On Monday evening we went to get a Christmas tree. The people that Stacey and Hannah work for own a Christmas tree farm and we get a tree for free. So we went to choose a tree. They were all freshly cut that day. They had a variety to choose from – Fraser Fir, Blue Spruce, Canaan Fir, Concolor Fir, Douglas Fir – in sizes ranging from four to ten feet. We walked through the offered selection several times. Stacey saw some that she liked. I saw some that I liked. Miriam and Hannah didn’t like any of them. They had a very specific selection criteria. It had to be an 8' Canaan Fir, full, not skinny, no open spots. In other words, perfect. Despite there being so many nice trees, we left without one.
On Wednesday evening we tried again. This time we had success. We found a tree that met everyone’s approval and it was an 8' Canaan Fir. The workers wrapped it up and we brought it home and then spent the rest of evening decorating it. Miriam and Hannah have developed a system for stringing the lights using a ring of dining room chairs to give them height and involving a lot of acrobatics. After the lights were up, we took a break to eat dinner and then went on with the placing of ornaments. Putting ornaments on the tree is a ritual at our house. As each ornament is brought out, we discuss its history and meaning. We have old ornaments that graced Christmas trees from my and Stacey’s childhoods. We have ornaments that go back to the first Christmas of our married life and ornaments for each of our children. There are handmade ornaments made of cardboard, clothes pins, pasta, and string, ones we’ve received as gifts, and beautiful hand-blown glass ornaments from Europe. Each has its story and its place in our history. Last of all, after all the ornaments were in place, I put on the long strings of gold beads. Then we all sat back and admired our handiwork. With the tree up and decorated, the decking of our halls is complete.
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| Looking at Christmas trees. |
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| Wrapping the tree. |
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| The lights are on. |
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| Decorating finished. |
Most of the week it was cold and rainy. If the temperature had been just a few degrees lower, we would have had a foot of snow. Instead, we had mud and puddles. The garden looks rather bleak in December. A blanket of snow does a lot to prettify it. Not too much snow. Just enough to smooth things out and decorate the drabness.
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| Still no snow. |
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| The garden looking winter drab. |
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| This variegated yucca is the brightest thing in the garden now. |
I took a break from the Odyssey to read Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. I was enjoying the Odyssey, but I needed an infusion of Christmas Spirit. I love A Christmas Carol. I read it almost every year. And because I love it so much, I’m a harsh critic of the attempts to make film adaptations of it. There are over twenty live action film versions of it, at least a dozen animated film versions, and dozens of versions made for television ranging from Mr. Magoo to Bugs Bunny to the Flintstones. I looked at the list of the top five live action versions listed on IMDb – the 1951 film starring Alistair Sim as Scrooge (he’s too hammy an actor for my taste and I hate the way he laughs), the 1984 film with George C. Scott as Scrooge (he’s not even English), the 2009 animated atrocity with Jim Carey (the one I dislike the most), the 2019 mini-series (well made, but it takes way too many liberties with the story. Why did they feel the need to embellish Dickens with extra subplots?). I haven’t seen the most recent 2022 animated version that was on that list yet, but I could hardly stand to watch the trailer. I did, regretfully, watch this year’s degraded attempt to capitalize on Dickens’ greatness – Spirited starring Will Farrell and Ryan Reynolds. Yuck. Then there are the cartoon adaptations. I haven’t seen them all, but I will admit that I have a nostalgic soft spot for the Mr. Magoo version. It first aired on December 18, 1962, and was the first animated Christmas special to be produced for television. I was about five or six when I first saw it and I think it might have been my very first encounter with the story. [The TV series The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo, which aired from 1964 to 1965, was also where I first encountered Gunga Din, Don Quixote, and Cyrano de Bergerac, among other great literary characters.] Someone ought to make a serious and faithful version of A Christmas Carol with no extra subplots, no fancy creative interpretations. Dickens was a master storyteller, brilliant at descriptions of scenery and characters. All you need to do to make a great film is have the actors say what he wrote and make the film look like what he described. Until someone does that, I say stick to reading the book, it doesn’t get any better than that.
