BEST WISHES FOR 2024

 

READING TO SILAS

We were together for Christmas, and Santa came with something for everyone. The elephant in the room was Milo’s absence, but I know we will get used to it. That’s life as we know it.

Meanwhile, we had fun with Silas and his presents, especially his books. We have pictures of everyone reading to Silas.

Grandma reads about Rudolph

Uncle Murray reads a tiny book

Grandpa reads the comics

Mike, Hallie, and Silas

Uncle Clint reads The Poop Book

[PS -- Note the Santa slippers on Silas' feet. My mother made those slippers for my children 40+ years ago.] 

DAY 24 -- ADVENT 2023

 I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY

DAY 23 – ADVENT 2023

Angels at the Savior’s birth,

Woke with anthems all the earth.

May the light that Christmas brings shine in your heart as you prepare for Christmas.

DAY 22 -- ADVENT 2023

 A SKIMPY CHRISTMAS

Christmas is another day closer, and I'm not ready. In fact, with this Christmas season, I have gained two more unfinished projects and a whole lot of wonderful ideas. It just couldn’t be helped. With Milo's passing, we had important work to do.

I might have canceled our family celebration, but Hallie talked me out of it. We need to be together, she said, and Silas is loving the wrapping paper and bows. I’ve been wrapping gifts in reusable fabric bags for years, but I will wrap Silas’ presents in paper and attach pretty bows. As for the adults, Santa is just filling stockings with “quality” items this year.

“It will be a skimpy Christmas with everyone well remembered,” said Ina. Ours will be skimpy, too – or rather, our focus will be on togetherness rather than gifts. Being together is the best gift anyway.

And then Grandma Ina whispers, “You can stand it all just fine. Be strong.” KW

DAY 21 -- ADVENT 2023

OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS . . .

It won’t be long now. Christmas is coming. I can hardly wait!

DAY 18 -- ADVENT 2023

WINTER TRAVEL

Shirley left a week ago today for Idaho Falls and it just makes you rave to think that it’s like a trip to another country to get to the southern part of your own state. You have to go to Lewiston and stay all night, then on to Grangeville where you arrive about 7 p.m. and stay all night, then to Boise and stay all night; arrive Idaho Falls at 4:30 next day. Her ticket from Grangeville was $13.45 one way. We arranged it so Henry Shockley could take her to Grangeville and that made it a lot easier as well as less expensive. It seems strange to be here alone again, and lonely. You must write to me, Vance. – Ina, 1934

And here we are in real time with a wintertime trip to the southern part of our own state. Much of the route is not a lot better today than it was 90 years ago. To me it still feels like a trip to another country.

In 1934, Ina prepared for Christmas without her daughter Shirley, but she knew that Shirley needed to get away from the cloistered life on the farm. In 1937, Shirley and Henry Shockley were married, and a few years after that, they moved to Seattle, ending Shirley’s companionship with Ina.

Christmas isn’t always a happy time, but if it doesn’t feel magical, try to make it magic anyway. A little magic never hurt anyone. KW

DAY 17 -- ADVENT 2023

 

Caroling, caroling now we go
Christmas bells are ringing
Caroling, caroling through the snow

Christmas bells are ringing
Joyous voices sweet and clear
Sing the sad of heart to cheer

[Song by Wilha Hutson; recorded by Nat King Cole, 1954]

 

Ina's heart was sad. How she wished that she would look out the window and see Vance coming through the gate! Shirley was plunking out Christmas carols on the piano, making Ina’s heart all the sadder. Vance would not be home for Christmas, but she would see him again. In fact, she resolved right then to get on the train this winter and visit him. Yes, she would spend a month with Vance. He needed her, whether he knew it or not. 

For now, she mustn’t let on that Shirley’s carols had brought a flood of memories too difficult to bear. What could she do? Ah! – to the kitchen to bake! Just the thing! 

Coming in from the barn, Jack was surprised to find fresh gingersnaps on a Sunday afternoon, but looking at Ina’s face, he knew better than to question her. KW

DAY 16 --- ADVENT 2023

 

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. – Luke 2:8

We can all be shepherds and keep watch over our flocks (our thoughts), even when day grows dark and cold. I love to think about the shepherds. What a boring job! But they had to be alert in order to protect the flock. And as they watched without distraction, they must have thought about the deeper things of life.

It's interesting that in my random collection of Christmas cards, I have far more images of the Wisemen than of the Shepherds. Even in the nativity scenes, the presence of the shepherds is diminished -- sort of like, "Oh yeah, and there were shepherds, too." But there must have been a group of them. 

