Archive for the ‘Musings’ category
December 24, 2016
Christmas Eve is the second most popular day of the year. It is the longest day, not by the calendar but for every kid who can hardly wait for Santa. I remember wanting to go to bed around 5 or 6 figuring the night would pass far more quickly if I were sleeping, but the actual bedtime never really mattered. It took forever to fall asleep.
Today is rainy and warm, in the high 40’s. The sky is gray, but it isn’t a gray day as today has sort of a light of its own, the glow of Christmas Eve. The trees and all the Christmas lights in the house are lit. They are so beautiful.
I have some baking to do, but I wanted to finish here first. The TV is on, and I have to admit it isn’t Hallmark. It is the Syfy channel and The Abominable Snowman, the something out there, hardly festive fare.
My parents used to have a party on Christmas Eve. My father was never a fan until everyone came, and the party got going. He always had a great time. The guests were mostly relatives, my aunts and uncles. There was always singing, eating and drinking. The dining room table, groaning from all the food, was pushed to the wall. The kitchen counter served as the bar. The benches at the table in the kitchen were always filled. The living room was mostly empty. People gravitated to the kitchen and just stayed there. That’s always where the singing started. I can still see my dad standing beside the counter singing with wondrous enthusiasm.
My mother and I always cleaned up, but it was a special time for the two of us. We’d chat while cleaning, finish up, pour Irish coffees and sit in the living room. We’d put on a Christmas movie. We’d open one special present. We stayed up late. I loved those Christmas Eves.
Tonight my friends and I will put together our gingerbread houses. We won’t talk. We won’t socialize. We’ll be so intent upon the decorations that the houses will hold our full attention. That always makes me chuckle. We have this great time even without conversation.
Happy Chanukah and Merry Christmas, my friends!
Categories: Musings
Tags: Christmas carols, Christmas Eve, early to bed, fall asleep, Irish coffee, movies, Santa, Singing, The Abominable Snowman
Comments: 19 Comments
December 23, 2016
Today is Christmas Eve Eve, just about the longest day of the year to any kid. It has no significance. Nothing happens. It is the last day until tomorrow.
Last night, actually, sort of early this morning, I watched A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sims, my favorite Scrooge. I’ve also watched George C. Scott, Patrick Stewart and Mickey. My other must-see Christmas movies are The Bishop’s Wife which I watched the other night, A Miracle on 34th Street, the original, White Christmas and Holiday Inn. The only one I haven’t yet seen is White Christmas. I’m saving that for tomorrow night.
Tonight Gracie and I are going to look at lights. It is one of the traditions left over from when I was a kid. Back then, a Saugus neighborhood was our first destination. House after house, bush after bush and tree after tree were covered in lights. It was magnificent. The rest of the ride was hit or miss. We loved the houses decked all over in lights. They drew the oohs and ahs. There were no houses with white lights. All the bulbs were large and multi-colored. We had some on our front bushes, and they’d get so hot they’d almost burn your fingers. We had orange lights in the front windows. Other houses had red or blue, few had green. All the window lights in each house matched. I figured it was an unwritten rule of Christmas decorating.
I have to make cookies this afternoon. I’m thinking my orange cookies. They take a while to make then frost, but they are so worth it!
My living room smells like a forest of fir trees. At night, only the two window lights and the tree lights are lit. Between the aroma and the lights, my living room is the best place to sit.
Categories: Musings
Tags: A Christmas Carol, Alastair Sims, Christmas Eve Eve, decorating, light ride, lights, Saugus, window lights
Comments: 14 Comments
December 22, 2016
I woke up to another dreary day and a very dark sky screaming rain. The weatherman agrees. Snow is predicted in some parts of the state, but we will be too warm, in the 40’s. Yesterday was the Solstice, the longest night of the year. By next week, we will be gaining a minute and a half of light a day then two minutes in February. That sounds so hopeful.
Christmas vacation begins today around here. I remember this last day and how excited the kids were, high school kids wearing Santa hats and sucking on candy canes. They used to sing Christmas carols at lunch, spontaneous outbursts from one table then another then on and on. The halls between classes were filled with cheer, with kids wishing each other a Merry Christmas. At the end of the day, the school emptied quickly. The festivities had begun!
I have errands today then cookie baking. I was out a long time yesterday, but I couldn’t finish my list. One store was closed so I have to go back today. I also have to go to the candy store and the grocery store. I’ll get everything I need so I won’t have to go out again between now and Christmas. (I’m laughing here. That will never happen. I’ll find out I need something else. I always do.)