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| Delightful illustrations from the first edition of A Christmas Carol. |
Friday evening was our branch Christmas dinner. Because I am the branch president now, I had more responsibility for the Christmas dinner than in years past. I embraced my responsibility by delegating. I put the Shilligs in charge of the food. They know how to put together a great dinner better than anyone I know. I put the Relief Society in charge of the decorations and program and, since Stacey is the Relief Society president, I still had a small measure of control over what was done. I sent out a Christmas letter two weeks ago to every member of the branch with an invitation to the dinner and a request for an RSVP. Thirty-four people responded. The dinner started at 6:00. The tables were beautifully decorated. One of our members was dressed as Santa Claus and sat for picture taking before we ate. We had lasagna, garlic bread, and a salad,– all of it delicious. Those attending brought great holiday desserts to share. After we ate, we had some story telling and music. There were 43 people there, a good turnout for our little branch.
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| Waiting for the dinner to start. |
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| The dessert table. |
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| The branch Christmas dinner. |
Saturday morning it was very cold – just 12° when I went down to do the morning chores. There was heavy frost on the lawn and the beaver pond was glazed over with ice again. The back porch windows were decorated with beautiful frost. I stood and stared at them for a while. The intricate fractal patterns are amazing. Frost forms best on slightly dirty windows. That’s the excuse I use for not being vigilant about keeping those windows clean.
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| Frost on the back porch windows. |
That afternoon Stacey and I went and got another load of firewood. We replenished the stack on the back porch and stacked the rest at the side of the house and covered it with a tarp. I think three more loads like that one and we’ll probably be set for the winter.
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| More firewood. |
My life is filled with so many connections to birds. I’ve been a bird watcher since I was a child. Our front room in our house on Bridge Street had one wall that was book shelves from floor to ceiling. My father was a great reader and collector of books. When I was about nine, I discovered an Audubon field guide to birds on one of the higher shelves. It had always been there. It was just on a shelf I’d never paid attention to before. Or maybe I’d finally grown tall enough to read the titles on that shelf. Whatever the case, I found that book and I devoured it. That began my love and fascination for birds. Last week during one of the gloomy days, when I looked out the kitchen window and saw dozens of various finches, juncos, chickadees, and woodpeckers at the feeders, it struck me how much joy birds bring to me. One morning when I went down to do the chores, there was a flock of thousands of starlings sitting in the tops of my maple trees. They were making quite a racket with their odd squeaks and whistles. As I crossed the yard, they went silent and then flew off with a great noise of wings. It was wonderful. On Thursday, Stacey and I went up to Wellsville to the chapel and as we turned onto the Andover road we saw thousands of crows. The trees all along the road were full of them and the night sky above was swirling with them. Crows and ravens are my favorite birds. It was amazing to see so many of them.
And then there are my domesticated bird friends. I spend part of each day, morning and afternoon, with my flock. I enjoy their company and I think, most times, they enjoy mine. On Saturday, when I was doing the afternoon chores, I decided to clean out their nesting boxes and give them fresh straw. I have bales of straw stored in a corner of the coop and when I went to break one to fill the boxes, I found a hidden nest of eggs. The hens usually lay their eggs in the nesting boxes, but someone or several someones decided to make a secret nest on the ground in a corner. There were fourteen eggs in it. I couldn’t tell how old the eggs were and it’s too late in the year for a hen to sit on eggs, so I disposed of the eggs and scattered the nest. Chickens are intriguing animals. They aren’t dumb as many people seem to think. They have their own intelligence and their own society. I’m happy that I get to associate with them.
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| This morning before church. |
Yesterday the forecasters warned us that we had a 100% chance of snow turning to freezing rain after midnight last night. We went to bed worrying about getting to church in the morning. I woke up at 4:30 and checked the weather – nothing. I was relieved that the forecasters were wrong once again. Then at 6:00 it started to snow. I guess 6:00 a.m. is after midnight, but so is next Tuesday. Not very accurate. By 8:30 it was pretty snowy. There was an inch on the ground, more coming down, and the plows had not been by. I considered not going to church, but I had obligations there and did not want to seem like a flake, so we went. I usually do not drive, but Stacey won’t drive in the snow, so I drove up with Hannah. Stacey and Miriam rode up with the Shilligs a little later. The roads were not bad. By the time we got home from church, the temperature had warmed to 37 and what little snow we had is melting. I’m wondering if we’ll have another soggy brown Christmas this year.
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| Strange light at sunset one day last week. |
So we’re home. We’ve eaten lunch – grilled cheese on sourdough and homemade tomato soup. We have a nice fire burning in the wood stove. In a few minutes I’ll head down to do the afternoon chores and visit my flock of friends. Next weekend we are going down to the Thayns for an early Christmas celebration. The Fosters and Daniel and Raven will be there. There will be a lot of excitement and fun. I’ll tell you all about it when we get back.
