Elaine King's Real Estate Blog

From my home to yours, I send to you my sincere wishes for a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!  Each home celebrates this holiday differently, which makes this day so special.  Most of our traditions did not start in the US, but came from others.  Perhaps that is why this season is known for its sharing?  Below are some fun facts of this wonderful winter celebration. ENJOY!

Christmas is from Christ Mass. In the 4th century, the celebration of Christ’s birth on December 25 was gradually adopted by most Eastern churches to counteract the effects of two “pagan” winter festivals: 1)Saturnalia, a well-known festival in Rome and 2) the birthday celebration of Mithra, the Iranian god of light.

We can thank Santa Claus’ birth to Clement Clarke Moore, an Episcopal minister.  In 1822, he wrote a long Christmas poem for his three daughters entitled, “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas”.  This poem created a new and immediately popular American icon. In 1881, Thomas Nast drew on Moore’s poem to create the first likeness that matches our modern image of Santa Claus. His cartoon, which appeared in Harper’s Weekly, depicted Santa as a rotund, cheerful man with a full, white beard, holding a sack laden with toys for lucky children.

We adopted the Christmas card from England and the Christmas tree from Germany.  (FYI – there are 30-35 million real Christmas trees sold in the US alone.)  Also, construction workers started the Rockefeller Christmas Tree tradition in 1931.

Rudolph, “the most famous reindeer of all,” was the product of Robert L. May’s imagination in 1939. The copywriter wrote a poem about the reindeer to help lure customers into the Montgomery Ward department store.

Finally, Poinsettia plants are named after Joel R. Poinsett, an American minister to Mexico, who brought the red-and-green plant from Mexico to America in 1828.   Did you know that one million poinsettias are used to decorate Walt Disney World each Christmas season?  WOW – That is a lot of plants!

MERRY CHRISTMAS and enjoy the celebration.

Two new books just came out that chronicle our recent financial disaster.  The first book, by Andrew Ross Sokin, is called “Too Big to Fail”, and the second by Charles Gasparino is called “The Sellout”.  According to the review below, by Greg Jahnke, both of these books move rapidly.   

“The Sellout” apparently does a better job going into the origin of the crisis, but “Too Big to Fail” gets somewhat personal, mentioning at the height of the crisis, Secretary Paulson’s personal actions behind closed doors.  According to Jahnke, “Too Big to Fail” gives the reader an insider’s version of the various meetings that took place.

Here is the link to a more complete read of the article:

http://www.prudentbear.com/index.php/guestcommentaryview?art_id=10320

Please note Kanjorki’s reply to a caller regarding the bailout:  “If they had not done it, their estimation was that by two o’clock that afternoon, 5 ½ trillion dollars would have been drawn out of the money market system of the US, and it would have collapsed the entire economy of the US, and within 24 hours the world economy would have collapsed.”

 I guess I shouldn’t feel bad when my checkbook doesn’t balance! 

Yesterday and today, I was awed by our tallest geographic beauty, Mount Diablo. At 3864 square feet, she is mostly ignored. However, last night (12/7 in honor of Pearl Harbor), the aircraft beacon was lit. As I walked my dog last night and early this AM, the beacon was evident and it kept drawing my eyes to the top. I wish it was lit more often than once a year, for the sight brings back a time long ago when beacons were symbols of bringing people home.

Later this morning, I shot this photo of Mt Diablo dusted in snow.  Its beauty is evident!  Please take time today to appreciate the beauty of our area, our freedom and maybe even serve as a beacon of light to another.  Have a great day!

If you are looking for a fun weekend, head to Benicia this weekend.  The Benicia glass studios will be open for tour; it  is a fun event for young and old!  The Nourot Studios have been a favorite of mine to go to, and it is not uncommon to spend hours at their studio watching the craftsman at work.  It is amazing watching them craft a beautiful vase or bowl from this red hot burning cylinder.  The event is Thursday, December 3rd thru Sunday, December 6th.  There will be signs and maps at each of the locations.

Also on Sunday, world famous pipe organ manufacturer Schoenstein & Company will be hosting an open house from 2:00-5:00 PM at their Benicia plant.  On display will be a three manual, 24 rank organ in the final stages of assembly that will be installed in the Chapel of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, in January. You will be able to play this organ as well as its companion instrument, a three rank, one manual organ to be installed in the chancel of the same building.   Schoenstein & Co. is located at 4001 Industrial Way in Benicia’s Industrial Park.

