Memories of Christmas...

It’s a beautiful December day in Podunk.  The wind and rain earlier this week have cleared the air.  The sky is a glorious blue with not a cloud to be seen.  To the east, the Sierra Nevada Mountains are capped with snow. 

It’s a match made in heaven: snow on the mountains and snowshoes in the back of our car.  Soon.  Very soon, we will go for a winter hike in the Sequoia Nat’l. Park.  Or Kings Canyon Nat’l Park.  They’re both less than an hour away…

For now, I’m baking.  I have to do it by myself this Christmas because my granddaughter is still in school and won’t be joining us until the night before Christmas Eve.  She will, however, be here soon enough to help with the clam chowder and carrot cake for Christmas Eve supper, and the egg casserole for Christmas morning brunch.

 

As I make cookies, I am listening to Christmas music.  The old-fashioned, politically incorrect religious kind of music.  The music that I associate with Christmases past and present.  At my age, there are a LOT of memories of Christmas.

 

And I am awash in those memories right now.  Missing those people who were such a huge part of my life so long ago… My parents and grandparents, of course, but mostly those bright, shiny little faces that belonged to my little children.  Their freshness and innocence, their delight with all things Christmas, their joy as they saw what Santa brought them.  Their beautiful faces as they solemnly participated in the Christmas Pageant at church…

I realize that it was inevitable that they would grow up and move out on their own, but that doesn’t assuage the nostalgia of the moment.  It does help that they are all healthy and happy and have families of their own.  And they DO come to visit when they can…

I don’t need the Ghost of Christmas Past to remind me of things I have done, or the Ghost of Christmas Present to show me how fortunate I am to have love and joy in my life.  I already know all that.  I am thankful for all the good in my life right now.  Very thankful.

 

But I also wonder: “why me?”  When others are fighting so desperately to stay alive and find shelter, why do I have so much?  As other people my age search longingly for someone to love, I have someone to love.  Someone who came to me late in life, and reminds me every day how lucky we are to have each other.

So what, if anything, am I trying to say?  I think it’s this:  Christmas (or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or Santa) lives in our hearts.  It isn’t about presents, or being surrounded by every person I have ever loved, or having the biggest and best decorations ever.  No.  It’s about the feelings I’m having right now, the memories that have descended on me this morning, and the flour on my hands, clothes, and kitchen floor.

Joy is in our hearts.  Love, peace, serenity, tranquility, whatever….it all lives inside of us.  Those memories are brought forward to remind us of the journey that we have taken, the places we have been, and the suffering that we have survived.

It’s an annual renewal of those things that we hold dear to us.  It embodies all that the human spirit holds dear, and it allows us to indulge our memories of Christmases past and our hopes for Christmas in the future.  (Of course, tomorrow IS 12-21-2012….)

And so, I will go back to the kitchen, the flour on the floor, and the cookies waiting to be baked.  I will keep listening to the Christmas music, thinking about my loved ones, and being thankful for all that has been given to me.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours!

Cali

Christmas Lessons...

One of my favorite things to do, during the Christmas season, is watch all the classic Christmas movies.  Last night, we started with Christmas Vacation, the 1989 John Hughes’ classic.  Full of pratfalls, one-liners, and unimaginable happenings, it’s probably my favorite Christmas movie.

I can’t tell you how many times I have seen it, but I see something new every time I do…

Last night, I realized that, more than pratfalls, impossible and improbably story lines, and a cast of true characters, it’s about expectations.  Unreal expectations based on a heartfelt desire to make this Christmas really special……and perfect.

It’s the story of me….sort of….

As far as I am concerned, there was only one perfect Christmas, and that was over two thousand years ago.  And, believe it or not, I was not around then…..

That doesn’t seem to stop me from trying, year after year, to make Christmas just perfect for my family and friends.  Beautiful Christmas trees and decorations, delicious food, the perfect gifts, a house full of family and friends……I want it all.  And mostly, I get it.  Every year….

But that’s not the point.  Try as hard as he might, Clark Griswold just can’t seem to pull off the perfect Christmas.  Whether it’s his feuding parents and in-laws, his bored children, his miserly boss, or the uptight yuppies living next door…..no one is going to let him have his dream come true Christmas…

And yet, through all the disasters, it comes around to perfection in the end.  Realistic perfection.  The family is all together.  The house didn’t burn down.  Two Christmas trees, a chair and a cat have burned up, but the house is mostly intact.

