Sunday, December 21, 2008, 07:40

What is This World Coming to?

A week or so ago, I was greatly surprised to read a small blurb from a news release in the local paper that said the state fire code had been changed and live Christmas trees are no longer allowed in churches. Live Christmas trees are no longer permissible in any place of "public assembly," actually.

I had to read it twice to make sure that it said what I thought it had said.

Real Christmas trees are no longer allowed in churches?

Maybe I'm really way far off base here, but it seems to me that a church is a place where a live Christmas tree ought to be.

According to the article, local fire marshals can make the decision about whether to require a church to remove it's real Christmas tree.

Wouldn't that be a fun job to have? To go around telling churches they have to remove their Christmas trees?

As Randy pointed out, in that case, live trees are no longer permissible, either, in the governor's mansion. Or the state capitol.

It's not like the lights on Christmas trees in churches are on all of the time. I think in most cases, the lights are plugged in Sunday morning, stay on during church services, and then are unplugged just before everyone goes home. And most of the lights that you can buy today remain cool to the touch, too.

But that's what the state fire code says -- live Christmas trees are not allowed in places of public assembly.

And then there's the IRS. Our illustrious Internal Revenue Service has informed the telephone cooperative by which my husband is employed that employees may have to pay the 33 percent self-employment tax on the gifts the company gives to employees at Christmas. The company puts on a lovely Christmas party in early December. Every employee ends up with a gift of some sort. Some of the gifts are "gag" gifts, but some are really nice items, too. The employees play various games, and that's how they end up with the gifts. One of the gag gifts last year was a giant teddy bear. The thing looked like it was about 12 feet tall. It was huge.

Now -- let me get this straight. Bankers and investment types from Wall Street can do all sorts of unethical things in the name of making money that throw our economy into a huge turmoil, and not just the economy of the United States, but the world economy, then they come begging to the federal government for help, and the taxpayers are expected to foot a $700 billion bill for baling them out. No questions asked. And at least for now, it appears that no one is going to go to prison for such incompetent mismanagement. And yet, employees at a small company are expected to pay taxes on their Christmas gifts? What's next? Is everyone going to have to declare their Christmas gifts as income and pay taxes on them? Even children?

So there you have it. We have an illegal Christmas tree at our little white country church, and we may have to pay income tax on the coffee pot Randy got as a gift at the company Christmas party? What, if I may ask, has happened to common sense?

Pixie's Red Plaid Blanket
Our little Shetland Sheepdog, Pixie, had an absolutely glorious day on Friday. She got a chance to sleep on her favorite plaid blanket again!

Years ago, Randy refinished an old trunk that my grandmother brought with her from Norway. At first we had it sitting in the west corner of the living room. But it was hard to get at there to put anything in it or to get something out. So we moved moved it to the other corner of the living room. Unfortunately, the corner where we moved it (no where else to put it, really) was "Pixie's" corner. It's the spot between the living room and the dining room. She loves to lay there because she can see pretty much what's going on everywhere in the house. A while back, I put a plaid blanket on top of the trunk because the kitties like to sleep up there.

When Pixie was a tiny puppy, we fixed up a little cubbyhole for her behind the rocking chair with the red plaid blanket folded up for her to sleep on. She loved that plaid blanket. And when she got bigger, I moved it to the corner where we eventually moved the trunk. When we moved the trunk, Pixie lost her spot.

But, wonder of wonders, on Friday, a kitty knocked the plaid blanket off the trunk so that it landed on the floor. Pixie spied that, curled up on the plaid blanket, and that's where she spent most of the day. The blanket now is about two feet from her FAVORITE spot in the house. I suppose I ought to leave the blanket there, even though we've only got about a foot to walk between the blanket and the corner of the piano.

I feel terrible, actually, that Pixie lost her spot when we moved the trunk. I wish I could find somewhere else to put the trunk so Pixie can have her spot back. She certainly does have an attachment to that red plaid blanket. And to her favorite napping place. Not that I blame her. I have favorite napping places, too, that involve nice, warm, soft blankets.

LeAnn R. Ralph
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