Raymo's Ramblings Archives | Page 9 of 22

RAYMO’S RAMBLINGS – CHRISTMAS EVE TRADITIONS

CHRISTMAS EVE TRADITIONS

It seems everyone anticipates December 24^th because it is a special day to spend with family. Christmas Eve is a quiet night. Not much happening as far as activities in the community. All businesses are usually closed; people are snuggled in their homes.

‘twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, all sorts of memories were being made! Christmas Eve is the perfect night to spend time as a family having fun, laughing and remembering what this holiday is all about. You probably have some family Christmas Eve traditions of your own that you look forward to year after year. I would like to share with you some of our family traditions that we have carried on.

In our family it is tradition to attend Christmas Eve service. I grew up Catholic and I always enjoyed going to midnight mass. Roxie’s family is Lutheran and the candlelight service was their family tradition. We continue to attend Christmas Eve service every year.

Another family tradition has been that the father or grandfather reads the Christmas story out of the Bible. When we are all gathered around the tree, before we open presents we read the Christmas story. Roxie and I changed that up recently and asked our grandchildren to read the story. Sometimes you start new traditions.

When our children were living at home, we started a tradition of someone taking a present under the tree. Whoever’s present that was, the person giving the present would say something kind to that person, like why they appreciated them, or why they loved them.

As far as food went, Raymo family tradition was oyster stew, with lots of oysters in the stew. My mother would always invite friends and neighbors over Christmas Eve day for oyster stew. Roxie’s family ate lefsa, lutefisk and ham balls. A typical Norwegian meal. When our children lived at home we would have a large dinner. Ham, meatballs, turkey, mashed potatoes with lots of gravy, and green bean casserole. Roxie makes the kids favorite food for Christmas Eve dinner.

Another big tradition is later on in the evening our family would always play some sort of board game. When I was younger, I remember my parents and grandparents always playing cards. I hated card playing and still do. Our kids loved to play Pictionary, Scrabble, Life and Monopoly. Some of the best laughs of the night happened playing board games.

Watching a favorite Christmas movie on Christmas Eve is fun to. Our family loves to watch It’s a Wonderful Life, or Elf, and Christmas Vacation. My favorite is watching the Yule log!!

It is always interesting to hear of other familie’s Christmas Eve traditions. Some are very unique and would be fun to incorporate into our family. Enjoy your Christmas Eve with your family. Merry Christmas!

Posted: December 22, 2017
Under: Raymo's Ramblings

1 Comment

RAYMO’S RAMBLINGS -HOW BLOGGING HAS CHANGED ME

HOW BLOGGING HAS CHANGED ME

Last April, a number of friends encouraged me to start a blog. I said no a number of times. I found a number of excuses. I didn’t have the desire to do so. I don’t need another thing to do. I am not a good writer and why would anybody care about what I was doing or what I had to say? Plus, I knew absolutely nothing about blogging.

However, my friends were persistent. They were very encouraging. They told me I was a good storyteller and I needed to put my stories on paper. Finally, I said I would try it for a few months. Well, here we are. It is December and I am still blogging.

Blogging is really awesome. You can blog about literally anything, and ideas for new blogs come from even the most basic of things. It is crazy how easily you can create new content and it’s so much fun because of that. I never stress about a new subject, about upcoming blogs, because there is so much to write about. You really can express yourself.

I write twice a week and release my two blogs on Wednesday and Sunday evening respectively. I have set a few blogging rules for myself. Rule number one: stay positive and encouraging. Rule number two: if I’m sharing personal information about others, get their approval before posting. Rule number three: be kind. Some people have asked me why I don’t blog about politics. My answer: because it divides people. After you read my blog I want you to have a smile on your face.

