As these cold and monochromatic days settle in, I am thankful for color. The white of snow and frost can be beautiful in a subtle and sterile sort of way. The browns and grays of the trees with their intricate interlacing bare branches are lovely. But bright color is rare now and I appreciate it whenever I find it. I am a sky watcher all year round. I love intensely colorful sunrises and sunsets, but now even the slightest blush of pink or the palest apricot glow in the clouds of winter thrills me. And on the rare occasions when the sky is ablaze with deep color, I am in awe. Here and there amidst the duller shades, I see bits of color left over from warmer days. There are still red haws on the hawthorn tree, orange berries on the burning bush, and tiny shriveled red crab apples in the orchard. They will not last much longer as the hungry birds are eating them up.
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| A colorful sunrise last week. |
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| A subtle sunset last week. |
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| Red haws in the snow. |
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| Burning bush berries. |
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| Little red crab apples. |
Our house was very lively last week. With our four Thayn granddaughters here, there was a lot of energy, noise, and activity. We had a lot of fun. Miriam kept them busy during the days while the rest of us were at work. In the afternoons I had helpers doing the chores with me, which involved finding jackets, boots, and gloves, which made chore time take much longer, but I love that they love doing the chores with me. We also realized quickly that bedtime is a different adventure when you mix four children into it, especially Mabel who is always suddenly hungry when it’s time to go to bed. Or she needs to look at book when it’s time for the lights to go out. And Florence, who slept in Miriam’s room, is a restless sleeper who wakes up off and on all night long. Luckily (for the rest of us anyway), Miriam’s room is upstairs and at the back of the house, so we didn’t hear all the ruckus.
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| A musical evening. |
On Monday when I got home from school I realized there was one last garden project I’d forgotten to do. The asparagus bed needed to be tucked in for the winter. It was a cold day, but the ground was clear of snow and the asparagus stalks were brown and crispy. I enlisted my helpers and we bundled up and went out to work. I cut the stalks and all of us carried them to the compost pile. Then we dragged bales of straw to the garden, broke them, and spread them over the asparagus bed. Now the garden truly is ready for its winter sleep.
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| My helpers - Hazel and June. |
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| Me and my helper, Mabel. |
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| Florence, June, and Hazel. |
That night we drove up to Wellsville, New York. The town of Wellsville sets up Christmas trees on the lawn at the library and our branch decorates one of them every year. So we drove to the chapel, picked up the decorations, and went across town to the library. The missionaries helped us wrap lights and hang ornaments. When we were done, we went into the library for a few minutes to warm up, then back to the chapel again to drop off unused ornaments. On the way home we stopped and got pizza to bring home for dinner. It was snowing as we drove home.
Tuesday morning we woke up to find snow on the ground. I went out before I left for school to fill the bird feeders and measured three inches of fluffy snow. During the day most of it melted, but there was still some lingering, especially in the shady north-facing parts of the yard. When I got home from school, I started putting up outdoor Christmas lights. I put them on the fence at the top of the driveway. It was too cold and getting dark for me to do any more that evening.
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| Tuesday morning. |
I was not in school on Wednesday and I spent the afternoon putting up more Christmas lights, this time on the front of the house. When Hannah got home from work she helped me finish. This is the first time we’ve decorated our new front porch. We had an electrical outlet installed on the porch when it was built, so we didn’t have to run an extension cord out a window to plug the lights into, which was nice. Tabor and Rachel arrived that night. The girls were so excited and happy to see them.
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| Hannah helping me put up Christmas lights. |
Thursday morning, Stacey and I were up early – it wasn’t actually early for me, but it was for Stacey on a day when she didn’t have to work – to make dressing and stuff the turkey. The activity in the kitchen woke up Hazel and Mabel and they in turn woke up June and Florence, and away we went. All morning there were things going on – food preparation, things to keep the girls occupied. At 9:00 we tuned in so the girls could watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The girls had never seen it before. When I was a child we were glued to the television set on Thanksgiving morning. We thought the parade was amazing – even in black and white. The girls thought it was great. They especially loved the giant balloons.
All morning and into the early afternoon the kitchen was full of people preparing their particular food specialty. I always make the cranberry sauce and actually made it on Wednesday night. It tastes better when it’s had time mellow. Hannah made sweet potato casserole. Miriam made rolls. Stacey made mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, and an apple pie. Hannah made pumpkin rolls for our dessert a week ago. The aroma of all that food baking, roasting, and boiling filled the house and it was wonderful. We finally sat down to eat at 1:30. The food was plentiful and delicious. I’m thankful that I live in a house with such excellent cooks.
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| First at the table - Florence. |
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| Ready for our feast. |
This was the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving feast, held at Plymouth Plantation in the fall of 1621. I didn’t see much hoopla made about that. Thanksgiving has taken a beating over the last few decades. People have been taught that the settlers at Plymouth Plantation were genocidal religious fanatics who destroyed the indigenous peoples and established evil white European civilization in paradisiacal North America. The reasons for their seeking a new life in a strange land have been reinterpreted and their struggles and sacrifices minimized. If you believe that twisted version of history, then commemorating that harvest feast 400 years ago is no reason to celebrate. But if you actually read the accounts those settlers recorded of their struggles, of the dangers they faced, the starvation and suffering they endured, of the many who died during those first hard years, and their reasons for doing it, instead of some modern Marxist revisionist interpretation, you can see how brave and noble they were. Here is Plymouth colonist Edward Winslow’s account of that first feast:
“Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together, after we had gathered the fruits of our labors; they four in one day killed as much fowl, as with a little help beside, served the company almost a week, at which time amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our Governor, and upon the Captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.”
