Biology and Festivity

I actually tried to e-mail this to my blog just over a week ago, but it didn't go through and I've been too lazy/busy to get around to posting it. So here it is:

I'm feeling festive. We just finished a chapter in Biology about bacteria, so now I'm really bacteria conscious (okay, now I need to sing all of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" whenever I wash my hands to make sure I do it long enough!:). Now you're wondering how I can write a sentence about festivity and in the next breath start prattling about bacteria. I'm crazy, right? I may be crazy, but there is method to my madness. Now we're studying Kingdom Protista, including amoebas and paramecia and stuff. Now, it was bad enough when my teacher told me that I have bacteria in my mouth, but did she have to tell me that I have amoeba swimming around in my mouth as well??!!!! Maybe there's a link as to why my blog is called The Flapping Lingua, like maybe I have amoeba on my tongue or something? Oh dear, now I am rambling and getting more and more random. . . . .

But my Biology teacher sang a song to us in class this morning. She said she couldn't believe she was actually going to do this and hoped she wouldn't laugh, but she thought it would be a good idea to spread a little Christmas cheer for us.

(To be sung to the tune of "Jingle Bells")

"Single Cells"

Single cells, single cells,

See how they divide,

There was one on Christmas Day but now it's multiplied--oh!

Single cells, single cells,

Nothing much to do

But sit around the petri dish dividing into two!

Now wouldn't YOU feel festive after a song like that? Of course it's a cute little ditty, if you like corny little songs like me (though even I have my limit), and my teacher justified it by saying that at least it has a little educational value. So now you and I are never going to forget that amoeba reproduce asexually, right?

But really, I am feeling festive. Who wouldn't in my position? Why, at long last we've gotten our long-awaited for snow and frigid teens weather that we have been desiring. Naturally we've already had snow, but it never lasted more than a few hours, but even though it's only two or three inches it has now lasted for a record of over 24 hours! Though I hear it will melt over the weekend. Forgetting that measly little prospect, we have also gotten our Christmas tree! In fact, after a comfortable candle lit Sabbath meeting, Mom and I decorated it. It's a little shorter than usual, but it's just as lovingly laden as ever with lights, beads, gingerbread men, bows, candles, and ornaments. And that is what makes it beautiful of course: all the old familiar decorations enlivening it into beauty. Especially the lights! Actually, although I think this discussion has been had before on other blogs on other years, but which do you prefer: white or colored lights? I've found that everyone's opinion seems to be based on what they're used to. As for me, I find that white lights are gorgeous, but for some reason I prefer them to be everywhere else but on our own Christmas tree--now that has to sparkle with color and glamor! But each to his own.

So picture this. After a delightful evening shopping at the mall you drive home and watch the snowflakes dart at the wind shield like passing stars. Skipping ahead, it's Friday evening. The powdery snow blankets the dark, icy cold world outside and you sit, snug in your wood heated home, watching the candles flickering in the dark. Except it isn't dark. The Christmas tree, almost bare but for some twinkling lights and beads, bravely casts its glimmer on the dim room and waits for you to decorate it. The only sound is the Alert Men's Christmas choir, all contained in your little Panasonic sound system. Pretty soon you're decorating the tree, choosing from an assortment of angels, snowmen, drummer boys, and the like. Ah, "We've had this ornament since before you were born," your mother says, as she fondly hangs it on a scented bough. As you're hanging things up, you hear that an elderly friend has passed away. Feeling genuinely sad, you're also happy for them that they're spending a peaceful Sabbath evening as well, in a much better place.

Hmm, these candles are too close together, and the white ones should be switched with the burgundy ones so that there isn't too much repetition. At last you're finished, your masterpiece as heavy yet smashing as ever. Your mother pulls out the final box of chocolates from last Christmas, since she kept on saving them for a more special occasion, but now that the next Christmas is coming what can be more special than this? They're a little stale, but they're still chocolate: as rich and satisfying as ever. Then you settle down cosily with a bowl of popcorn and engross yourself in watching It's a Wonderful Life, and it is a wonderful life, isn't it? Now you laugh and cry, and are pretty much convinced that that's got to be one of the best movies ever! And with that happy thought in mind, you write to your brother who is far away, and finally finish up your evening with a blog post. Perhaps now you'll go and start reading A Christmas Carol since you've seen the play millions of times and now own the book.

So now you bid me good night, and I do the same.