ADVENT 2024 -- FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13

Of course, in 1931, Ina doesn’t have a clue about Christmas in 1946, but I happen to know she spent it in Portland, OR, with her daughter Myrtle, a.k.a. Lynn. The following Ina quote from Christmas 1946 is one of my favorites:

Next day was fine and sunny and we went down town to do our last shopping. The shops were beautiful with all sorts of gay and clever Christmas displays. The markets were a dream of luscious foods, and I wished for Dickens to describe them for me; turkeys, geese, ducks, fat chickens, beef roasts and cuts of all kinds, hams, bacon, pork roasts and chops, cranberries as big as cherries, bags and baskets of nuts (the biggest walnuts and filberts I ever saw), jars of mincemeat, pies, cakes, and cookies of every sort, baskets filled with the finest fruits, and all wrapped in colored cellophane. I kept falling behind to admire things, while Lynn went blithely on her way among the happy people.

So, what did Dickens describe, I wondered. Here’s an excerpt from A Christmas Carol, Stave Three, “The Second of the Three Spirits.”

“There were ruddy, brown-faced, broad-girthed Spanish Onions, shining in the fatness of their growth like Spanish Friars, and winking from their shelves in wanton slyness at the girls as they went by, and glanced demurely at the hung-up mistletoe. There were pears and apples, clustered high in blooming pyramids; there were bunches of grapes, made, in the shopkeepers’ benevolence to dangle from conspicuous hooks, that people’s mouths might water gratis as they passed; there were piles of filberts, mossy and brown, recalling, in their fragrance, ancient walks among the woods, and pleasant shufflings ankle deep through withered leaves; there were Norfolk Biffins, squat and swarthy, setting off the yellow of the oranges and lemons, and, in the great compactness of their juicy persons, urgently entreating and beseeching to be carried home in paper bags and eaten after dinner. The very gold and silver fish, set forth among these choice fruits in a bowl, though members of a dull and stagnant-blooded race, appeared to know that there was something going on; and, to a fish, went gasping round and round their little world in slow and passionless excitement.”

Perhaps you wonder, as I did, what Dickens meant by the word “stave” instead of “chapter.” I looked it up. The BBC says that “a 'stave' is a name for the five lines on which musical notes are written, so Dickens called his chapters 'staves' to link in with the musical meaning of the title. It suggests that each chapter is a 'line' of the whole 'carol'.” KW

ADVENT 2024 -- THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12

My sister Bertha and I sent a box of candy and cake to an old lady who used to live here and now resides in a home in Bellingham. Mrs. Brown of Lewiston has been very ill, so we each sent her a box long before Christmas – chickens and cottage cheese of which she’s very fond, and Bertha will send another box of chicken, cheese, butter, and cream. They are awfully hard up and she’s been such a good friend to us. – Ina

In the words of the song, “The Secret of Christmas:”

“So, may I suggest the secret of Christmas,

It’s not the things you do at Christmastime,

But the Christmas things you do all year through.”

[Written by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen for Bing Crosby, recorded in1959. You can hear Bing sing it by clicking here.]

ADVENT 2024 -- WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11

It’s 4 degrees below but clear as a bell. Dad has a helper here and they are sawing down a tree by the pond for wood. We have plenty of limbs but snow too deep to get to them. – Ina

I have to wonder about that tree. Was it dead, or did they cut down a live tree? The green wood surely wouldn’t burn very well.

And Ina refers to limbs. Did they just gather limbs to use for wood? At any rate, apparently they were caught short in a cold snap without enough wood.

Besides the wood cook stove in the kitchen, I believe they had a wood stove in the dining room, too, and a fireplace in the living room. The larger upstairs bedroom also had a wood stove, and Ina mentions lighting it in the evening to take the chill off the room.

Here in 2024, Mike and Ken cut down Scotch pines in Ken’s back yard, and Mike came home with the wood. It is all cut, split, and stacked for next year. We rely on our little wood stove for heat more than on our furnace. KW

ADVENT 2024 --- TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10

 

I got a pair of leather-faced gloves for your dad, and for Shirley a pair of brushed wool gloves which she needs for going out these winter nights. I also got her a box of pretty stationery – also a necessity. Well, you see, our Christmas has cost next to nothing for what we bought was necessary anyway. – Ina

 

So yes, Ina did buy a few gifts. And if any gift was “over-the-top,” it would be for daughter Shirley, her youngest child. After all, Shirley was still living at the family home, and though she was another mouth to feed, she was also Ina’s “righthand man.” One Christmas morning, Ina tied a pair of stockings to Shirley’s bedroom door. Other years she gave Shirley a diary that she wanted and a pair of flannel pajamas. And there was that box of pretty stationery that Ina deemed a necessity. They wrote a lot of letters, but a pad of paper and plain envelopes would work as well. That’s what Ina used.

Nevertheless, I know that my Aunt Shirley worked hard, helping with the housework as well as the farm chores. She was worthy of some consideration. KW

ADVENT 2024 -- MONDAY, DECEMBER 9

 

We are feeding the little birds on the front porch. They are so cute.  Two native pheasants come every day or so and feed in the service bushes on the buds. A band of 11 chinks are wintering here, too. It is so beautiful! A picture wherever you look! – Ina

[Mike says the native pheasants are likely grouse. The chinks might be white-throated sparrows, so called because of their sharp cry.]

December days can be dark and dreary. Ina calls them “dull.” But we also have those magnificent effects, and I feel a connection to her knowing that she loved the beauty of the landscape, which transcends time.

Well, it's washday again, and there's just not much to say about it. Ina will move ahead with Christmas work tomorrow. KW

DECEMBER BONUS POST -- NEW FRIDGE

Saturday afternoon, our new fridge was delivered. I had to wait a few hours for it to cool before I could stock it, but by suppertime, I had it mostly loaded.