How has blogging changed me? On my birthday my son, Brandon, printed all my blogs and put them into a book. It has a cover and table of contents with an introduction from Brandon. He said “I created this book so that your grandchildren and great-grandchildren can have a keepsake describing your life”. How cool is that? I had never thought of that while starting my blog. I had not realized how accurately my blogs depicted my thoughts, feelings, and events throughout my life. I would have loved to have a blog that was written by my grandfather, who I did not know very well. I could see what his life was like daily, what his thoughts were, what was important to him.

Something special happens when you put your thoughts down on paper. Blogging has created an outlet for me to write about my experiences…blogging is a way for me to relate to others. It has given me something new to enjoy each time I start typing up a new post.

The support I have received has been incredible. It means a lot that people take time out of their day to read my stories and I thank everyone so much for it.

Posted: December 20, 2017
Under: Raymo's Ramblings

3 Comments

RAYMO’S RAMBLINGS – HEROES

HEROES

You hear the word hero a lot lately. I just heard it on the news tonight. “He’s my hero” or “she is my hero”. That got me thinking about the heroes in my life. I had never really given it much thought about who my heroes are. So I hope this blog gets you thinking about who your heroes are.

What is the definition of a hero? Webster dictionary defines a hero “as a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievement’s or noble qualities”. “Regarded as a role model”. My heroes became role models of noble qualities that I admired. These people have shaped my life.

I study the Bible and read it on a daily basis. It is fascinating to me. I enjoy especially the New Testament; I really admire two people.

Jesus is my hero. Why? He set an example for me on how to live my life. He is the greatest teacher of all time! He changed the world. Paul is also my hero. Why? He met Jesus one day and his life was changed. After persecuting Christians and having them killed for their faith, he became a Christian and was one of the greatest preachers and teachers of the Gospel message. Paul was martyred for his faith. They are my heroes.

Other people I admire and consider to be my heroes are Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther, Jackie Robinson. I also admire people who were like me, just a regular guy who came up with an idea that changed the world. Like Mark Zuckerberg creating Facebook and Bill Gates, Microsoft. Bill Gates and his wife are now giving billions back to make the world a better place.

On a personal level, I have a couple men who are my heroes. My grandpa Raymo and my dad are two such people. Both taught me to treat other people the way I would want to be treated. I really looked up to them and wanted to be like them. Sure they had their faults, we all do, but they were very kind men. Both were outstanding people and loved their families and friends.

Mr. Foxwell, my theater arts teacher in high school is my hero. He believed in me. He saw something in me that nobody else did. He encouraged me all the time. He told me that I have a gift. He taught me to think out of the box. To explore new things. To live life to the fullest. I will always remember him.

The real heroes that I have in my life are family and friends that are firemen, police officers and, EMT’s. They put their lives on the line for us daily. Thank you! Think about your heroes and how they have affected your life. If your hero is still around give your hero a thank you or hug today.

Posted: December 13, 2017
Under: Raymo's Ramblings

RAYMO’S RAMBLINGS – WHY I LOVE WINTER

snowangels

WHY I LOVE WINTER

I often get teased for saying that winter is my favorite season. Sometimes when I tell people that, I get the same look from them as when I tell them I voted for Trump. Like I’m crazy or something and not in my right mind. I am very proud of the fact that winter is my favorite season. I absolutely love the winter season for many reasons.

I spent twelve days in Hawaii in October. The weather in Hawaii stays the same basically year around. How boring is that? While in Hawaii, I often told my wife, that I don’t think I could live in Hawaii because you cannot experience the four seasons. I think that is what makes living in Minnesota exciting, interesting and fun; the vast difference in all the four seasons.

I think the reason I like winter is that I enjoyed it so much as a child. When we lived in New Ulm, I remember the neighborhood kids along with my brothers and sisters playing outside in the snow all the time. We lived across the street from a huge sledding hill. Well it was huge to a child. Now when I drive by that hill it does not seem that big. We spent hours and hours sliding down that hill on toboggans, wooden sleds, and rubber inner tubes.

