Posted tagged ‘Christmas’

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“Heap on the wood! – the wind is chill; But let it whistle as it will, We’ll keep our Christmas merry still.”

December 11, 2011

Winter has finally reared its head and today is only 38°. The day even has a chilly look with the light seemingly wan, almost dim, as if the sun has too little energy to fight the cold and is finally giving in to the change of seasons. The breeze is slight and barely rustles the leaves at the ends of the branches. I’m still in my cozies and quite comfy and warm. I can hear Gracie’s deep breathing as she’s napping on the couch behind me. The cats have their own spots during the day; one is on a couch pillow in the other room and the other is on my still unmade bed curled on a blanket. The animals in my house lead tough lives.

When I was a kid, I lived in a house with no chimney, but not once did I ask my mother how Santa would bring us toys. I always just figured he was magical, and the lack of a chimney would be no hindrance. Seeing all the Santas around town never diminished my belief in the one true Santa Claus. I knew the rest were like elves and had jobs to do to help Santa, and, besides, you never saw the real Santa. That was part of the code of belief.

I remember going through the Sears catalog and circling then initialing the toys I wanted so there would be no questions. When I wrote my letters to Santa, I included the toy numbers so he could see exactly what I wanted. It never occurred to me that maybe he didn’t have a Sears catalog. I think I figured everyone did. My list was always long and never included clothes. When I was little, I always thought clothes were a waste of a gift. When I got older, they were the best gifts.

I remember learning Up on the Rooftop in school. We sang it often with rousing good cheer, almost like an anthem to Santa. I also remember the nuns reminding us that Santa was merely a secondary character in the whole of Christmas. It was, after all, a birthday we were celebrating.

My mother put up a crèche every Christmas, and we had an advent wreath most years. The figures in the crèche were made of what I now know was chalkware. It wasn’t all that durable, and some of our figures had no noses, the one body part especially vulnerable to time. I have a similar crèche of my own which I’ve accumulated one piece at a time from all different chalkware sets. Many of my figures have no noses.

Categories: Musings
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“Christmas cookies without sprinkles are like raisins without wrinkles, and like sleigh bells without tinkles.”

December 8, 2011

My heat is blasting, a sure sign colder weather is here, but it’s the wind which is making the day feel so much colder than the 41° on the thermometer. It reaches right down to the bones and is strong enough to sway the trunks of pine trees. Gracie is staying closer to home and the couch. The outside hasn’t the same appeal it did for the last few weeks.

Yesterday it poured all day. I went off cape to a Christmas play and then to a really late lunch. The play and lunch or dinner are a tradition we’ve had for a long time. It would be the three of us: my mother, my sister and me. One year my mother treated us to The Death of a Salesman with Brian Dennehy. Afterwards we thanked her for the cheery choice of a play for the holidays. Now my sister and I go to a play. It’s one of my Christmas presents to her and it keeps the tradition alive. Before I dropped her home, we did a mini-light ride. It’s amazing how many houses are bright with lights this year. We oohed and ahhed as we rode up and down the streets. I got home around 8:30. It was a long but fun day.

I have my schedule all set up for Christmas. It starts tonight with Christmas card night. The cards came in the mail the other day, and I vowed they’d back in the mail by Friday. My list of ingredients for Christmas goodies is all set, and I have plenty of wrapping paper and ribbon for the gifts. I have a few more gifts to buy; some are for my friends but others will be sent right to Colorado. I need some stocking stuffers so I’ll take a day to do that then treat myself to lunch, in commemoration of the season of course.

My sister still makes sugar cookies. I used to but haven’t in a long while. Her grandson helps her to decorate them. We used to do that: spend a whole afternoon decorating the ones my mother had made. She’d cut them out using her old aluminum cookies cutters:  Santa, an angel, a bell, a reindeer and a tree. Both my sister and I have found those same figures in the old aluminum. They are the connection to our childhood and my mother.

I remember heavy cookies laden with frosting, and I remember green frosting the most. We were creative frosters. The trees had lights and ornaments, sprinkles mostly. Santa was tricky to decorate with his red suit, white beard and dark boots. Actually, there were no boots; we just iced them in as we couldn’t imagine a Santa without his boots.

