Decking the Halls

Monday was the Monday-est sort of Monday imaginable. It was just barely warm enough to rain instead of snow -- and it rained all day. The rain washed away most of the snow and turned everything into a cold, swampy mess. Stacey was helping out at the Christmas tree farm owned by the people she works for and they had her working outdoors cutting pine branches for wreathes all day. She was soaked to the skin. It was a dank and dreary day. I stayed indoors except to go out and do the chores. I had a project to work on.

Last week, a package arrived from my sister Hollie. It was full of photographs from my mother -- at least a hundred photos of family and friends. I spent several hours on Monday sorting through them, first arranging them roughly by decade and then by year. Some were dated and had the names of the people written on them, many did not. The oldest photos were from the 1910s, the most recent ones were from the 2010s. I had a great time looking through them, trying to figure out when and who they were. They brought up so many memories. When I had made some semblance of order, I began to scan them onto the computer. That day I scanned the 1950's.

The big event of 1953, my parent's wedding.
My Aunt Bev second from the left, my cousin Bobby Ann to her right, my Aunt Sally last on the right.

This was my favorite photo from the 50s.

The dismal weather continued on Tuesday. When I went down to do the morning chores, I found that the rain barrel had thawed enough for me to break the ice in it and empty it and turn it over for the winter. I was glad to get that done. 

Ice from the rain barrel.

Dreary Tuesday morning.

I spent most of Tuesday morning working on my photo project. This time I scanned the 1960's. There were some real gems. These were two of my favorites.

Easter 1963.

Steve, Nancy, Dad holding Mindy, Mom holding Jaynan, Hollie, and me, July 1966.

On Tuesday evening we got our Christmas tree. We were going to go on Thursday, but the Fosters wanted to get theirs on Tuesday so we changed our plans. They got an eight foot Concolor Fir. We got an eight foot Canaan Fir. We drove the truck to the tree lot and picked up both trees, then delivered the Foster's tree and brought ours home. It took us the rest of the evening to decorate it. First Hannah unwrapped it and we let it relax while we ate dinner. Next, Miriam and Hannah put on the lights, a task they enjoy doing, for which I'm glad because I don't. Then we opened all the boxes of ornaments and hung them, rehearsing the history of each one, as we always do. With the tree in place, our Christmas decorations are now complete.

Boxes of ornaments waiting to go on the tree.

Hannah unwrapping the tree.

Miriam and Hannah stringing the lights.

The finished tree.

I love our Christmas decorations. One of the main features of our decorations are our nativities. We have over a dozen of them. The largest one has figures that stand a foot tall. The smallest has tiny half inch figures. Many of the ceramic figures have suffered casualties over the years. We have a shepherd, a wise man, and a Mary missing hands, an angel with its wings broken off, and a decapitated wise man whose head is held on with wire so that he is a sort of bobble-headed magi. They have undergone extensive repair attempts, but as old as some of them are, there isn't much we can do but love them, flaws and all.

This one was a gift from my sister Nancy back in the '80s.

This was a gift to my parents from their children back in the '80s. I painted the bisque figures.

I don't remember where this one came from.

This is the largest nativity, a gift from some friends. 

This one was a craft project from Stacey's sister.

This china cupboard holds various nativities we've collected.
 The one on the bottom shelf was given to us by my Uncle Bud and Aunt Dolly.

We have lots of other Christmas knickknacks that are more secular, a collection of Christmas trees, Santas, nutcrackers, garlands, bells, and other things. They each have their particular place in the house atop bookcases, on bookshelves, even in the bathrooms. Christmas wouldn't feel right if they were not in their proper places.

Christmas tree knickknacks.

Santas and other knickknacks.

More knickknacks.

The knee-hugging elves on the upper shelf are more than sixty years old, dating back to my childhood. They are in delicate condition. The plastic holly garland is very old too. It is a remnant of the decorations my father put up in the front windows of his office on Bridge Street, so it is also more than sixty years old. There is just a small strand of it now and the plastic is very brittle and every year we lose more of it. Stacey brought the Pinocchio on the lower shelf back from her mission in Italy. She lived for some time in Florence where Carlo Collodi, the author of The Adventures of Pinocchio lived. We also have small Pinocchio ornaments for our Christmas tree. Miriam made the ceramic snowman on the left on the upper shelf and I made the two on the right. I made the ceramic reindeer head that looks like a cow with antlers that is beside the elves. It is my poor attempt to duplicate the one pictured below that was a gift to me from one of the professors when I worked on campus at California State University, Northridge. It always hangs on the mirror in the living room.

All these decorations deck our halls from early December until the day after Christmas when they all go back into storage for another year. Seeing them so briefly adds to their charm and preciousness.