I don’t know how many winter forts we made in our backyard. My dad would push up a huge pile of snow in our backyard with a front end loader. Then my brothers and sister along with the neighborhood kids would dig tunnels through that huge pile of snow. Some really became big. After it was done, we had our own igloos. If you did that today, it would be considered a little dangerous to have kids crawling in tunnels under a large pile of snow.

Every winter, you could count on us Raymo kids to make many snowmen in our yard in New Ulm. Some of them were pretty creative. I also enjoyed a really good snow ball fight on the school grounds. Making snow angels, eating snow, shoveling snow, it’s all good to me.

When I was a teenager living in Madison, I could not wait for the skating rink to open. I spent many hours playing hockey with my friends. I remember many kids coming to the rink. Playing hockey with my friends was fun, but skating with my girlfriend was better. Roxie was a good ice skater.

Now as an adult, the first snowfall is still exciting to me; I love it. I appreciate the beauty of winter as I grow older. The white snow on the ground, the bright full moon, the cold. It is all good. If I ever move from Madison, we are moving way north, like Northern Alaska, or I could easily become a Canadian living in the Rockies. When you say that winter is your favorite season, you are instantly put in the weirdo category and I am okay with that.

Posted: December 9, 2017
Under: Raymo's Ramblings

RAYMO’S RAMBLINGS – ROAD RAGE AGAINST ME

road-rage-pic

ROAD RAGE AGAINST ME!

The last couple of months I have questioned my driving ability. Twice I pulled out in front of people almost causing an accident. Lately, I went the wrong way in a parking lot garage. Most recently I was daydreaming while approaching a roundabout going sixty miles an hour and had to lock the brakes up!

I’m not really sure at what age you are considered a senior citizen. Or what age or condition you need to be when they take your driver’s license away from you. I’m only 60 years old for crying out loud. I have been told by people that I need to pay attention to what I am doing!!

I’m not going to continue to write about my mishaps on the road, but instead focus on the responses I have received from other drivers that I have offended. I have gotten mad and sometimes really upset at people driving on the road in the past. Never have I given the finger to someone, or followed them, or honked my horn for five minutes. To my complete surprise, I was shocked at how upset people were at me. I made a mistake. It was my fault.

For example, I was in Marshall driving down main street. I was set to merge in the left lane at the intersection of Main Street and East College Drive. The corner of Varsity Pub and Bello Cucina’s. It was my fault, I will admit. I failed to check my blind spot and I turned my blinker on the same time as I started to merge into the left lane. Well “crazy pickup man” had beaten me into the left lane and I did not see him as I was turning left into the lane. So “crazy pickup man” laid on his horn as he backed off and let me in ahead of him. Well, I got up to the stop light and “crazy pickup man” would not let up on his horn! I looked into my rear view mirror and he let me know I was number one! Really?

Second example. As I was in Montevideo, I was taking a right off Main Street and merging onto Highway 7. As you can see I have a problem with merging. As I was coming down the ramp and merging onto highway 7, a vehicle and I met at the same time and neither of us would give up, so i went faster and ahead of him. Once again I got the finger, but this time he followed me with every turn I took. I was just about to call the police on my cell phone when he backed off. He looked to be a smaller man, so if it came to blows outside of our vehicles, I could have taken him. I think.

Thirdly, I parked in a parking ramp across the street from US Bank Stadium during the state football tournament. After the game I got back into my car, backed out and started up the ramp when I noticed the arrows were pointing the other way and some vehicles were coming at me. Well, the man in the front seat with his whole family in the car started honking and once again I got the finger while waving his hands violently at me. I mouthed “I’m sorry” which didn’t matter to him. Crazy people…huh?

Well there you have it. So the next time you see me in my car, and I pull out in front of you or don’t let you merge, please smile and wave nicely. Please don’t give me the finger, because I really don’t know what that means anyways. What is it with the middle finger? I am just a senior citizen trying to survive on the road. Be kind to one another, especially me.

Posted: December 6, 2017
Under: Raymo's Ramblings