Even when I was an adult with my own house, my mother and I would spend a day baking together. When the cookies were cooled, we’d put on the Christmas music and sit around the table to decorate them and to chat. It was always one of my favorite parts of Christmas and is still a cherished memory.

Categories: Musings
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“Christmas is the day that holds all time together.”

December 2, 2011

Last night my house was festive with all the lights lit, both back and front. The star on the fence is so bright you’d swear it swooped down from the sky just for the occasion. Late yesterday afternoon I went to Agway just for dog food and a red bow for the sled outside, but I should have known better. I ended up buying poinsettias, small ones for a cart in my dining room, a rosemary tree which fills the house with its fragrance, a small wreath for the gate, a larger wreath for the front door and a juniper swag for the mantle. The only thing left is the tree, but I say that with tongue in cheek.

It’s been a bit colder the last few days, in the mid to high 40’s, but it’s still not winter. Yesterday in one store I saw a woman wearing mittens, and I wondered if she was from a warm place.

People have started wishing each other a Merry Christmas. I’ve been hearing it in the stores when friends greet each other. I guess the season really is upon us. I opened day two of my advent calendar this morning, and it was a tree waiting to be decorated. I took my time placing the ornaments in exactly the right spots.

The only two times I was away at Christmas was when I was in the Peace Corps. I was 22, but I was still a kid at Christmas, and I was missing the snow, the lights and the tree and mostly I was missing my mother teasing me about my gifts, something she did all of her life. “Guess what I just bought you,” was what I’d hear this time of year. I’d pepper her with questions and get a hint which was really no hint at all. She sent me a box, air mail no less, just before my first Christmas away. It had a small artificial tree, some ornaments from our own tree, brick crepe paper to make a fireplace and a stocking. I decorated right away and felt a little less lonely.

A story I have told here before is one I’d like to tell again as that night still means so much to me. It was my first year in Bolgatanga. Christmas time in northern Ghana is the time of the harmattan. The days are hot, hot enough to melt a candle hot, but the nights are cold or at least cold in comparison. I kept my windows open so I could feel the cold, but I put a wool blanket on my bed to keep me warm. One night I was feeling sorry for myself missing Christmas and my family and was lying in bed trying to fall asleep when I heard someone singing We Three Kings. It was the only sound in the night, and it traveled through the clear air from one of the compounds near my house. I could tell it was a young boy. He sang each verse so clearly and so beautifully I was filled with all sorts of feelings especially joy at this gift he was giving me. Every year since then I have remembered that Christmas and that small boy and the most wonderous gift I was given.

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“In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary.”

November 28, 2011

Today is still warm but cloudy and lifeless. I don’t even see the birds at the feeders. The animals, as usual, are having their morning naps. I showered, read the papers, gathered my Thanksgiving decorations to put away and got caught up in my book for a while, but I disciplined myself to stop to get busy with Coffee. I have several errands today so Gracie and I will be around town for a bit. She’s always up for a ride.

Christmas lights are up all over. I noticed them the other night. I think it has to do with the warm weather. People don’t mind being outside putting their lights around when it is in the 60’s. I love the lights, and I love the ride to see the lights. I still do it with just Gracie for company. I talk to her and let her know which houses are especially pretty.

I’m a colored lights person myself. It’s a throwback from my childhood when everyone used those big colored bulbs. Today I need a couple of new timers, a few more light sets, a spotlight and a giant wreath for the fence then I’m good to go.

When Gracie was a puppy, she was out front as the fence hadn’t yet been erected in the backyard. At Christmas time she amused herself by pulling the garland off the fence and chewing on the light cords until they split and the lights died. I had to replace several sets of them. Why she wasn’t electrocuted I’ll never know. I eventually unplugged the lights each night before I went to bed then plugged them back in the next night, but that didn’t stop her from dragging the garlands and pulling the lights. It just prevented her electrocution. I got quite expert at unwinding and rewinding sets of lights.