The excitement started to get palpable around this time when I was a kid. The countdown was at two until Christmas Eve and three until that glorious morning, Christmas day. Every afternoon we watched Santa Claus at his workshop. I remember the channel was WMUR from New Hampshire. Santa talked to us as if he were in the room. He discussed all of the work being done by the elves to get ready to fill the sleigh. I don’t remember what he looked like, whether he had great whiskers or paltry whiskers, or if his voice was jolly. I just remember sitting on the rug and watching Santa.
We didn’t have a fireplace, but I was never in doubt that Santa would find his way to the living room and the tree. He was magical so nothing could stand in his way. I figured he just used the door, probably the front door. That the dog didn’t bark was just more of the magic. I figured Duke wagged his stubby Boxer tail and gave Santa lots of kisses.
It is when the questions appear that believing in Santa gets shaky. The how does he do it in one night is a biggy. It shows a bit of skepticism. I am five and seven years older than my sisters. I told them nothing after I found out and I even became part of the Santa conspiracy and teased them about the good or the naughty list. It was wistful for me.
Categories: Musings
Tags: candy, dark, dreary day, errands, last school day, Light, rainy, Santa, Shopping, singing carols, Solstice
Comments: 10 Comments
December 20, 2016
The sun decided to make an appearance today. I guess it is a bit of a reward for surviving the cold of last night. Today is about 40˚, warm for the depths of winter.
My mother never disappointed us at Christmas. When I was really young, Santa always brought me something from my list. Under the tree, they’d be my big gift, a new game, books, and even clothes. I loved the clothes as they were what everyone was wearing. I remember some of my favorites over the years like the white fluffy sweater, the gold necklace, the ski pants with the loops, the over the head parka with a zippered pocket across the chest, and a wool skirt. The books were classics or mysteries. The games were ones the whole family could play. Santa didn’t take the time to wrap our gifts. They were arranged under the tree. I remember looking over the banister as I walked down the stairs and being thrilled and excited. I might have even squealed with joy.
We had Christmas stockings when we were young, but when we were adults, my mother used all sorts of pseudo stockings like a basket, a really neat shopping bag or something old she’d found like a coal hod. She wrapped every stocking stuffer which heightened the excitement so I always wrapped every stocking stuffer for her and later for my sisters. Now I do the same for my friends. I am a wrapping phenomenon at Christmas.
My dad was never all that excited about Christmas. He would reluctantly open his presents long after the rest of us had finished. When he was a kid, Christmas was not a big deal. It was socks and underwear. My mother, though, loved Christmas and my dad just went with it. He always told my mother not to mention what she’d spent. He had a favorite part of Christmas, the food. He loved all the goodies and would make himself a plate and pour a glass of milk to take into the living room so he could nosh and watch.
Today has no lists. I’m going to hang around the house, maybe do laundry, but the laundry bag is still upstairs. It needs to sit in front of the cellar door for a couple of days before I get to it or I need to run out of underwear, whichever comes first.
Categories: Musings
Tags: baskets, Christmas, clothes, cold, games, list for Santa, parka, ski pants, stocking stuffer, sun, toys under the tree, unexcited, unwrapped gifts, wrapped gifts
Comments: 10 Comments
December 19, 2016
Jack Frost is nipping at my nose. It is cold, 32˚. A flurry of tiny flakes started when I was going to the store. They were wet on my windshield. By the time I got home, the flurry had stopped. The sky is a whitish gray. The sun is somewhere else. The day isn’t all that inviting.
Five days until Santa.
I remember going to Jordan Marsh to see Santa. The line was long, and the store was hot. I had to carry my bulky coat. I kept moving it from arm to arm. The Enchanted Village, windows all along the line’s route, kept our attention so we didn’t whine about waiting. We thought it amazing that all the characters moved. The shoemaking’s hammer went up and down. Children dressed in velvet finery decorated the tree in their living room. They held tinsel or an ornament and moved up and down. Some characters waved moving side to side. It was remarkable.
Where the village ended, we could see Santa just a bit beyond. Every kid pointed him out. He was at the end of the line and worth the long wait. Jordan’s Santa was always the best looking. He wore an embroidered suit like Father Christmas does. His boots were shiny, and his beard was to my eyes real. I told him what I wanted for Christmas then I smiled for the picture, an easy thing to do when you’re on Santa’s lap.
This morning I dropped cookies off for the library’s Christmas open house. It was a tray of Italian cookies from the bakery. I bought myself a cinnamon bun, a bit of Christmas indulgence.
Tonight I’ll wrap my friend’s presents so I can clear out the den. Tomorrow I’ll start baking. All the preliminaries are almost finished. Bring on Christmas!!
