We have not yet officially arrived at winter and already I wish it was over. The solstice doesn’t happen until the 21st, but nature doesn’t care about the calendar. Winter has been here for what seems like months already. The cold and the snow and the short dark days can be numbing to someone like me who longs to live in a garden. Happily, these are the days when the seed catalogs arrive to keep my imagination fired up. I love to find catalogs in the mail. As they arrive, I first skim through them, stopping to look at photographs that catch my eye. After skimming, I go back through and read every word with a highlighter in hand and I mark the plants and seeds I will consider for next year’s garden. Then I start my chart where I compare the prices of the same seeds and plants offered in different catalogs. This process will go into February when I make my final decisions and purchases. Doing this keeps me from going crazy. It helps me remember that under the cold and sterile solstice snow, the lilies of summer are sleeping.
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| A delicate winter sunrise. |
The Christmas season got underway in a big way last week. After decorating the house last week, it started to feel more festive. We have Christmas music playing all the time now. I love that. Christmas music evokes powerful memories in me. When I hear certain songs, I sometimes have to stop what I’m doing and sit and listen as waves of nostalgia wash over me. We also began our traditional viewing of Christmas movies. Almost every evening we watch one of our favorites. So far we’ve watched Meet Me In St. Louis, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Snowman, Elf, and A Christmas Story. There are more to come. We’ve also watched a few Hallmark Christmas movies (not my idea), but I can’t remember any of their titles because they are all pretty much the same movie with the same cheesy acting and predictable plot with very minor variations.
I’ve been watching a great show while I work on painting orders. It’s called The Repair Shop on Netflix. The people in the Repair Shop fix and restore broken and dilapidated items such as antiques and family heirlooms. I love it. I love that there are people who long for things that connect them to their family’s past. The people on the show often get emotional when they see their restored treasures. I often shed a tear or two, too. It’s a great show and I recommend it. There are so many shows not worth watching these days. I like finding a good one.
On Thursday afternoon I drove up to Buffalo and picked Miriam up at the airport. On our way home we stopped to do some shopping. Miriam was in charge of our Branch Christmas dinner and we needed some items. It’s good to have Miriam home again. We missed her.
Our Branch Dinner was on Friday evening. Miriam and I went up early to get the food preparation underway. We found the tables already set and the room decorated beautifully. We had lasagna, garlic bread, and salad. The lasagnas were frozen and it was a close call on getting them cooked through on time, but it all worked out. One sister brought some ham and scalloped potatoes for those who didn’t like lasagna (I guess there actually are people who don’t like lasagna?). And people brought their favorite cookie to share. We had about 40 people there which is a good turn out for our little branch. After dinner we played some games – a Christmas trivia game and a group singing game of The Twelve Days of Christmas. It was a nice evening.
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| Decorating tables at the Branch Dinner. |
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| The Branch Christmas Dinner. |
Saturday was a cold, rainy day. We drove up to Greenman Hill and got our Christmas tree – a very pretty eight foot Fraser fir that was just cut that morning. We took it home and spent the next few hours decorating it. It turned out nicely. Now the house seems complete for Christmas.
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| Arriving at the tree barn. |
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| This is the tree. |
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| Wrapping the tree for transport. |
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| Decorating. |
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| The finished tree. |
Saturday evening was the Rigas’s annual Christmas Concert. Miriam and Hannah went into town early to help with food and other things. Stacey and I left later. The rain had changed to snow by then and it was accumulating quickly and blowing around pretty hard. The snow plow hadn’t come by in a long while and the road was a bit treacherous. We made it as far as Erway’s house in Raymond and turned around and came back home. Miriam and Hannah made it home after the concert with out any trouble. The plows had been around again by then. They said the concert was a very nice event. It always is. I’m sorry we missed it.
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| Hannah and Miriam ready to go to the concert. |
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| The concert. |
The snow kept on through the night and the wind picked up. It woke me up several times and I wondered if we’d have to miss church too. By the time I got up this morning, the snow had stopped. There was about four inches on the ground. The plows came by a few minutes before we were to set out so we decided to risk it and go to church. As usual, the roads in Potter County were pretty bad, but once we crossed into New York state, they were good. By the time we headed home all the roads were fine.
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| This morning. |
Last night I dreamed I was in Japan. I have dreams about Japan fairly often. This was a complicated dream involving me carrying a bear cub in my arms across the city of Osaka to take it to the Tennoji Zoo (in Japanese that’s Tennoji Dobutsuen). In my dream I made my way, expertly knowing all the correct trains to take. I also spoke perfect Japanese. I always speak fluent Japanese when I dream about Japan. I wish I did when I’m awake. Then this morning I realized why I had that dream. Today is the 40th anniversary of my arrival home from Japan from my mission. Forty years. I feel old.
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| A map of Tennoji Zoo. |
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| Me 40 years ago in Japan. |
Miriam is leaving home again this afternoon to go to Dayton, Ohio, to house sit for her cousin Elijah and his wife while they are on vacation in Florida. This coming weekend we are traveling down to the Thayn’s house to celebrate an early Christmas. The Fosters will be there and Josiah (home from school) and Miriam (from her cousin’s house). After our early celebration, Hannah, Josiah, and Miriam will be coming back up here to celebrate Christmas and New Years with us. We won’t be back until Sunday night, so the Journal will be late again. Then they will all go away again – Hannah and Josiah back to college and Miriam back down to the Thayns to watch their children while Rachel and Tabor go to Florida for a business convention. This is such a busy time of year! I love celebrating the holidays with my family!
