Twas the days before Christmas
Twas the days before Christmas and all through Youngstown,
I was all too excited, no need to frown
You see December 25th is my favorite Holiday
The food, family and gifts, I wouldn’t have it any other way
Yep I am home for the Holidays, it is such a great feeling
Done are the stresses of school, finals and reading
Being home means a lot of things
Seeing everybody who loves me makes my bells ring
On my first day back we took a trip to Cleve-land
Not my favorite city but the reason was grand
West Virginia was taking on CSU in a game of basketball
We jumped on the chance, through the snow and made the hour crawl
The Vikings had my Mountaineers on the ropes
But seeing the sea of gold and blue pride was pretty dope.
From the game we drove to a Cleveland Christmas tradition
No we did not go to Lake Erie, for it was too cold for ice fishin’
Instead we made the drive to 11th street
Home of an age old movie-which is really a treat.
I’m sure you are familiar with “A Christmas Story”
Ralphie, the BB gun, the lamp, all so adoring.
The movie was filmed here some year ago
Retracing the steps of the characters made me go ho-ho-ho
Our Christmas journey didn’t stop there
We went to Sharon, PA where the spirit is not bare.
Another of my favorite traditions are the scenes of the season
Kraynaks is a classic store, in business for the right reasons.
You can see Christmas windows full of Holiday cheer
Santas, elves, bears and reindeer
Of course the reason for the season is a baby born today
Here they remind us why we celebrate this way.
Upon leaving I ran into this sign of beauty
A black and gold tree-made me want to shout “Lets Go Bucs” loudly.
The break has started off
great
I wish you all the Merriest of days
Merry Christmas and happy Holidays!
Matthew Peaslee
Well crafted, Matt. Nice photos. Merry Christmas to you.
~ Will the Smiler
What a great post! Have a very Merry Christmas and stay warm. I hear it’s pretty cold in your part of the country.
- http://janeheller.mlblogs.com
Nice work, Matt. My only hope is that your holidays are more enjoyable then the last 17 Pittsburgh Pirates seasons. Cheers!
–Jeff
http://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com/
http://mtrredstatebluestate.com
that was cute!!
Happy Holidays to you as well!!!
http://mimi.mlblogs.com/
p.s. i have to admit I take great joy in watching the Pirates. Y’all have a lot of young and very athletic guys as well. Hope they do better next season.
Merry Christmas to you and your family, hope you have fun and enjoy…:-)
~peter
Outside the Phillies Looking In
http://devilabrit.mlblogs.com
Oh Matt, that was a beautiful post! There is no place like home! I wish you and your family and the your teams the best of the best!!
Emma
http://crzblue.mlblogs.com/
Matt, excellent post. Happy holidays and I hope the Pirates can turn things around when the season begins!
http://hyunyoung.mlblogs.com
Very nice, Matt. Your pictures were awesome. I hope you are having a wonderful time with your family. Stay warm and safe!!!
http://catlovesthedodgers.mlblogs.com
Awesome roadtrip combined with even greater photos.
And you even went on a movie pilgrimage that would of made TBS proud.
24 hours of “Christmas Story” would be totally bearable if I also made a path to 11th Street and saw the house of Ralphie.
Hope you have fun, family and laughter throughout your Christmas Day.
Rays Renegade
http://raysrenegade.mlblogs.com
Great poem, Matt! Very interesting to see the “Christmas Story” house.
I am following what your Mountaineers are doing in basketball, as we will be playing you in Big East play before long! (I am a Marquette grad, before D-Wade arrived).
I do follow your blog, even though I have not posted more than once before, as there are not many bloggers tracking the Pirates. I remember (and watched) your WS 79 team, and I would like the Pirates to be contenders like they regularly were back then. Who knows?
I’m glad the holiday season was a great one for you, and it was a fun read. I hope 2010 is a great year for you, and a better (at least) one for the Bucs. Take care.