spine as I strained to see any movement first to our right, then our left.

A distant thunder broke the silence, followed a few seconds later by the crash of something getting hit a few blocks away.

Stuart took a knee in the last doorway, disappearing into the deeper shadow. I did my best to blend into the sidewalk a few steps behind him. We both did our best to look up and down both roads while we caught our breath and waited to see what would happen next. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the little sliver of light behind us wink out.

“South of us,” Stuart breathed out quietly. “Half a click or so?”

He couldn’t see me, but I shrugged. “Far enough, but too close. How much further?”

Stuart opened his mouth to answer, but then stopped and looked to his right.

A sound, piercing the quiet darkness, carried on the wind as another shell crumped into the city. Music, played on violin or something like that, came from the opposite direction of where the mortars were landing.

We stayed still and listened, both to the tune and for the sound of shots or impacts getting closer. Far off, we heard the staccato firing of some rifles, a couple more explosions, then nothing but the music. My breath came out in little puffs as we waited to see if the folks up in the hills had run out of shells or had just gotten bored.

I saw Stuart’s smile in the moonlight as he pushed off from his doorstep and start jogging across the intersection.

“God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay……” His low tenor rose to echo off of the pockmarked buildings around us.

Cursing under my breath, I moved to keep up. Hopefully, we’d be at our destination and safely warming ourselves next to a fire before the musician finished his carol.

Here is the second batch of MidJourney pictures generated from a few lyrics of Christmas carols.

What do you all think?

I’m dreaming, of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know….

I’ll be home for Christmas

Grandma got run over by a reindeer, walking home from our house Christmas Eve