Bertha also insisted on making pies since I had my hands full – mince and pumpkin. One
of each would be plenty, I said, but no – here came two each and ginger cookies
frosted. She’d tried a new recipe.
Ina Dobson, Christmas 1934
I
thought of Grandma Ina’s quiet Christmas of 1934 as today, 80 years later, we
celebrated our own quiet event in the same house. I can’t help but imagine the
happy Christmas gatherings that happened here so many years ago.
Nick
and Hallie arrived at 10:45 Monday night (Dec.22). Mike and I sat up to wait for
them, watching an episode of The Rifleman with bleary eyes. “Bark-bark-bark,”
announced Bess as the car came up the lane. Nellie knew immediately who it was.
(Nellie knows who comes in the middle of the night.) Hallie provided the dogs with
“pig ear” treats. Then without further ado, all of us were off to bed.
It
was a short night for me, however. At 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday (Dec.23), as the owl
hooted in a pine tree, Nellie whined at the back door. (Bess was there, too,
but she lets Nellie do the whining.) I got up and let them in, and then they
napped while I read and watched an old holiday movie on my iPad. (It was hours
before anyone else was up.)
Tuesday,
Hallie had arranged to work by means of laptop and phone. Mike and Nick took
the dogs and tramped the property while I made a batch of cut-out sugar
cookies. My plan was to make quick work of decorating them with white frosting,
but Hallie suggested I wait till later so that we could make a retro experience
of it. Did I have food coloring, she wanted to know. I didn’t think so, but lo
and behold! – I found some in the cupboard. So,
the frosting went from white to red, green, and yellow, and we decorated
cookies until suppertime. Great fun!
Before
supper, Mike suggested we light our annual Christmas bonfire. Last year our
burn pile, consisting mostly of yard waste, was too wet to light. This year we
were able to get the fire started and an estimated three-fourths of it burned. With
the camera on a tripod, I was the official bonfire photographer. (Maybe I’ll
get better pictures next year.
Following
Hallie’s suggestion, we opened our gifts on Christmas Eve. There was a Skilsaw
for Nick and work pants for Hallie, books and socks and pajamas and other nice
things all around. But take a look at this Fitz & Floyd canister set that
Mike found for me at The Hangar, a secondhand mall in Clarkston. I’m not quite
sure if it was a joke, but I know he had some fun with the doing of it – and
isn’t that what Christmas should be? These canisters were produced in 1995, and
while they’re a little chipped, I’m convinced he got a reasonable deal. 
Christmas
morning Santa filled our stockings with many useful and tasty items which we
enjoyed after a breakfast of waffles. We rounded out our time together with
cooking and eating, board games, dominoes, gin rummy, and playing with the
dogs.
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