No, things don’t go the way we plan them, most of the time….  Sometimes, they’re better for all the mishaps.  Who wouldn’t like to stand on the front lawn, watching the Santa decoration launched into the sky by methane gas, and sing the National Anthem?  Especially when surrounded by his entire family, his miserly boss, and a Chicago SWAT team?

Lesson learned: make plans, execute as able, and sit back and laugh at what goes wrong.  Nothing more, nothing less….

Well, maybe without the SWAT team…..

The Christmas Gift.....

As I decorated the house for Christmas yesterday, I thought about something that happened nearly twenty years ago. And every year since then, when I unwrap the figurines for my Nativity scene, I think of the same event.

Way back then, I was setting up the Nativity scene before Christmas. Since there would be “little ones” in the house for Christmas, I chose to put the Nativity scene on the mantle. We had a corner fireplace made of brick, including the mantle.

As I thought about where it came from, unwrapping each figurine and placing it “just so” in the manger or surrounds, I dropped the figurine I was unwrapping at the moment. It bounced with a sickening “ping” on the brick hearth and then on to the carpet. 

I gasped and tears welled up in my eyes. My mother hadn’t been gone all that long and I was devastated to have broken something so special that she had given me. I closed my eyes and decided that, no matter how broken it was, I would glue it back together and continue to use it.

It’s now been forty-one Christmases ago that my mother gave me the Nativity scene. She bought it for me at a little gift shop here in Podunk. It was, and still is, a link to my mother and our family traditions. I have never seen another Nativity like mine: pure white ceramic figurines made by Hummel. They came with a simplistic manger and a gold tin star. 

Even if there were readily available replacements, it just wouldn’t be the same.

Slowly, I bent down and picked up the fallen figurine. It was the Virgin Mary. My tears made it hard to see, so I felt her outstretched hand with my fingers: still there. I felt the base: still complete. I ran my hand over all her surfaces: no chips, nothing missing.

Full of hope, and with my tears dried, I looked at her under a very strong light. Not even a crack, anywhere. I was utterly dumbfounded. How could a small ceramic figurine, with outstretched hand, fall so far, hit so hard and not be broken?

Christmas miracles come in all sizes and shapes, I guess….


Cali

December Daily...

That’s what they call it in the scrapbooking world, The December Daily.  It’s a scrapbook, or “album” devoted to journaling the Christmas season….

Since I retired almost six months ago, I have been able to devote more time to creative endeavors, like scrapbooking.  In fact, I have made more than a dozen basic scrapbooks, covering chipboard with pretty papers and then compiling them in binder rings…

The Christmas scrapbook, “December Daily”, is done.  That is, the basic scrapbook is made and ready for December.  Each day, I will journal the day’s events and add photos or other ephemera to the page.  The pages are numbered and go through Christmas Day.  I also have a couple of extra pages at the end, for any postscripts that might occur.

I suppose that, technically, I am saving memories for future generations.  But in reality, I am savoring memories as they happen.  Each day I will write my thoughts about the day, share any photos from the day’s events, and relive the day once again.

I view it as a way to fully appreciate each and every day that I’m given.  The holiday season is so special and so meaningful to me that it will be nice to have a recorded account of all the events.  Names, dates, lists, thoughts, reactions, surprises, happiness, content, laughter, tears of joy, and memories of holidays past…..they’ll all be there. 

It will be an abbreviated form of each day, since the scrapbook is really a “mini” album.  A few words or notes on each page, to refresh my memory, will bring the day back to me whenever I want.  Perhaps, next year, I will review it and try to recreate some of its most memorable times.  Or expand on what I planned this year.  Or make it happen next year if it doesn’t this year.

Ah, my lists are long and distinguished.  Cookies to bake, fudge to make.  Cloth napkins to sew (by hand), decorations to create from “found things” and the whole house to decorate.  Perhaps, by recording them in my December Daily, I will be more likely to get them done….

If not, they’ll remind me next year of the ideas that I had this year….

Cali

A Perfect Christmas...

It's a beautiful day today. The grandkids from next door are out on their razor scooters and bicycles, enjoying the sunshine. It's a perfect day after Christmas....

And it was a perfect Christmas. Perhaps not perfect, but very close. The kids and grandkids were all here. The ones who couldn't be here called yesterday morning. From Italy.

It never ceases to amaze me: a house full of love and laughter, every Christmas. Without fail. The grandkids are growing, and their interests are changing, but the commitment to family and time together is as strong as ever.

No one left early. And no one turned down a meal. Or two.

It was a first, of sorts: the oldest grandchild couldn't be here: he had to work today. Early. And so, he stayed home for Christmas. He's in college now, and having a job is very important. Later on, after college, he'll be back. For Christmas at Grandma's.

