christmas

The Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden is in its second year, and it seems to already be a 'thing to do' in St. Louis over the wintry holiday season.

Nikon D7000, 17-55mm @ 55mm, ISO 800, f/2.8, 1/60

I'd rank it almost equal to the great light displays at Our Lady of Snows Shrine, Tilles Park, and the St. Louis Zoo. Along a large portion of the Garden's paths, various light displays take you around some of this historic sites and buildings inside the Garden, and while parts are a bit 'touristy' feeling, the event is nice if the weather cooperates.

My wife came back from the grocery store today and recounted a heartwarming interaction with the bagger in the checkout line:

Wife: "I like that you're always so happy and smiling."

Bagger: "Well, I just like living, you know? Jesus is nice. Things are working out good."

I think this would be a pretty good prayer of thanksgiving during this consumeristic season.

As we approach Christmas, I tried to think of a few gifts that others like me (namely, Catholic web developers and online content producers) could use to help them become more effective in their work.

I came up with a list of items ranging from the Catholic Catechism (I'm surprised by how many of my Catholic friends don't have a copy yet) to the Glif—a tiny but great tripod mount and stand for the iPhone 4/4S—and posted them on Open Source Catholic: The Catholic Developer and Blogger Christmas Wish List 2011.

Every year, it seems there are more and more extravagant displays of programmed Christmas lights. This year is the most impressive so far—so impressive, the tech side of me wants to do something along these lines, while the religious side of me balks at how much time/money was spent on these displays (even if they use LEDs... that's a lot of power, and a lot of cost/material for the bulbs and cords!).

Anyways, for your enjoyment, here are two of my favorite displays:

Little Drummer Boy

This neighborhood synchronized lights to different songs among 13 different houses. Lots of wireless controllers, I presume:

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Merry Christmas! May you have a blessed day with your family, or with the Holy Family in your heart!