I got to thinking this morning that it would be interesting to do a story today on somebody whose last name is Christmas. I was not at all surprised to find that there are two such people here in little ol' St Petersburg, Fla.
I found hundreds and hundreds of them around the country in places like Plaquemine, La.; Charlottesville, Va.; and Jackson, Miss.
- I found April Christmas in Rolling Fork, Miss.
- Carole Christmas is in Fayetteville, N.C.
- Angel Christmas is in Chicago.
I also found 34 Mary Christmases around the country in places like Eagle, Mich.; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Elkton, Ky.; Chicago; San Diego; Reading, Pa.; and Burbank, Calif.
I bet these people have heard every wisecrack in the book.
Al's Elfamorphosis
Thank you to all of you hard-working journalists stuck on the holiday shift. As a way of showing my thanks and love, I have created a little dance routine for you. Enjoy!
Snow Driving
It might be worth posting some travel information on your Web site during this holiday week to help your readers/listeners/viewers travel safely. Many of you have already been smacked hard by winter weather. Click and Clack, the wonderful "Car Talk" guys from National Public Radio have 18 great tips for winter driving.
GaltTech.com has a useful page to help educate you about snow tires and chains in winter driving.
Road Closure and Traffic Information
For travelers, this Web site will be helpful. It is the Transportation Department's collection of road closure and traffic information, constantly updated.
Here is a link to all state departments of transportation.
Here are some other spots worth a look:
Regional Information Links:
International Students at Christmas
When I was a college student, I generally worked through the holidays at a radio station, but the school closed the dorms, so I wound up spending many holidays with the international students living in some rat-hole motel.
These days, schools are more compassionate and some have developed programs that connect international students with local families who take them in. Where and how do international students spend the holidays in your town? With Homeland Security issues as they are, are more international students staying stateside these days? I suspect many cannot get visas to travel home easily.
Governors' Cards
For elected officials, Christmas cards are a big deal. You can see a gallery of governors' cards collected by Stateline.org. This year, both Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California painted their own cards. Bredesen painted a portrait called "Afghan Girl."
In the card, Bredesen wrote:
I met the teenage girl depicted in this painting in March of this year at a primitive school on the Shamali Plains Road outside of Kabul, Afghanistan.
Until recently, under the Taliban, education was forbidden to her. She is now learning to read, and on the day I visited, was studying geography.
While it may seem odd to put a portrait of a young Muslim woman on a Christmas card, this Season reminds us that He loves His children most of all.
May the miracle of Christmas help bring peace and hope to this young woman and her wounded land.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.
