We started hearing warnings of a winter storm last Sunday. We were told to expect snow, anywhere from three inches to a foot, on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. The forecasters got more and more dramatic as the front advanced. People started to go a little crazy, expecting the worst. There were reports of frenzied buying at the grocery stores on the East Coast. We were told to expect a school cancellation and, sure enough, at 5:30 Wednesday morning the phone rang and school was cancelled. The storm wasn’t as bad as all that. We had snow and then rain and then a bit of freezing rain. There was only a couple of inches of snow in all. We had a white Thanksgiving.
Tuesday was Hannah’s birthday. She turned eighteen, something I find it hard to believe. We had a quiet celebration. She ordered her birthday dinner – gringo enchiladas, chocolate cake, and raspberry rumble ice cream, and it was all delicious. The Shilligs braved the impending storm and walked across the yard to join us. Hannah got some nice gifts.
Since we had no school on Wednesday, we spent the day preparing for Thanksgiving. I cleaned house. Stacey made pies. In the evening we caught two of our turkeys and drove them over to our friends the Nicholas’s house. They have a new automatic poultry plucker that we wanted to use. It did a great job. We came home with two plucked turkeys each weighing about eighteen pounds. We had one on Thanksgiving and the other is still waiting to be eaten.
Our Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday was great. Stacey had to work until 1:30, so the children and I did what we could to get ready. I put the turkey in the oven. Hannah made the sweet potato casserole. Josiah ground the cranberry sauce. I set the table. By the time Stacey got home, all she had to do was make the gravy and tie up all the loose ends. The Shilligs arrived at 2:30 with the mashed potatoes and rolls. It was all delicious and there were plenty of leftovers. We were too full for dessert right away, so later in the evening we took our pies over to Shilligs and had dessert and then we watched Christmas movies all evening. We’re still eating leftovers, which is great. I think leftovers are the best part of the Thanksgiving feast – turkey sandwiches with warmed up stuffing and gravy are delicious!
On Friday we kept our family tradition and decorated for Christmas. We strung lights on the front porch and put up all the wreathes, garlands, nativities, and bric-a-brac inside the house. On Saturday Josiah and I braved the cold for two hours and put lights on the smallest spruce at the end of the row between our house and Shillig’s. The smallest spruce isn’t so small anymore. I remember when we could easily reach the top of that tree and it was easy to string lights on it. Now it’s twelve feet tall and we have to use a ladder and a broom handle to reach the top. Our decorating is done now until we get our Christmas tree later in the month.
So it’s December now, the darkest and the brightest month of the year. During this dark month the sun will set before 5:00 p.m. and won’t rise until 7:30 a.m. We’ll cross the Winter Solstice. But the night will be full of lights – glowing decorations celebrating the birth of Christ (some of them anyway), and a sky full of glorious stars. On the cold, clear nights of winter the stars are spectacular. Speaking of the night sky, if you get up a half hour before dawn over the next few weeks, you should be able to see Comet Ison glowing low in the eastern sky. We should have been able to see it this morning, but the sky was cloudy.
For several months we didn’t fill our bird feeders due to a chipmunk infestation. We haven’t seen a chipmunk fro a while, so yesterday we filled the feeders again. This morning the birds are back feasting and entertaining us. As we were leaving for church this morning we saw a Carolina wren on our front porch. I was surprised as we don’t see them very often even in the summer and here it is cold and snowy. I read that they are wintering further and further north now. They are lovely birds. I hope it can survive the winter.
Today is Fast Sunday. It was nice to take a two meal break from Thanksgiving leftovers, but we’re done fasting now and leftovers are on the menu for lunch, this time in the form of turkey burritos. It’s time to eat. Gotta go.
Dan
P.S. - I’ve been posting the Potter County Journal on my blog for eleven weeks now. In all that time no one has ever left a comment on the blog – until last week. On Thanksgiving Day I got a comment from someone I can only assume is a “troll.” In case you don’t know what a troll is, it’s “a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community such as a blog with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response.” The comment was mean and hateful and directed at me and against the church. The person, who used an anonymous account, knew some things about me and my family, which was a bit scary, but they didn’t really know the truth. I was upset at first and considered deleting my blog account, but I decided not to. Instead, I’ve just tried to ramp up the privacy and security on the site. If that doesn’t work, then I will end the blog and stick to using only my email.
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| Sunset on the last day of November. |
