Holiday Celebration at the Governor’s Mansion

We came back to Atlanta on Monday evening, 28 December, after having spent a fun week with our daughter and family in Columbus, Ohio. Sunday night, the night before we left Columbus, it snowed. Early on Monday before we drove to the airport, I just had time to take a couple of pictures.

This is the way the street looked upon our departure –

Click on picture to enlarge it

and the view from the aircraft.



When we landed in Atlanta, it was cool but quite sunny, just as when we left Atlanta a week earlier. I wished it had snowed especially when we visited the Georgia Governor’s Mansion the week before Christmas. The mansion was beautifully decorated for the season and the Holiday celebration. Because of the mild weather there were still some roses in the garden.



and a gorgeous tree still had his glorious fall colors.



We are a long way from Ohio and the snow. Actually it is 600 miles or 965 kilometers from Atlanta to Columbus, Ohio. So, let’s enter the Governor’s Mansion (I took so many pictures that I’ll have to place them in various collages. Please click on the pictures to see them up close,)



The home of Georgia governors was completed in 1968 on an eighteen acre estate in North West Atlanta, in the Buckhead area, one of Atlanta’s poshest neighborhoods. The 30 room Greek revival style home is furnished with a fine collection of antiques from the Federalist Period. The mansion is decorated during the Holidays and this year the theme was to depict the vibrant hues and spirit of the season.



Each room had a different theme with brightly decorated trees.



A candy room was guarded by toy soldiers.



The tables had been set with elegant china and crystal. We would have loved to sit and start sampling the savories which were going to be served.



Instead we observed the teddy bear family watching the electric train running at the base of the tree below.




Musical groups from across the state were performing for this festive occasion. The day we were there it was great to listen to holiday music from the Roswell High School Chamber Orchestra, the Voices of Vaughn and the White County Intermediate School.

Don't forget to click on the pictures to enlarge them

Then we all took a cookie break. The cookies had been home-baked by the tour hosts and were served with spiced cider. As soon as a cookie was picked a server would replace it.



As we were close to leaving this beautifully decorated mansion I took some final pictures. I especially liked a table arrangement in front of a tall antique mirror. I shot some close-up pictures of the gorgeous sterling silver candelabra and the ornate silver pitcher. If you look closely in the center of the pitcher you can see my reflection as I took the photo.



There were many Christmas trees in various rooms, each one decorated with sparkling ornaments. For most people Christmas has already passed, but not for all. As I mentioned in my last post, the Eastern Orthodox Christians who follow the Julian calendar (which is 13 days after the Gregorian calendar used by most countries) will celebrate their Christmas next week, on 7 January (members in the USA, Armenia, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, Republic of Georgia, of Macedonia, Moldova, etc.) Long after the stores have stopped their Christmas music and people are no longer sending Christmas cards, the Orthodox Christians are still waiting to celebrate Christmas (approximately 1,500,000 people in the US.) To them, including members of my father’s family, I wish a very merry Christmas and place the Christmas tree collage below:

Reluctantly we left the mansion and walked back to our car.

We left the holiday celebration at the Georgia Governor’s Mansion a couple weeks ago and now we are seeing the end of 2009 as well as the first decade of the 21st century. In just a few hours we shall celebrate the New Year. While I was in Columbus I found some vintage postcards with New Year greetings. So please accept the following cards as virtual cards to wish you a Prosperous 2010. I hope the coming year will include more happiness, good fortune, joy, and love than you can imagine.

The card below was sent in December 1909 by Lois Bailey to her cousin Miss Mildred Reibel of Columbus, Ohio. The card is 100 years old but the wishes have not changed.



These are my wishes for you -

"…le seul fait de rêver est déjà très important,
Je vous souhaite des rêves à n’en plus finir et l’envie furieuse
d’en réaliser quelques-uns,
Je vous souhaite d’aimer ce qu’il faut aimer
Et d’oublier ce qu’il faut oublier
Je vous souhaite des passions
Je vous souhaite des silences
Je vous souhaite des chants d'oiseaux au réveil
et des rires d'enfants
Je vous souhaite de résister à l'enlisement, à l'indifférence
Aux vertus négatives de notre époque.
Je vous souhaite surtout d'être vous.
L’aventure c’est le trésor
Que l’on découvre à chaque matin.”
-Jacques Brel, 1968 (Belgian singer, 1929-1978)

I shall try to translate it -

“…the mere fact of dreaming is already very important,
I wish you endless dreams and the fervent desire
to achieve some of them
I wish you to love what/who needs to be loved
and to forget what/who needs to be forgotten
I wish you passions
I wish you silences
I wish you bird songs upon awakening
and the laughter of children
I wish that you can resist quagmires, indifferences,
and the negative virtues of our time.
I especially wish for you to be yourself.
Adventure is the treasure
Which you discover in each morning."
-Jacques Brel, 1968 (Belgian singer, 1929-1978)