The Reason

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

May the peace of the season be with you and your family in the coming year.

Merry Christmas from the Wilsons

The Olympic Torch comes to Windsor

I took the kids tonight to see something that they will probably never see again, and we lucked out. Seeing as how I smashed my finger and it hurts like hell to type, here's some pics of the evening.

Before the torch came around, the bearer waiting was posing with people. I of course, jumped on the chance and shoved my daughter into the frey.

This is a keeper!

The Torch being handed off.

This is one of the bicycle escorts giving instructions to the bearer before he finishes his run. A motorcade followed the runners, buses, police, entertainment trucks to pump up the crowd, you name it. After each runner was done, they had their torches snuffed and got onto a bus full of other torch bearers.

A pic of the crowd at Festival Plaza on the riverfront. I got a kick out of the Greek flag among the see of red and white. You can make out the Renaissance Centre in Detroit in the background, and the stage events on the jumbotron.

We saw the torch twice tonight, we caught it on Huron Church Road, and then again downtown. We went to the west end just to go to Dollarama, and quickly realized we were on the torch route with only 10 minutes to wait! The torch went by us within about six feet.

Finally, I tried to get a close up of the Jumbotron, showing the cauldron being lit. It didn't turn out that well, but we were far back in a crowd of thousands. The MC said that this was the largest crowd they'd seen yet, which of course made the crowd erupt. I'm sure he'd used that line before.

So that's the history making event in Windsor tonight. I have more shots, I will upload them to Facebook. Too bad it was dark, but at least the flame itself - the reason we went, was well spotlighted.

Now, my finger hurts, so I'm done.

Anyone ever seen the flame before?

Merry Christmas.