The winter nights are long, dark and cold, and I have always been thankful for houses bright with Christmas lights. The lights brighten the night and bring a sense of warmth and a burst of color. It’s like a bit of summer drops by for a quick visit.

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“Autumn is marching on: even the scarecrows are wearing dead leaves.”

November 25, 2011

The headache has come and gone all day, but I decided to get out and about anyway. I needed a blood test so the errand seemed perfect to add to the misery, but the day was so lovely and warm I’m glad I didn’t miss it. Well, the lab was closed so Gracie and I went to one of my favorite places to shop, and I bought two Christmas presents. I felt accomplished.

Thanksgiving was wonderful with great friends, the tastiest food and even a card game after dinner. My friend Clare made my favorite fall appetizer: a sugar pumpkin filled with bread and cheese combined with the pumpkin then put back into the pumpkin shell and baked in the over. Nothing tastier or prettier. We took a bit of a break before dessert out of necessity. We needed time to digest to make room for the pies: chocolate cream and pumpkin.

I have plenty of leftovers, and I’m hoping I’ll feel good enough later for a re-creation of yesterday’s wonderful dinner.

Now that Thanksgiving’s over, I can start concentrating on my Christmas list and seeing what I have and what I need. My outside lights will go up next week. The neighbors across the street always ask me not to park in front of the house so they can see the lights so I oblige and park at the top of the driveway so they can still see the lights strung across the gate and the huge lit wreath on the middle. When the lights around town go up, I’m always reminded of the ride we took every Christmas when I was a kid so we could see the lights. I think that was the only time we never argued about sides in the backseat. All of us were too glued to the windows to notice encroachment.

It’s been really warm so far for this time of year, but soon enough it will chilly and time to bring out the sugar cookies and the hot cocoa with melted Marshmallow Fluff floating on the top. I used to love that most of all when I was a kid.

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“Autumn is marching on: even the scarecrows are wearing dead leaves.”

November 25, 2011

The headache has come and gone all day, but I decided to get out and about anyway. I needed a blood test so the errand seemed perfect to add to the misery, but the day was so lovely and warm I’m glad I didn’t miss it. Well, the lab was closed so Gracie and I went to one of my favorite places to shop, and I bought two Christmas presents. I felt accomplished.

Thanksgiving was wonderful with great friends, the tastiest food and even a card game after dinner. My friend Clare made my favorite fall appetizer: a sugar pumpkin filled with bread and cheese combined with the pumpkin then put back into the pumpkin shell and baked in the over. Nothing tastier or prettier. We took a bit of a break before dessert out of necessity. We needed time to digest to make room for the pies: chocolate cream and pumpkin.

I have plenty of leftovers, and I’m hoping I’ll feel good enough later for a re-creation of yesterday’s wonderful dinner.

Now that Thanksgiving’s over, I can start concentrating on my Christmas list and seeing what I have and what I need. My outside lights will go up next week. The neighbors across the street always ask me not to park in front of the house so they can see the lights so I oblige and park at the top of the driveway so they can still see the lights strung across the gate and the huge lit wreath on the middle. When the lights around town go up, I’m always reminded of the ride we took every Christmas when I was a kid so we could see the lights. I think that was the only time we never argued about sides in the backseat. All of us were too glued to the windows to notice encroachment.

It’s been really warm so far for this time of year, but soon enough it will chilly and time to bring out the sugar cookies and the hot cocoa with melted Marshmallow Fluff floating on the top. I used to love that most of all when I was a kid.

Categories: Musings
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Comments: 8 Comments

“November always seemed to me the Norway of the year.”

November 5, 2011

I just noticed I hadn’t turned the October calendar page over yet. Maybe it was a subconscious attempt on my part to keep the coming winter at bay. I can’t believe it is already turn the clocks back night. I used to rejoice at the added hour of sleep, but now I don’t care. My VCR remote doesn’t seem to work despite the new batteries so it will be off an hour until fall. That will drive me crazy.

The sun was shining when I woke up but has since disappeared. I spent the morning putting Halloween away and putting up Thanksgiving which is the reason for the lateness of this posting. I made multiple trips up and down the cellar stairs. For Christmas, Skip, my factotum, will be called into service.