Maybe it’s because the Wisemen carried gifts. Whatever -- I think the whole story is full of symbolism. KW

DAY 15 -- ADVENT 2023

 

P.S. If you are near a radio, tune in on the Columbia network Saturday p.m., 7 o’clock and hear Byrd talk . . . – Ina Dobson to Vance, 1934

 

Today I would say: Tune in to the podcast, Morrison Mysteries, and hear Keith Morrison read Dickens’ A Christmas Carol with background accompaniment. Very entertaining! It’s probably available wherever you get your podcasts, but the link to iTunes is here.

DAY 14 -- ADVENT 2023

Milo Warnock -- December 30, 1977 - December 10, 2023

I am sorry, my readers and friends, but Ina and I have to discontinue this imaginative adventure into the past due to the unexpected and tragic passing of our son, Milo. What sang once will sing again when we can finally turn the page, but for now the issues are overwhelming and time-consuming and we can't keep up the daily posts. Our Christmas celebration in real time will be subdued this year. 

Daughter Hallie says that Milo would not want us to be sad, and this is so true. He would apologize for our sadness, even though it's not his fault. So, we will return in happiness as soon as we can. KW

DAY 13 -- 2023 ADVENT

Please excuse Ina today. Her muse is absent for reasons beyond her control. She hopes to keep up with the advent posts, though, because Christmas is coming. 

DAY 12 -- ADVENT 2023

GIFT-GIVING IN HARD TIMES

Merry Christmas! – I hope the suit protector will fulfill its duty all right and that your present laundry bag is in the last stages of dilapidation, or at least so near it that being a self-respecting laundry bag, it will be glad to wash itself out of the picture! Remember the Christmas that Myrtle and I got dress protectors and we couldn’t any of us figure out what they were and I finally pulled one over my head? – Shirley to Vance, 1932

The gift-giving of yesteryear was different from today. Money was scarce, and so were goods. The point was not to satisfy the longing of the recipient but to think of something that he/she could use. Many gifts were handmade.

Ina didn’t have much money to spend, so her gifts were homemade or perhaps shared from her storehouse of goods. Once she sent a jar of her strawberry preserves to Earle and his wife Bernice, knowing that they didn’t make any for themselves that year. Grandson Stanley was given a pen that was a “premium” provided with the purchase of grain or feed. One year they sent books – “new, but we had read them,” she said.  And she tells of making small cushions stuffed with dried rose petals and a quilt top.

And one year Shirley made dress protectors for all the women in the family and what she called a “suit protector” for Vance. Dress protectors were fastened under the arms to prevent perspiration stains on one’s clothes. In the days before effective anti-perspirants, dress protectors were important.

Well, you get the idea. However, I notice that Ina did go out of her way to provide store-bought gifts for Shirley – for example, a diary, a pair of pajamas, a box of stationery, stockings, and leather-faced gloves. KW

DAY 11 -- ADVENT 2023

OPENING CHRISTMAS CARDS

I don’t remember when we started the tradition of opening Christmas cards together – Mother, Daddy, and I. We received a lot of Christmas cards, and these were held in a stack unopened until after supper.

Then, while we were still at the table, we would open and read each card. If it contained a letter, Mother would read it aloud, too. It became my job to check them off the list in the address book. Once we had finished opening the cards, I taped them onto the door frames and when those were covered, I started up the stairwell.

After Christmas, most cards were tossed. (What were we thinking?!!!!) We saved only those that might be used for gift tags in future years.

Well, it was fun then, and it’s a fun memory now. I was not successful in my effort to find out when the exchange of Christmas cards was at its peak, but we all know that somehow it lost its luster and mostly went away. Why? Well, back in the day, an assortment of Christmas cards was relatively inexpensive and postage was a pittance, we also had the time to do it, and we weren’t connected through social media.

Oh yes, we may still send a few cards, but it’s just not like it was “back in the day” when everyone wished everyone else a happy holiday with a more personal greeting. KW

DAY 10 -- ADVENT 2023

Mama has told you “how we come to have” the radio and it is such a joy! It makes us feel so happy to have it and will help so much to have it at the holiday time. – Shirley Dobson to Vance, 1932

Christian character was all-important to Ina, and she supported the little church near the cemetery the best she could. Perhaps on Sundays during advent the congregation enjoyed singing the old familiar Christmas carols and hearing messages of hope in these uncertain times.

The congregation had dwindled since the early homesteading days, and the minister now came only once a month, but that didn’t stop the congregants from congregating. However, mud and slush would, so today church was cancelled due to a rain/snow mix that was making the roads muddy and practically impassable.

Instead, our family enjoyed a quiet day of Bible study and reading and in the evening, they listened to special radio programming out of Portland. KW

DAY 9 – ADVENT 2023

 HOLIDAY LITERATURE

We do enjoy our evening’s reading. We have a lot of Geographics to read – also Collier’s, the Post, Ladies’ Home Journal, three Copper monthlies, Pathfinder, Daily Chronicle, Clearwater Tribune, and M.W.A. monthly. Also Christian Herald. – Ina Dobson, 1935

I can just see my grandparents, Jack and Ina, reading in the evening. Perhaps they sat at the dining room table under the Aladdin lamp.

