Christmastime in New Orleans, by Louis Armstrong

Huhu Uet | Wikimedia Commons

Monday Column Reprise

Note from Dan: While I’m on vacation, I’m treating you to some columns from the past. This one originally ran Nov. 28, 2010, and a prompted a huge response, including a few calls and letterS from readers who thought it was serious.

Happy holidays, everyone!

It seems like yesterday when I was writing our last family holiday letter.

Well, it sure has been an action-packed year.

It started way back in February, when dear old Dad moved in after he was diagnosed with stage-three syphilis.

Apparently he’d contracted it in the service decades ago and paid no attention to symptoms from the first two stages.

Silly Dad! Isn’t that just like him?

His symptoms emerged with a vengeance in February.

The good news is, the docs at Carilion Clinic fixed him up with a really nice prosthetic nose. The bad news is, medical science hasn’t yet come up with a prosthetic brain — and Dad’s losing his mind. Read more »

‘Soulful Christmas’ by James Brown

“(I’m dreaming of a) White Christmas”

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by Joey Ramone

Wikimedia Commons | Lower text added by Dan

Thursday Column Reprise

Note from Dan: While I’m on vacation, I’m treating you to oldie-but-goodie columns from the past. This one originally ran Dec. 18, 2012. It brought in mail form Massachusetts, California, and many, many head lice recipes. Fortunately, we haven’t had to use any of those in the Casey household this year.

Friends and relatives have long pondered the Casey family tradition of dining at a Chinese restaurant on Christmas Eve.

The truth is, it was all because of head lice. Hopefully, this will be the last time I have to tell that story.

It began on Christmas Eve 1993 when we lived in Annapolis, Md., which is pretty much the place I grew up.

We had three daughters at the time (our son, Zach, came along later). Caitlin, the eldest, was 6 (she’s now 24) and in first grade. Erin, now 21, was 3. And Anna, now 18, was 5 months old.

Our church had a late-afternoon Christmas Eve Mass for families with young children. We were in the process of getting ready for that. Donna was in the upstairs bathroom with Cait, whose hair she had washed moments earlier.

I heard a blow dryer go on for a moment, and then it shut off and a piercing shriek filled the house.

“Oh, my God!

“Dan — get up here!” Read more »

The Squirrel Nut Zippers — A Johnny Ace Christmas

Some years ago, the small city of Roanoke, Va., gave the world a rock band that can best be described as a cross between Creedence Clearwater Revival and the B-52s. Ladies and gentlemen, Southern Culture on the Skids!

I’m no rap fan, but this is one of my favorite Christmas tunes of all time. A genius combination of peotry, beat & song! Listen to a few times and see if you don’t agree.