DAY 1 -- ANOTHER SKIMPY CHRISTMAS WITH INA

The Dobson Homeplace today -- much the same as yesterday

Christmas helps to pass the winter. People can do simple things like this if they want to. No use to let everything go because of hard times. Ina

Ethel Dobson Robinson & Shirley Jean

Ina stood in her kitchen staring at the last page of her 1934 wall calendar. When the breakfast dishes were done, daughter Ethel pulled on a warm coat and went outside to watch her husband Ernest dig a cistern at the back door. Granddaughter Sadie, Ethel and Ernest’s daughter, had gone to the barn with her Grandpa Jack. Much as she loved them all, Ina cherished this quiet moment.

Where had the year gone? Christmas Eve was little more than three weeks away, and as usual, she had much to do to get ready. Before her was the little lidless teapot in which she stashed her egg and cream money. There wasn’t much, but Ina was undaunted. Christmas simply wouldn’t cost very much. It never did. Her theme was always, “a skimpy Christmas,” and she took it as a challenge to make a wonderful Christmas for family and friends on a shoestring.

It promised to be a wonderful holiday – before, during, and after. Ethel and Ernest were staying until he received a new job assignment. Ethel had enrolled Sadie in the one-room Dickson School, which she herself had attended through eighth grade. One-room country schools were disappearing, Ethel said, and she wanted Sadie to experience it.

And of course, Ina’s youngest daughter, Shirley, now 24, working and rooming in town, would be home for Christmas, perhaps even several times beforehand. And daughter Lynn (a.k.a. Myrtle) would arrive from Portland the weekend prior to Christmas. That would make six of them in all – Ina and Jack, Ethel and Sadie, Lynn and Shirley. Yes, six. (What about Ernest, you ask, but he doesn’t count as “one of them.” In Ina’s mind, grandchildren might be added to the family but not spouses. It doesn’t mean he was left out – just that he didn’t count as “family” in Ina’s mind.)

It would be a wonderful Christmas. and having a child in the house would make it extra special. But all thoughts of Christmas must be laid aside for now. Today she must do some baking – cookies, bread, and an apple pie for dessert. Having extra people was a lot more work but fun, too, especially when she had Ethel’s help and Sadie’s enthusiasm.

Ina put the little teapot back on the pantry shelf and started a fresh pot of coffee and hot chocolate for Sadie. Just then, Jack came in, little Sadie close behind him, and said that he could “feel in his bones” that a cold spell was coming. Ernest was skeptical, but Ina knew better than to question Jack’s “bones.” At any rate, it was better to be safe than sorry. They would get ready – bring extra wood to the house and prepare warm clothing and blankets. No need to worry about the plumbing because they had none. And that’s where Ina had the last laugh on her descendants. KW

[In real time, a cold snap is predicted for next week, so Mike, Bess, and I went to the farm today to turn off the water. There wasn’t much to it because the water hasn’t been in use.]