Our modern celebration tends to focus more and more on glutting ourselves with food whose origins we tend to take for granted. We watch parades and football games. For many the day is simply the beginning of the Christmas shopping frenzy. When I was a child, Thanksgiving was all about cute turkey and pilgrim decorations, food, and parades, but I was also taught a simple and perhaps somewhat idealized but respectful version of its origins. By the time I was in college and studying history (I have a degree in history with a minor in Colonial American History), the revisionists had already started winning their game and what I was taught was mostly apologies for the supposed atrocities the Pilgrim colonists committed. But then I began reading the primary source material, the first-hand accounts they wrote of their experiences, and I came to better appreciate what they did and the legacy of religious freedom and democratic government they established in their new home. I do love the food and the parades (but not football or shopping), but I celebrate those first feasters and I give thanks for the blessings that have come to me and my family living in the great nation whose foundation they laid.
Friday was a day of double celebration at our house. It was Hannah’s Golden Birthday – 26 on the 26th – and it was Tabor and Rachel’s 10th anniversary. We took a trip to the town of Wellsboro, in Tioga County, the next county east of us, to browse and do a bit of Christmas shopping at the game store there. We also stopped at the chocolate shop to sample some of their wares. Wellsboro is a very pretty town, especially during the holidays with its decorated store fronts and Christmas trees in the Main Street median. We had to take two cars because there are so many of us and on the way home, our car, which contained Stacey, Hannah (the birthday girl), Hazel, June, and me, stopped at the overlook at the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. It was cold and windy but beautiful.
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| In front of the chocolate shop in Wellsville. |
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| At the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. |
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| At the Grand Canyon. |
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| Red winter berries along the road near the Grand Canyon. |
When we got back home, we had lunch – leftovers from the day before. I think Thanksgiving leftovers are even better than the meal itself. We made sandwiches from the rolls, turkey, dressing, and cranberry sauce. It was so delicious. After lunch we celebrated Hannah’s birthday. Miriam was in charge of the celebration. She had the house decorated with gold streamers and balloons filled with gold confetti. She had all of Hannah’s presents wrapped in gold and white paper. And the cake she made was decorated with gold dusted chocolates and meringue kisses that she made herself. That night some of us went to the movies and some of us stayed home. The movie, Disney’s Encanto, was mostly for the children, but Stacey, Hannah, and Tabor went along. Rachel, Miriam, and I opted to stay home with Florence.
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| Hannah's golden birthday. |
Yesterday we’d planned to go to the temple. We had an appointment for the 9:30 session. We had our friend Laura Dunn here to babysit the children. But a combination of snow and several of us suffering from colds made us decide to stay home instead. It’s a two and a half hour drive to the temple for us and we weren’t sure what the roads would be like. We had an inch or two of snow fall during the night, but the weather map showed heavier snow up north. I’m sorry we didn’t get to go, but we had a good day hanging out together, even though there was quite a bit of coughing, sniffling, and sneezing. It was a snowy day, but we were snug indoors. We had a fire burning in the wood stove all day. We found ways of keeping ourselves entertained. We played games. There was a fancy dress up party. And there were still plenty of leftovers to snack on all day. In the afternoon some of us, Tabor, Rachel, Miriam, Hannah, Laura, and I, went into town to a craft fair. There were vendors set up on Second Street, in the lobby of the Crittenden Hotel, and in the gymnasium at the county office building. We walked around and made a few purchases. On our way home we stopped to drop Laura off at her house. It was the first day of deer season and her father and brothers were getting ready to process a deer they’d shot, so Tabor stayed to help and learn how to do it. The rest of us came home and settled in for the rest of the day.
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| The dress-up party. |
This morning when I got up, I could see that more snow had fallen during the night, but not enough to keep us from going to church, which is a good thing because Stacey was the main speaker today. We took it easy driving on the Pennsylvania roads, which weren’t plowed yet and, as always, the New York roads were plowed and salted. Stacey gave a great talk. This is the first Sunday of Advent, and although we don’t formally observe it in our church, I still had the congregation (all 22 of them) sing the first Christmas carol of the season as the closing hymn. Now we’re home, lunch preparations are underway – spaghetti and garlic bread – and then we will spend a pleasant afternoon together. This evening at sundown Hanukkah begins. We don’t observe all eight days of its traditions, but we like to light the menorah on the first night and eat potato latkes and jelly-filled donuts (made by Miriam) and play dreidel. We tell the story of the rededication of the Jerusalem temple in 139 B.C. and miracle of the temple menorah burning for seven days and eight nights on one day’s worth of consecrated oil. So good Sabbath and Happy Hanukkah!