If you can make it on Friday night, December 4th, Benicia is having their tree lighting ceremony in the city park on 1st street and yearly Downtown Open House from 6PM-9PM.  First Street merchants host this ever-popular open house at the beginning of the Christmas Season.  Merchants offer beverages and treats and show off their holiday goods while costumed carolers sing traditional Christmas music.  Live entertainment, wagon rides, and wine tasting add a festive atmostphere to this family event.  Dress warmly and be prepared to enjoy the holiday spirit!

For more information on Benicia events, click here!  If not this weekend, you owe it to yourself to enjoy the many fun events that this city hosts.  If you are interested in Benicia real estate, please let me know.

HAPPY DECEMBER!!!

The Date:  The first Thanksgiving was on September 8, 1565 near St. Augustine, Florida. Thanksgiving started as a traditional New England holiday that celebrated family and community. It descended from Puritan days of fasting and festive rejoicing.  Abraham Lincoln, thanks to the lobbying efforts of writer Sarah Hale, proclaimed an annual national day of thanks in 1863 for the many blessings enjoyed by Americans. 

Later in the 19th century, the popular image of the “First Thanksgiving” finally took root.  (After the Indian Wars had ended.)  It would be highly unlikely for settlers and native Americans to engage in a joint gathering to give thanks during this period of time.

In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt modified Lincoln’s chosen date of the last Thursday of November to the second-to-last Thursday of November in order to extend the post-Thanksgiving, pre-Christmas shopping season.   Then in 1942 FDR signed a law making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday of November, a law which is still in effect today.

Why a Turkey?  One story tells of Queen Elizabeth (16th century England eating a roast goose at a harvest festival, and upon hearing that the Spanish Armada had sunk on its way to attack England, the queen ordered up a second goose to celebrate the great news.  Thus, the goose became the favorite bird at harvest time in England. When the Pilgrims arrived in America from England, roasted turkey replaced roasted goose as the main cuisine because wild turkeys were more abundant and easier to find than geese.

Why Pumpkin Pie?   In 1621, at the first Thanksgiving celebrated by the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts, they ate pumpkin custard flavored with maple syrup and spices, baked in pumpkin shells.  The beloved Thanksgiving pumpkin pie may have evolved from this treat.  In 1796, an American cookbook, American cookery, by an American orphan by Amelia Simmons, was published. It was the first American cookbook written and published in America, and the first cook book that developed recipes for foods native to America.  Her pumpkin puddings were baked in a crust and similar to present day pumpkin pies.

Wishing you…  A day enjoying the foods that you enjoy the most.  (Mine are the turkey leg and pumpkin pie).  Sincere Thanksgiving wishes for a day spent with loving friends and family enjoying great food.  I personally give thanks for my health, the abundance of America, for family & friends, and for the day we set-aside to give gratitude. 

For your enjoyment here is a link to an Iroquis prayer of thanks and a fun Thanksgiving Trivia Link.    HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Interestingly, my first BLOG comes on Labor Day; a day to honor the laborer.  As I sit at my home office, I can’t help but think back to my first job and see how technology has changed this day.  My first Labor Day, as an employed individual, was working as a bank teller at a local savings & loan in Southern California.  I was excited for the 3-day weekend, but first we had to handle all the clients standing in line on a Friday night to cash their checks.  The holiday lines were at least 10 deep, full of blue collar workers, construction folks, ladies in dresses/skirts, guys in polyester suits, and several customers with lighted cigarettes.

Yes, waiting in long lines at lunch hour and after work on Fridays to cash your check was “normal”.  In fact, one could use their entire lunch hour traveling from/back to work and waiting in line to cash a check.  Savings & Loans were NOT open on Saturdays, so it was Friday or Tuesday.  If it was the first of the month, the lines were even longer to accommodate the folks getting government checks.

Would we have the patience now to wait in those lines?  Wait without cell phones, i-pods, and pocket calculators?   Automation has allowed us to to do banking whenever we want, or do it at home on the computer.   Tellers had to balance their drawer with an adding machine tape, pen and paper, and could not leave until it was balanced.  It is now so much easier and home offices are convenient!  Technology has simplified aspects of our lives, but has it made our lives easier?  We would complain about the lines today, complain about the balancing, but have laborers lost jobs because of it?  Would we give up technology if it would add back the jobs?