DECEMBER 5 -- MORE OF THE PAST

And last but not least, Ina, you kept all those old Christmas things from the “gulch” time for some time. I want to see them. Ida Dickson Patchen, 1924

The dry cold snap continued. The worst of it was that Jack was under foot. It was too cold for him to work in the barn, though of course, he “fed the chores,” as they called caring for the animals.

The Spirit of Christmas Past lingered with Ina. Buoyed on by feelings of Christmas goodwill, she made quick work of her daily chores and settled down at her sewing machine to shorten the sleeves of a shirt for Vance. The shirt had been a gift to Jack but was too small for him and Vance, who often wore suits, could use it. She wished she could convince Vance to wear more color. Ina liked color.

Her sewing done, she made a lunch of canned beef served with creamed potatoes and peas and farm bread. She gave Jack a big piece of apple pie and cut just a sliver for herself. She had to watch her weight.

Then after lunch she stole a moment for herself to read another of Ida’s reminiscences of Christmas past.

I think the best time I ever had working for that especial time was that very first Christmas there at Gilbert  when those little evergreens inspired me to attempt another something out of nothing and I enlisted our little sister Mabel’s interests and we put in all those long, long afternoons and evenings that otherwise would have hung heavy on our hands into doing things for the little folks and you remember how it surprised you and Bertha and how after we had come and gone tramping through the snow, Jack had you light the lamp again and together you inspected our handiwork. I think there were some funny-shaped eats in there, too, weren’t there? Well, anyway, it pleased all the biddies and the way you four Dobsons looked when we presented our trees was pay in plenty.

 

That was the Christmas of 1896, Ina mused –38 years ago -- when they were still living in the “gulch,” the draw beyond the north field. They were young. Much of life was yet to happen.

Now inspired to do something more tangible toward Christmas preparations, Ina pulled on her old sweater and opened the stair door. She immediately felt the rush of cold air, but she was ready for it. She quickly found her supply of leftover wrapping paper, tags, and string tucked away in one of the cubby holes under the eaves. She didn’t linger in the cold but hurried back downstairs.

[The gulch -- where you see the trees -- appears today much as it did in this picture taken by Ina in the mid-1930s. The cabin was very like the one where the Jack and June Dobson families lived in 1896. The last picture is of a sample of vintage Christmas wrapping paper left behind by Ina.]