Categories: Musings
Tags: 32˚, cold, Enchanted Village, Jack Frost, Jordan Marsh, moving characters, Santa, Snow flurry, velvet, white sky
Comments: 23 Comments
December 18, 2016
No countdown can start until the week before the event. It is a rule. That means the countdown to Christmas begins today. If I were little again, this would be momentous.
The day is damp again. It rained during the night. We are left with warmish temperatures, a bit of a wind and gray skies. I went out on the deck earlier to dump the rain puddles from the table cover. The deck got soaked so did my feet.
I’m staying home again today. I don’t mind at all. My house is cozy, and every room is bright with Christmas lights which shine so lovely on a cloudy, dark day.
We used to string popcorn for the tree. We’d sit at the table with bowls of popcorn in front of us and needles thread with thin string in our hands. They were dangerous weapons. Several times we’d prick our own fingers and break the popcorn. Yelps were common. My mother would join our strands to make one long strand of popcorn which was circled around the tree. Shauna, one of my Boxers, would eat the popcorn and drag a strand off the tree to the floor for better access. My father always chuckled. Later, when we were older, we’d string cranberries with the popcorn. They stayed on the tree.
My sister and I were talking last night about our trees. We all buy live trees every year. My family always did. My father and his sister, my Aunt Mary, had a running joke. My mother bought the tree and never told my father the actual price. He’d have been apoplectic. Instead, she’d give him an amount in the $30’s. When my aunt saw the tree, always big and magnificent, she’d ask how much it cost, and my father would tell her. She never believed him. He’d swear it. It was the truth as far as he knew.
Categories: Musings
Tags: buying the tree, Christmas, Christmas lights, countdown, cranberries, damp, decorating the tree, decorations, popcorn strands
Comments: 12 Comments
December 17, 2016
It was nearly 4 when I fell asleep. Gracie, however, had no problem as she was snoring away as soon as she hit the mattress. It snowed a bit last night, but I missed the best of it. I woke to rain. The snow is now slush, the sort where you leave deep footprints when you walk through it. Both today and tomorrow will be warm which is a good thing as the slush won’t turn to ice. I’m staying home. I’m going to turn on all the Christmas lights, watch Hallmark movies and enjoy a lazy Saturday.
My friends came to dinner last night. It was a wonderful evening. The meal was great says the cook. The conversation was funny. We just sat at the table a while after dinner. I love to do that, just sit and talk. My friend did all the clean-up which I completely appreciated as it takes a while to make the dinner, clean up as you go along then clean everything. Her doing the dishes was a gift. We then played a word game and sat in the living room so we could enjoy the tree. I had a come from behind victory. We also exchanged gifts. Usually we don’t get together for presents until after Christmas so we figured early was due. I was thrilled with my present, an Amazon Echo and a speaker. I’ll play with Alexa today. My friends too loved their presents, and my friend Claire, the dishwasher, especially loved her present from Ghana.
Woolworth’s and the annual parish Christmas fair were my go to places to buy gifts for my parents then my sisters and brother if I had any money left. My mother was the consummate actress. When she opened my gift, she always looked so excited and happy. I was thrilled that I’d found just the right gift at such a bargain, usually about 50¢. My father loved his handkerchiefs, white ones, Woolworth’s best.
My favorite of all the Christmas movies is A Christmas Carol starring Alastair Sims. It hasn’t been on yet so I keep looking. I watched the old Miracle on 34th Street the other night. The book is dated 1947 the same as I am so that makes it special. The old Bishop’s Wife is another favorite. Come to think of it, even the worst of Christmas movies are favorites of mine.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Christmas lights, Christmas tree, Clouds, Echo, exchange gifts, games, great meal, lazy Saturday, pork, slush, snoring dog, Snow, warm, word games
Comments: 2 Comments
December 16, 2016
Outside looks lovely from the window. I see sun, a blue sky, and only a slight breeze, but all of those are deceiving. Cold, freezing cold, is today’s weather. Wear layers is what we’re being told. I’m thinking 6 or 7 layers may not be enough. It is 14˚, and today’s high will be 19˚. Tomorrow and Sunday will be warm but rainy. It could reach 60˚ on Sunday. Mother Nature is indecisive.
My house is mostly decorated. The tree could use a few more ornaments so I’ll add that to my to-do list. My fake scrub pine has a dead set of lights so I’ll have to replace it. Friends are coming to dinner. The menu is set but I need to get dessert and some cheese. I have sort of a casual flow chart on cooking the meal. We’re having pork tenderloin, honeyed carrots and baby potatoes with romano cheese.