I collect books about the festive Christmas celebrations of yore – or the lack thereof. Time passes, and eventually the collective memory of people and the way they lived fades. The world forgets so much, and the facts of the past become history trivia.

I listen to a seasonal podcast, “Christmas Past,” by Brian Earl (Facebook page here). A few weeks ago, Brian interviewed Thomas Ruys Smith, who recently published a book titled The Last Gift: The Christmas Stories of Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. Smith gathered these stories from magazines and newspapers dating from the late 19^th century until 1923 or so. He begins the introduction with the statement: “In her own lifetime, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman was internationally renowned as one of the most important and beloved American writers of the late nineteenth century.” I had never heard of Mrs. Freeman, and I was intrigued. These are just the kind of stories Grandma Ina would have read. I bought the book and try to read from it daily.

Here are some other compilations of old-time Christmas stories in my collection:

·      Journey into Christmas, by Bess Streeter Aldrich, 1928

·      Christmas Stories Rediscovered (short stories from The Century Magazine, 1891-1905), edited by Barbara Quarton, 2008

·      Fifty Years of Christmas Stories (an anthology of stories, poems, and short pieces from “The Christian Herald”), edited by Ruth M. Elmquist, 1951

·      The Fireside Book of Christmas Stories, edited by Edward Wagenknecht, 1945 (This is a thick book that I found at a rummage sale.)

·      Vintage Christmas (holiday stories from Rural PEI), Marlene Campbell, 2016

Reading holiday literature with my mother was an important part of Christmas when I was a child, and I continue to enjoy it. I don’t need to find Ina’s Christmas in literature because she has described it well in her letters, but I like to read the old-time stories that she might have read. KW 

DAY 8 – ADVENT 2023

AN APRON FOR SHIRLEY

Then I’ve got her going on a surprise . . . – Ina,1932

 

When the morning chores were done, Shirley went to Aunt’s to bake gingersnaps with her cousins. She would be out of the house for most of the day. Ina watched while she walked through the gate and trudged up the hill. Then she set to work on the apron she was making as a surprise for Shirley. “She’ll never think of it,” Ina said to herself, stifling a chuckle. She was making it out of the fabric left over from the quilt top she had made for Pearl.

The clock was striking 3:00 when Jack called anxiously, “Shirley’s coming through the gate.” Luckily, Ina had just finished the apron. Quickly, she ran to the bedroom and thrust it into the bottom drawer, hoping she’d remember where she put it. Jack helped her stash the fabric scraps and sewing notions under the runner that covered the sewing machine. And there they were – standing awkwardly in the middle of the room when Shirley entered.

But Shirley knew that the days before Christmas hold many secrets. She greeted them cheerfully and went on to hang her coat as if nothing were amiss. KW

DAY 7 – ADVENT 2023

 

VANCE AND DOROTHY DOBSON

You do think of the nicest things! I suppose that is what is called ‘having an imagination.’ – Ina Dobson to Vance, 1936

I always dedicate this date to my parents. On December 7, 1947, my widowed mother, Dorothy Portfors Walrath, married Ina’s son, Vance Dobson.

Mother wrote: “Just before Christmas in 1947, Vance and I were married. He began decorating outside, and that grew. Vance made shapes, wreaths, and cut different pictures out of plywood. Once there was a horse and sleigh, once a Madonna and child. [Over the years] many different star shapes were used. The wreaths changed through the years, and the lights that he put up were never in the same pattern. I still did all inside decorating with lights in the windows and two trees.”

A sample of my dad's decorations, 1959

And that’s the way I remember it. Daddy worked on the porch, while Mother worked inside. They both worked in the kitchen. Daddy made fudge, pralines, and caramel corn. Mother made fruitcake, spritz, shortbread, and Swedish tea rings.

I remember one year when Mother made pixies – half a dozen or so, each 2-3 feet tall. Wire coat hangers provided the framework and the head was a Styrofoam ball. She sewed their shirts, pants, and hats in a variety of colors. Daddy then incorporated the pixies into the wreaths on the front porch.

Vance, Dorothy, and Kathy Dobson, 1959

It’s a pity that they didn’t take pictures. It was difficult to take decent pictures at night, but at this point I would appreciate even daytime pictures of this work.

