This the 18th consecutive year we've come home to my wife's childhood home, an 1850s farmhouse called Hickory Top. This visit is a quiet one because of the big storm and pre-planned shift of the big family gathering to Dayton tomorrow afternoon.

After watching a history of Christmas last night, Amy's mom observed that this house should be called Christmas House because it has existed entirely in the era of American-style Christmas, elements of which became popular in the mid-1800s. The name is fitting given all the great holiday memories that these walls contain.

Last night's dinner by candlelight took us back to that simpler era, but for just a short time until I started taking digital camera photos.

So, Merry Christmas from Christmas House!

- mike lee - greenville, oh