And someday, he'll bring his wife and their children.....

Cali

It's Time....

The shopping's done. The gifts are wrapped and under the tree. The meals are planned and the cookies are almost ready.


The house looks beautiful in its holiday wardrobe. The lights, the sounds and the smells just add to the excitement. And company will start arriving tomorrow afternoon.


The rush is over and the work is mostly done. What didn't get done doesn't matter. It's time to let go of the to-do list.


It's too late to worry about what could have been. Or should have been. What's done is done. And what didn't get done? Well, there's always next year.


The time is here to savor the moments, make the memories, and enjoy the holiday.


Merry Christmas, All!


Cali

Christmas Cookies....

I baked cookies today. In a little while, my granddaughter and I will decorate them. And then, it will really be Christmas.


I haven't made sugar cookies for the past three or four years. I guess I was too busy. And, as silly as it sounds, Christmas wasn't the same without them. I guess it's true: when you do something for fifty years, it becomes a habit....


I only have one of my mother's cookie cutters left: a star with scalloped edges. The rest of mine are at least thirty or more years old. I have stars and hearts and a gingerbread boy and girl, an angel, a Christmas tree, a hand, and a reindeer.


The way to “share” sugar cookies is to fill the cookie container with the easy cookies, then put a few sugar cookies on top, for show. They are way too labor-intensive to just hand them out, willy-nilly! What it means is, if you get a sugar cookie or two from me, you are special!


I don't know which is more fun, helping my grandchildren decorate the cookies, or watching people enjoy them.


Every year, on Christmas morning, Dylan's Grandpa Jim comes to pick him up to go celebrate with his family. And every year, Jim looks around furtively.....for the sugar cookies. I've had to apologize to him for the last several years, for not making cookies.

He's in for a pleasant surprise this year!


Merry Christmas, All!


Cali

Star Light, Star Bright....

Today is the last day of quiet solitude until Christmas. Tomorrow, the Munchkin arrives. With a bag full of clothes, and a heart full of happiness, she will bring the house back to life.


Sure, there's life here all the time. Quiet, measured moments of living and breathing and being. It's a cheerful place to be, but mostly at a lower level and a slower pace.


She emailed me last night, saying that she can hardly wait for Christmas. There were about a hundred exclamation points at the end of the sentence. That's Noelle, and this is her holiday, exclamation points and all.


It's a symbiotic thing: she brings spirited enthusiasm to the house, and we help her harness it. She will visit with her cousins, help Grandma bake cookies, and just enjoy what the season brings. For every busy activity, there will be some quiet time. Some time of renewal. She will read, and draw, and write.


And when the holidays are over, she will return home to real life. Everyday life. School and chores and all the responsibilities of being eleven years old. But first, we will celebrate!


And Noelle will be our bright little star....

Cali

Simple Pleasures....

It's funny the things that please us. I have been waiting for over a year for Dave to convert some shelves and drawers in the kitchen for me. Dave is my former daughter-in-law's husband. He is an excellent carpenter and a very nice man.


Today was the day! The new shelves were built and the one drawer, replacing two small ones, is done, too. It only took him about an hour to install them, too.


And now? I have more room for cooking utensils and knives in the one BIG drawer, instead of two, awkward, smaller drawers. And the best part? I now have slide-out shelves for my pots and pans. Open the cupboard doors, slide out the drawer, find the pot or pan I want, and close the drawer.


No more getting down on the ground to dig for the perfect pot or pan!


Right now, I am going to go through all the whatchamajiggies that were in the drawer. If I don't know what it is, or how to use it, I probably don't need to keep it. Everything in the cupboard next to the stove will be clean, neat, and orderly. And, easy to reach!


How cool is that?


Cali

The Christmas Dishes...

'Tis the season to be jolly. Are you?


This morning, I got out my Christmas dishes. They are from Mikasa and they each have a Christmas tree on them, with green lattice around the rims. I think they are quite pretty....


Normally, I take them out on Christmas Eve, just before our meal, and set them out on the dining table. I decided to do things differently this year: we will use them at supper time from now until after Christmas.


They are festive and fun, regardless of what food is on them. A roast, a casserole, even hot dogs, will look better on Christmas plates. It is about presentation, isn't it?


The simple addition of festive Christmas plates will make each meal special during the season. It is an indication that family is special, too. By not saving “the good china” for company, every meal becomes a celebration. Every person around the table is loved and welcome.

And every meal becomes a joyous occasion....


Cali