Today is perfect for a sci-fi movie day. There is nothing I have to do so lounging on the couch watching bad movies sounds wonderful. I’m hoping for cheesy special effects, screaming women and tall heroes.

I miss the smell of leaves burning and the sight of my father wearing his red jacket and standing with his rake by the fire. The other night I could smell a fire burning from someone’s chimney, and to me it is one of the most wonderful of all smells. Winter is the stark season when the world is gray and lifeless, but it is the season with the most memorable of smells.

A house filled with the aroma of baking starts the season. All Thanksgiving morning the smell of turkey fills the kitchen. The dog and the cats never walk by the oven without sniffing the air. I never walk by without stealing a bit of the crusted end of the stuffing. The windows are steamed from the baking and cooking of all the traditional foods which have graced our tables since childhood.

I always think of Thanksgiving as pies and Christmas as cookies. Thanksgiving isn’t Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie. My mother also made blueberry and lemon meringue; the last is not a usual Thanksgiving pie but it was a family favorite so my mother obliged. After Thanksgiving will begin the marathon of baking for Christmas. My mouth waters at the thought of sugar cookies fresh from the oven.

I figure I can handle the drab winter because I know what’s coming.

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Christmas Day: Peter Mayer

December 25, 2010

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“God Bless Us Everyone”

December 25, 2010

Piles of colored paper on the floor, shouts of joy and one after the other of us calling to our parents, “Look at this,” as if the toy was as new to them as it was to us. This special morning, Christmas morning, had been so long awaited we thought it would never come. Our lists of preparations were almost as long as Santa’s list. We thumbed through Sears over and over. We circled in pencil the toys we wanted and turned the pages down so we wouldn’t forget when it came time to write to Santa. With quarters and dimes in hand we went up town and shopped for our parents’ presents then wrapped the gifts we had so carefully chosen. On each gift there was enough paper and tape for ten more gifts. We aggravated my poor mother when we threw tinsel on the tree. Our decorated cookies were works of art. We were as good as we could be.

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
(And this taxing was first made with Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David)
To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. Christmas is also a birthday celebrated with angels, sheep, donkeys and a camel or two. It was in a manger and a star pointed the way.

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“When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things – not the great occasions – give off the greatest glow of happiness.”

December 19, 2010

I lost a day this week. I think it was Tuesday. I was shocked to find Sunday papers this morning. The pain killers have been gone all week so I guess I have only myself to blame. I hope this losing a day thing isn’t a trend.

Yesterday I didn’t use my walker all day long. I limped and walked a bit bent, but I survived the day. This morning the pain woke me up, but I put my foot down, proverbially would work here too, and managed to massage most of the pain away. Undaunted, I made my way to the kitchen still walkerless. It hurt but it hurt less than I expected. I think I’m well on my way down the yellow brick road.

The smoke detector is chirping, and I can’t reach it. I have a good step ladder, but this is not the time. I’d probably break my leg, my good leg. Ordinarily I’d have yanked my hair out by now from the constant chirping, but I decided to think of the chirping as a bird’s song, a Christmas bird. Okay, I admit it. I must be losing my mind. What is that? A Christmas bird? Come on! Start complaining, even cursing! I swear ( the nice one, the oath one, not my usual) I must have been hypnotized by all those Hallmark movies.

Some family pictures I have are from Christmas 1953, the year I was six. In one of the pictures, I was innocently playing with the doll I had gotten (I think it was a Ginny Doll) while my brother was shooting me in the back with the gun he’d gotten for Christmas (High Noon would be a great song for this portion), and he’s wearing his gun belt, over his pajamas. My mother is dressed to the nines as this was not long after midnight mass. This early opening happened for many years as my grandparents always wanted to be there when we opened our presents. Later, when I was older, I wondered why they just didn’t come in the morning. Maybe they preferred us almost comatose from sleep (editorial comment).

It was torture to see my toys, play with them a while then be sent back to bed. I can’t imagine how long it took me to go back to sleep. I know I sneaked downstairs quite a few times and played with my toys until it was light outside then I’d sneak back to bed and happily fall asleep.

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