I'm glad the house looks festive because outside it did not. The gloomy, rainy weather persisted into Wednesday. The rain dissolved all the snow except in patches where the drifts were deepest. It was pouring rain when I went down to do the morning chores. Walking on the thawed, rain soaked lawn was like walking on a wet sponge. I thought to myself as I was getting soaked, that if it had been ten degrees colder, we would have been knee deep in snow. Well . . . When I went down later that day to do the  afternoon chores, it was still raining, but it was quickly getting colder and the raindrops were starting to look fat and slushy. By the time I started back to the house, the ground was covered with snow. 

Through the day on Wednesday I continued scanning photos. This time it was the 1970s. I found while scanning and examining these photos that the happy memories they invoked were tinged with a little sadness. In my mind, the '70s were not so very long ago, and yet these photos made it seem like a far bygone era, which, I must admit, it is. To see the faces of my family, especially my parents and grandparents, at an age when I have so many memories of them, made me miss those days when I was a silly and sometimes stupid teenager.

1972

Grandad and Grandma Rathfon, 1971.

Thursday morning at their preferred time, 4:30, the township snowplow went up our road scraping and making a racket that woke me up. I got up and looked out the window to see how deep the snow was. It was just a thin crust and didn't seem deep enough to warrant plowing. I checked the temperature. It was cold, 16º with a 12 mph wind that dropped the wind chill to 6º. As I looked out, I saw the dark sky sparkling with a million stars. Orion was setting in the west, waist deep behind the woods, and near him, Jupiter, set between the bull's horns, was sinking below Cobb Hill. It was beautiful. That's one of the nice things about these dark winter mornings; when the sky is clear, I can stargaze for over an hour before dawn begins. And with the trees bare, I have a wider view of the sky from inside the house, so I don't even need to go out in the cold to see the stars.

There was more holiday baking during the week and I enjoyed the smell of it. Because of my cancer, I am on a restricted diet. I have been since September when they first suspected I might have it. I have to restrict my carbohydrates, especially sugar. I have been very good at following it and I have seen  results, at least weight wise. I thought it would be difficult to eat this way because I live among excellent cooks and bakers, but I have resisted all temptation. It helps that my cooks and bakers make special foods for me. I thought Thanksgiving would be a problem, but I did okay. Christmas will be a little sadder -- no gingerbread, no eggnog -- but we are already devising good substitutes for me. Meanwhile, I've learned to appreciate the fragrances of things I cannot taste. I'm determined to stick with this.

Hannah made Peanut Butter Blossoms on Thursday.

Sarah and Tosh were out of town on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and Miriam went to stay at their house and take care of their Doberman, Maverick. During part of those days, Miriam came home to work on projects and she brought Maverick with her. But on Friday, Miriam was in school so she dropped Maverick off here and he and I spent the day together, just the two of us. Maverick is a funny dog. He's big and strong and very handsome, but he's also rather needy. He likes to touch and be touched. He loves to stand with his head squeezed between your knees. He sometimes gets a little crazy and tears around and barks for no apparent reason. He and I had an interesting day together. He slept a lot during the morning when I was reading and everything was quiet. But anytime I was up and doing something, he had to be there beside me, nuzzling my hands with his cold, wet nose. When I sat down to watch a little Gardner's World at lunchtime, he had to sit right next to me on the couch and rest his head on my legs. I was glad when the others arrived home later in the afternoon so they could pay attention to him and let me have a break.  The Fosters arrived home Friday night and Maverick went home again. He's a special dog.

Saturday morning when I went down to do the chores, it was -2º. I think this was our first subzero weather of this very long winter season. I'm sure there is plenty more yet to come. 

Subzero Saturday morning.

Saturday evening we had our branch Christmas dinner. Stacey, Sarah, and I went early to make sure everything was ready and get the food warming. We had lasagna and salad provided by the branch, macaroni and cheese provided by the Leavitts, and desserts provided by the members. The tables were decorated by the Felips and, as always, they did a great job. I mailed invitations to every household in the branch -- 95 of them -- hoping to see people we haven't seen in a while, or ever, but the same faithful few showed up, all 22 of us. Those of us who were there had a very nice time.

All set up for the branch Christmas dinner.

The branch Christmas dinner.

The weather service issued a Winter Weather Advisory this morning -- snow and freezing rain. I prayed that it would hold off until we got home from church and it did, barely. The temperature was dropping and the PenDOT plows were out spreading cinders as we drove home. Kurt and Julie left right after church to head west for the holidays. They are driving southwest and should miss this storm. I hope they do. Freezing rain is the worst sort of winter storm. So we are home from church. I did the chores as soon as we got home to avoid getting iced. The bad weather they predict, two to four inches of snow and a tenth of an inch of ice, is supposed to continue on through the night and into tomorrow morning. We have the woodstove going and the house is warm and cozy, so I think we'll be okay.