Well, it was a lot of work. I couldn’t keep up with it then, and I can’t do it now. They were special. KW

DAY 6 – ADVENT 2023

TUESDAY WORKDAY REPORT 

Tonight there is a bluish look near the horizon that seems to presage a Chinook. – Ethel Dobson Robinson, December 1936

Yesterday (Tuesday, Dec. 5) was a balmy day. Even at the farm, it warmed into the mid-50s. It was actually a few degrees warmer outside than in the house.

We arrived at the farm in time to meet the plumber at 9:30, but then he called to say he would be late. Mike groaned, but I said, “Great! I have a lot to do.” I do a better job when I have the time to think things through.

First, I emptied the freezer and the fridge. Then I packed certain food items from the pantry cupboard. Next, I went to the attic for the storage bin of Christmas stockings. Then I selected a dozen books – some Christmas, some not – from our bookshelf of children’s books to read with young Silas. And there were odds and ends to pack as well.

“It’s a good thing we came in the pick-up!” remarked Mike, but I was not surprised that we would have a lot to take back to town. Usually when we winterize, we’re in a hurry, and it was a privilege to have the time to systematically pack some extra things we can use in town.

The plumber arrived at 11:30. By 12:30, he had finished pumping antifreeze into our plumbing. We bid him farewell, loaded the last few crates, and left for town, arriving around 2:30.

Bess found her chaise cushions

And then there was more work to put everything away. “But you don’t have to do it today,” suggested Mike. I appreciated the thought, but much of it did have to be done right away. I admit that at some point late afternoon I had had enough.

A visit to the farmhouse is an imaginary visit with Grandma Ina. Today, she was loving this warm late autumn day as she stood beside the old wood cookstove ironing yesterday’s laundry. KW

This card says, "Sent 1945 to Mama," -- from her daughter Myrtle.

DAY 5 – ADVENT 2023

 A VISIT TO THE FARMHOUSE

Mike and I are off to the farm today to meet the plumber and complete winterization of the house. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.

DAY 4 -- ADVENT 2023

A card from 1917

 

The Work Must Go On

Must stop now and go “grind” the old washer. So very much love to you and the merriest Christmas. – Shirley Dobson, 1933

Taken in 1918 when the farmhouse was new

December days on the farm were regular winter days. That is, the fact that Christmas was coming did not alter the routine. The chores – mostly the care and feeding of the animals – had to be done. And Monday, for instance, was always washday, work that involved the household, even Grandpa Jack. Just think how difficult it was to do the laundry during the winter if you didn’t have indoor plumbing, not to mention that the clothes didn’t dry readily on these inclement, sunless days.

Grandpa Jack hauled water from a spring Wheeler Canyon, as did other families, and on washday, I’m sure he did the heavy lifting to heat the water on the stove and pour it into the washtubs. The laundry items were scrubbed on the washboard, rinsed, and pulled through a wringer. It was probably the hardest of household chores, and I guess it was done weekly.

This year, Christmas Day would fall on Monday, so Ina was already planning to wash on the prior Saturday. That way, everything would be clean for Christmas, and they could enjoy a good holiday during Christmas week. KW 

DAY 3 -- ADVENT 2023

The Dobson Family, c. 1918: Julian, Vance, Myrtle, Ina, Shirley; seated -- Ethel and Earle

THINKING OF THE CHILDREN

Out of the welter of Christmas plans comes this letter and how I wish I were coming to you with it or better still that you were coming home. No use to think of these things though, and I hope and trust you’ll be with friends and be cheered and happy. – Ina to her son Vance

Ina would have liked nothing better than to host a reunion of her family at Christmas, but it was not to be. This afternoon as she dozed in her rocking chair, her thoughts drifted to her children:

·      Pearl, the eldest, lived in northern Alberta with her husband and son. They came seldom, and winter travel in the intermountain region was ill-advised if not impossible. They planned to come next summer, and Ina looked forward to it.

·      Ina could count on Myrtle, plucky and independent, to get on the train and come home from Portland. Yes, Myrtle would be here.

·      Earle, a teacher in Idaho Falls, spent his summer vacation with them to help with the farming. He never came home in winter, but they needed him in the summer, so Ina accepted his absence with grace.

·      Ethel’s husband was in government service and visits were infrequent, but Ethel loved Christmas on the farm. She last visited the Christmas of 1930. Hopefully she would come again -- but not this year.

·      And Vance – Now, Vance was stubborn about coming home any time of year, but in Ina’s view, he needed to keep in touch with his roots. And at Christmas, Vance was a great asset to the festivities. When he played the piano, the house was filled with rich-sounding melodies, and all were roused to sing out with gusto. No, it just wasn’t the same without Vance.

“No use to think of these things,” Ina said to herself. She was so grateful that Shirley was with her. At 23, Shirley was efficient and dependable, and they did have such fun together, preparing gifts, baking, and planning the holiday festivities. KW

[Pearl was already married and living in Alberta when this family photo was taken.]