It's December. Merry Christmas!

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm officially a naughty blogger. Just one post for all of November? Geez. And by the looks of it, December is not getting any better. It's already the fifth of the month for goodness sake! Sorry folks, I know you're not into lame excuses but life seems to heat up around the holidays, doesn't it? And by the holidays I mean Christmas, because here in Bermuda, it's all about Christmas. No beatin' around the bush either. This being a Christian nation the island is awash in Christmas cheer, which means just about everywhere you go these days you'll be greeted with a festive "Merry Christmas" rather than the oh-so-PC "Happy Holidays." Fine by me. In fact, Bermuda is jam-packed with cheery Christmas activities all month long. Why just last weekend my family and I attended the St. George walkabout, when the historic homes of Bermuda's oldest town open their doors for Christmas merriment (in case you don't know what that means, think mulled wine and rum-spiked egg nog by the fireplace, multiply that by 20 cedar-laden homes, add a dash of rum cake and some dancing in King's Square and you'll begin to imagine what it's all about; see above, that's what Town Hall looked like). A good time for all and no doubt the beginning of more to come—like the Christmas Boat Parade next weekend, when vessels of all kinds get wrapped in twinkling lights and parade around Hamilton Harbor (here's a picture of the giant multi-colored Michael Jackson, which adorned the winning boat two years ago; groovy, I know). So as I conclude, let this be a warning that while my posts throughout December may be sporatic, I'll do my best to keep you filled with as much Christmas cheer from Bermuda as possible.

Like Animated Classics? Thank Bermuda.

I’m a sucker for cheap animation and of course, for evergreen characters like Hermey the elf who instead of making toys just wants to become a dentist (you go Hermey!). A cheerful narration by Burl Ives doesn’t hurt either. Nor does a slate of original Christmas tunes like “Misfits,” which you can watch on the short video above. So what does this all have to do with Bermuda? Well my friends, I’m happy to report that “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” the 46-year-old, much-beloved holiday special was created by none other than Arthur Rankin Jr., a native Bermudian who also created animated favorites “Frosty the Snowman” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” The special originally aired on December 6, 1964 on NBC and it remains the longest-running highest-rated show of its kind in the history of American television. In fact, with an estimated 11.9 million viewers according to Nielsen ratings, it just beat out the oh-so-popular Fox program Glee when it aired on CBS last week. I guess Santa Claus knows where Bermuda is after all! I told you it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

It's December, which means the halls are being decked, eggs are getting nogged and my Christmas tree will soon be delivered to my front door (Seriously. I can't get a large pizza delivered to my home, but a balsam from North Carolina? No problem!). This weekend also welcomed Bermuda's annual Christmas parade, complete with high school marching bands and the island's famous Gombeys—traditional Bermudian folk dancers in brightly colored costumes. That's them in the photo above and with a full calendar of holiday events slated for December no doubt we'll be seeing more and more of the festive troop throughout the month. In the meantime for more pictures of Bermuda's Christmas Parade check out Bernews. Only 24 days left till Christmas, folks!