Thanksgiving is over and turkey sandwiches and turkey hash will dance in our heads for the next few days. The pushing and shoving on Black Friday all in the name of Christmas spirit is over and now people will be trying to get in the festive spirit and it got me thinking…

Nothing says holiday like Christmas music. I think it is what makes the holidays. How could it be a holiday without the sounds of jingle bells or chestnuts roasting on an open fire? My greatest Christmas spirit memories are of the music. When I was a kid, I got a real kick out of music stars that sang Christmas songs. It was these songs that gave the holiday spirit and made them unforgettable.

Now speaking of unforgettable, I love a good Nat King Cole Christmas. How could it be Christmas without the Christmas Song? Some of the great classics I enjoyed growing up was Frank Sinatra Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Dean Martin Baby It’s Cold Outside, and one of my favorites to this day is Bing Crosby singing little Drummer Boy with David Bowie. Classic!

I don’t think the holiday would be the holiday if we did not hear Elvis singing Blue Christmas. My mother was an Elvis fan and I grew up listening to his renditions of Christmas music. Both of my parents were country fans and we would listen to Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn Christmas albums. That country tone seemed to really put an interesting tone on classic holiday songs. It was Christmas music but to me it had too much of a country flair. I would go into my room, turn on the radio, and listen to rock singers singing my favorite songs.

Then in 1970 I picked up the Jackson Five Christmas album I loved their version of Santa Clause is Coming to Town. It was a far cry from a country Christmas. Soon to follow was the Partridge Family Christmas, which to this day had no idea how I got the album, must of been a gift.

I was in heaven when I got the Beatles Christmas as well as the Beach Boys Christmas album. Motown Christmas made the season even more special for me because there was so much feeling and emotions to these classics. Certainly, Christmas would not be Christmas without the soft pop sounds of the Carpenters and remains close to my heart.

Today as an adult, I still have my favorites. John Lennon War is Over still gives me goose bumps. The Chipmunks singing Christmas Don’t Be Late makes me laugh and reminds me of the child in everyone. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra Carol of the Bells is powerful rendition of this song, it vibrates my soul, and I love to listen to this song especially when accompanied by blinking holiday house lights.

Christmas by far is not my favorite holiday but I do love the lights and the music. So tell me, what is your favorite rendition of a holiday song?

The other day I was driving through town and noticed the majority of the El Con Mall had been torn down. I live way out almost in Vail and so I do not go through town as much as I used to so it was a shock for me to see my old hang out torn down. I know it is just a silly mall, and I am not a big mall walker at all, but for me, El Con represented a big part of my childhood and it got me thinking…

El Con Mall in its hay day sported everything for everyone. Levy’s,
Montgomery Ward, Woolworth Steinfeld’s, Goldwater’s, J. C. Penney, Farrell’s Ice Cream, Skaggs, old time barber shop, toys stores, shoes stores, book stores, you name it, El Con had it. When I was a kid, El Con was the only place to go. Hard to believe it is gone, except for I still saw the Penny’s standing, and that is what is left really.

I loved going to the Penny’s as a kid. It has a restaurant inside of it. They actually served great food. I recall the club sandwich was the best as it had lots of meat on white bread. It just did not get any better than that. If we wanted something different, we would go to Woolworth because they had a sit down diner as well. They had great chocolate shakes and chili on top of spaghetti noodles. Of course as far as food, nothing could beat Farrell’s Ice Cream. They had a great hamburger, fries and a malt and it just could make your day.  El Con Mall once had a food court. It had all kinds of goodies and there was nothing like mall food when you are a kid growing up.

I recall my dentist office was downstairs in Wards. We could get our teeth cleaned, get our hair done, go shopping for clothing, and then go next door and grab a bite to eat. That was the advantage of some of the malls in the younger years. Everything was well priced and convenient.

One of my best memories of El Con Mall was the outdoor fountain. There was often live entertainment out there. As a teen, I played in a trio folk band and we would perform by the fountain. We would go to Bakers
shoes, buy matching earth shoes, go to Penny’s get matching Levi cords, and then go to the fountain and entertain. We did that a few times and thought we were all that and more. I was fifteen years old, that was over thirty-five years ago, but the memory remains fresh in my mind.

Christmas time at the mall was wonderful. They decorated it and the stores were filled with goodies to buy. In the front of the mall there were choirs singing and of course Santa and his helpers. It set the Christmas spirit. It never felt overcrowded and always felt fun and safe. I go to malls now and often feel like I need to duck and take cover. There are people that are plowing you down and the energy make me grateful that I go to a mall maybe once a year if that. Yes I have outgrown my mall days, thank goodness!

El Con has been a “dead mall” for many years now so I am unsure why I will miss it so much.  I suppose it would not be so bad but to see it replaced with cheap clothing stores that I would not be caught dead in is just another reminder that to good old days are gone and being replaced with junk.

Well here’s to you El Con rest in peace, you gave so many of us great times and lots of wonderful memories.

Monsoons are over and the cooler weather is coming. Last
nights strong wind and rain reminded me of the very last monsoon storm out here on the ranch. Sadly, it blew out my 4 year old flat screen TV. They just don’t make electronics the way they used to. I had no TV for a few and it was okay because thank goodness for computers and Hulu. What I love about Hulu is they air all the old TV series and it got me thinking…

I work hard by day, and am on call pretty much 24/7 so before hunkering down for the night, I am a woman who can appreciate a little
light hearted TV. When I discovered my TV was not working, my spouse and I went into the office, turned on the computer and turned on Hulu. I have to say I really enjoyed seeing all the old shows on Hulu. The choice was difficult whatever should I watch?

Flipper won that night. It sure was not like I recalled as a younger child watching it, then again, it never is. What I recall about Flipper is it was sort of like Lassie only instead of a collie, it was a dolphin that always saved the day. I liked flipper as a kid. It was somewhat hip because it was about the ocean and a really far-out dolphin. The gist of the series was a widowed park ranger of sorts named Porter Ricks had two sons Sandy and Bud and  it was about their adventures with the dolphin.

I had the theme song memorized as a kid, and when I heardthe beginning of the show, it all came back to me…

“They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning,
No-one you see, is smarter than he,
And we know Flipper, lives in a world full of wonder,
Flying there-under, under the sea!

The show ran from 1964-1967, it was a total of 88 episodes, which surprised me because it seemed like it ran a lot longer than that when I
was a kid. Probably what I am recalling is all the reruns. What really happened in all reality is apparently the two boys grew up and they had to move on therefore NBC canceled the show.

What was so fun and predictable about the show was there was always so much adventure. It seemed each week Flipper had to rescue someone, and many times, it was the two boys. In researching for this article, I read that Flipper was a female and had two trainers. The network wanted you to believe Flipper was a male, but in reality, male dolphins are more aggressive than females but true to the 60s, females took a back seat, even dolphins.

There was filming done under water, which by 1964 standards  was amazing. Therefore, when I looked at it and watched some episodes, I had to appreciate how far we have come with filming and technology. I love Hulu and now have it on my Roku box so I can have all the old shows readily available. I think that on most days I would choose one of the old shows over some of the stuff on TV. In fact, I think I will feature an old TV shows every occasionally in Retroflections, so what was one of your favorites?