“Let’s glide and slide. It’s snow time!”
It rained during the night. Today is cloudy and dark, but it is warm, mid 50’s. I have no choice but to go out. The larder is empty, no bread, no cream, no cheese, nothing. I need to shop. It is dump day, finally. I have a few more things to load into the trunk. One is a box of litter from Jack’s room upstairs. It is heavy so I take it downstairs one step at a time. Today I miscalculated. I thought I was at the bottom of the stairs but was three steps away. I stepped down on nothing and hit the deck. I cut my hand. It was not an auspicious start to the day.
When I was a kid, I loved my Christmas pajamas. They were usually two piece flannel with a top and bottom. I also loved my new slippers. The tops were wool and the bottoms leather. I always felt cozy. I love cozy. It has become my lifestyle.
I loved the new books I got every Christmas. I remember the year of Little Women. Once I started it, I couldn’t stop reading. I loved Jo the best. She was fearless and outspoken. She was always a bit messy with her skirt askew. I could see myself as Jo. This Christmas, as with every Christmas in my memories, I got a new book. It is from my sister who continues the tradition. It is the new Patricia Cornwell. A perfect choice.
We always hoped for snow and ice for the week after Christmas. That meant sledding and ice skating. We lived in a perfect sledding spot, close to the top of a long hill. We’d pull our sleds to the top, jump on and whiz down the hill. At the bottom of the hill was a road and a fast ride down sometimes had our sleds crossing the road into the field. Any kid already at the bottom would watch for cars. We’d drag our sleds back up the hill for another run. We’d be at it all day until the sled rope had a layer of ice, our mittens were soaked, and we were cold. We’d go into the house through the cellar where we’d leave all our wet clothes. The sled was left upright in a pile of snow. My mother made us cocoa with a dollop of marshmallow. I’d let the marshmallow melt across the whole top of the cocoa before I drank it. I always got a marshmallow mustache.
Explore posts in the same categories: Musings
keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
December 29, 2024 at 1:32 pm
Hi Kat,
The sun is shining brightly and the high temperature should reach 68°. The week between Christmas and New Years is always a letdown, even for Jews.
I remember while working in a jewelry store that the week between Christmas and New Years, was designed to sell as much inventory as possible. We had tremendous markups before Christmas and equally large discounts afterwards. This was because we had to pay the bills on January 10th. Additionally, the end of the tax year is New Years and carrying inventory means paying more taxes.
As a kid the time off from school was used playing with our toys from Chanukah or whatever. I can’t remember having a white Christmas while living in either Dallas, or while living in New York City.