My family calls it the Christmas bug. It all started with my grandmother, the one who had eight kids. My mother, my Aunt Bunny and my Uncle Jack were bitten. Their houses were filled with Christmas. They baked and they kept baking. They loved to shop for presents. They always chose the best gifts. Many of my cousins were also bitten, as was I and my two sisters. We love all the hoopla of Christmas and traditions teem. The gingerbread house construction started 33 years ago and has now passed to a second generation. Pinatas, too, are on a second generation. I used to fill them for my niece and two nephews, and now, their kids can’t wait for Christmas Eve and pinata whacking. Five pinatas hang from the high railing on the second floor.
When I was a kid, my mother’s kitchen always had steamed windows when she was cooking. It was a small kitchen, almost a galley kitchen. The table was by the window. It had four chairs, just enough for my parents and my brother and me. My sister was a baby in a highchair. I can still recall images of that house, one side of a duplex. The stairs had a landing where I used to sit and color or read. Upstairs was the bathroom and two bedrooms. This house had gotten too small with the birth of my sister, and we would be moving soon but only down the street. I don’t even remember moving.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 14˚, 19, blasting heat, Christmas bug, cold, duplex, furnace, gingerbread houses, layers, moving, piñatas, steamed windows, sun, table and chairs
Comments: 6 Comments
December 15, 2016
Today is a busy day. Peapod is due to arrive so I’ll have to put my groceries away, and my house will be getting cleaned this afternoon. I just have to lift my feet for the vacuum and the mop.
The Polar Vortex has appeared again. I always think it sounds like the title of a low budget scifi movie, but it isn’t. Tonight we will get down to single digits and there is a high wind warning for down here. Winds will be 25 to 35 mph with gusts between 55 and 65 mph. Bitterly cold wind chills are expected overnight. The warning also says there is a danger of power failures. If that happens, we’ll freeze to death (note: overly dramatic).
My tree is just about finished. It needs a few ornaments in the middle, in a spot with few branches, and it needs to be moved. I couldn’t move it, too heavy for me. When Lee comes to clean, I’ll have him move it to the corner then I’ll finish decorating. Last night I sat in the living room looking at my tree. It’s beautiful.
Many ornaments on the tree are memories. My mother needle-pointed my sisters and me ornaments with our initials. Mine is K for kings, the three kings. One Christmas I cross-stitched ornaments for everyone’s gift. My mother collected sheep so a few of her ornaments had sheep. I have them now. Pinocchio was bought in Florence, in a small toy shop my mother and I found. There is a stitched ornament from Hungry, a harp from Ireland my friends gave me, molas from Panama we got at the San Blas Islands, beaded ornaments from Ghana, a wooden angel also from Ghana and a small red and green Bolga basket I hang at the end of a branch so it doesn’t get lost. My mother gave us ornaments from our childhood for our trees. A few are mssing paint but most are in wonderful shape for being old. I love putting them on the tree.
My house is almost decorated. Gracie’s crate is getting some lights this year. A small plastic Santa is on the counter in the bathroom as sort of a night light. My kitchen has the pepper lights. Gracie has a holiday collar. I love festive!
Categories: Musings
Tags: busy day, cleaning, decorated dog crate, groceries, holiday collar, lights, ornaments, Peapod, plastic Santa, polar vortex, the three Kings, Tree, Wind chill
Comments: 10 Comments
December 13, 2016
Yesterday has been renamed card day. The tree is still standing in the middle of the living room waiting to be decorated, but my Christmas cards are done. I had a morning meeting earlier today, but that’s it on my dance card. The rest of the day is tree day.
It was cold last night, and it was cold this morning, but the high today should be around 41˚. I’ll be wishing for that on Thursday and Friday when the nights will be in single digits and Friday’s daytime high will be 19˚.
The Christmas day dinner was turkey when I was a kid. That turkey showed up so soon after Thanksgiving didn’t bother us. We didn’t even think about it. We all liked turkey. But when I was older, my mother would serve a roast beef, a pork roast or a spiral ham. We always had potatoes and my mother’s squash dish. The other vegetables varied. The meals were always good, but the best part was dessert. The dining room table was covered with dishes all holding sweets made by my mother and me. It was awesome, the choices almost overwhelming. I’d fill my plate with the favorites: a whoopie pie, a frosted sugar cookie, and an orange cookie. On my second trip a bit later, I’d try the new cookies. Every year there are some new cookies, surprises. Later in the evening my mother and I would have a Spanish coffee and look through our stockings again. The tree was lit and the house, except for the two of us, was quiet. It was always one of my special times with my mother.
The Hallmark movies I’m watching all have happy endings, but I’m fine with that. Christmas is a time for happy endings.
Categories: Musings
Tags: card day, cold, Hallmark movies, happy endings, single digits, sweets, tree decorating, Turkey
Comments: 12 Comments
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