I could see that it would be a challenge to store our usual foods in this relatively small side-by-side model, so I researched online for ideas. I put sticky notes inside the fridge to remind me of the best areas to store certain foods because recommendations are different from my usual habits.

The shelves allow for very little adjustment. “Use bins and containers,” recommended the folks at Frigidaire. I know all about using bins to store fabric, but I had never thought of using them in the fridge. Perhaps you’re laughing at my ignorance. In researching bins, I discovered I had three or four refrigerator bins on hand that had belonged to son Milo. “So, that’s what those are,” I said to myself, and out to the shed I went to retrieve them. Before I could use them in the fridge, I had to remove the fabric.

Those bins are perfect for so many of those odds and ends that need to be corralled – shredded cheese, tortillas, seeds and nuts, etc. You know what they are.

And this fridge is so quiet! That Kenmore (LG) French door model was noisy. It had a deep hum and also rattled loudly for days on end. It was driving Mike nuts.

The downside is that it’s so small. We will have to pay attention to what we buy and store. You wouldn’t think two people would need all that much cooling space, but I think we need more than a family. I remember when I had teenagers, they ate up the food every day, but for Mike and me, I have leftovers and partial containers to store. KW

ADVENT 2024 -- SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8

Another December Sunday in 1931. Ina slept late and was tempted not to attend church. The minister would not be there today, but Bertha was in charge of the Sunday school lesson. Ina admitted to herself that Bertha presented a good lesson. And besides, they would sing carols, and that would add to her Christmas spirit.

The lesson was about the gifts that the Magi brought to the Christ child, and as Ina pondered the message that afternoon, she looked over some Christmas cards she had saved and came away with a deep sense of inspiration. This quiet afternoon of thoughtful contemplation was time well spent. KW

ADVENT 2024 -- SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7

We sent Pearl and Al a box of gifts. I sent that W. Mason bag to Pearl. She can make good use of it, and I never use it. It was so pretty and useful too, so decided it should go to Pearl. Also sent a pretty pincushion and two linen hankies to Al; Stan a book and pencil sharpener. I also put in the little toy dog for Pearl, a relic of old reservation days that went through a housefire here. – Ina

The other day, I asked my daughter Hallie what 3-year-old Silas wants for Christmas. His current interest (obsession?) is monster trucks, and I hinted that I might get him one.

“We have enough of those,” she said, in the matter-of-fact tone of a minimalist who does not want more clutter.

“He just has to have a gift that delights his heart,” I responded, to which she rejoined, “He has to?”

Well, that’s our approach in today’s world. Some of us would even go into debt to supply the heart’s wishes of loved ones. And some of us feel a gift should be expensive in order to show love and appreciation. These are attitudes that reflect the opulent times in which we live.

But it was different for Ina. She didn’t ask what anyone wanted but provided gifts for everyone on her list by considering what they might be able to use from whatever she could spare. And she could spare that W. Mason bag, but she liked it. KW

ADVENT 2024 -- FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6

We’ll all be children and have a lot of fun out of it. – Ina 

“What did you do, or what did your mother do, to make Christmas magical?” asked a Facebook friend. It’s a thought-provoking question, and I think Ina had the key. It’s a matter of culturing our inner child. “Let Christmas be a feeling in your heart,” as the song goes.

Ina understood this, but as I read her pre-Christmas words, I sometimes wonder if she wasn’t trying to convince herself that it would be fun. And then after Christmas she said more than once, “I stood it all just fine.” So, I know some Christmases must have been difficult and brought meltdowns. To Ina’s credit, she truly wanted to get through it just fine, and she did. KW 

ADVENT 2024 -- THURSDDAY, DECEMBER 5

 Dad keeps a lantern in the cellar “of a nite” and nothing has frozen. – Ina

December is no respecter of the sacred holidays that lie within its calendar pages. Believe me! I know. Just when you want time for quiet reflection, December will kick up its heels and deliver blows. Today’s problem is not so very awful – I know what awful looks like – and unlike some problems, it IS correctible though expensive. We discovered this morning that our Kenmore refrigerator had failed. Clearly, it had been happening over a period of time. We simply failed to register the signs until the ice totally melted.

While Jack and Ina struggled to keep things from freezing in winter, Kathy and Mike are grateful that this fridge failure happened during a cold spell rather than in the “excessive heat” of summer. I packed food into coolers and crates and set them outside or in the garage. And if some frozen bananas and produce go by the wayside, so be it. I scheduled a service call, then we realized that for what a repair would cost, we could buy a new one!! Besides, the present model (a Sears Kenmore built by LG) has been problematic from the beginning, and Sears was rude and unaccommodating.

So, this afternoon, Mike and I bought a new fridge. We have space constraints which eliminate 90% of available models, according to a salesperson. I have always said that in reality, choices don’t exist. That said, I am happy with the model we found, a white Frigidaire side-by-side with ice and water on the door. It won’t be harder to manage than that French door model.

Ina didn’t have modern conveniences, but she also didn’t have the problems we experience. KW

ADVENT 2024 -- WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4

Then I’ve got Shirley going on a surprise which is a pretty print apron. She’ll never think of it for it was left over from the stuff I made Pearl’s quilt top with. – Ina

Snuggled up under a quilt

You know, I’ve always wondered about that quilt top. Was it just the top? Perhaps so. Then if Pearl wanted the quilt, she would have to finish it herself, adding the batting (which might be an old quilt or blanket) and backing, then quilting it by hand, or having it quilted by the local “guild,” and finally binding it.

So, I researched, and yes, it is acceptable to gift just the top, especially if the recipient appreciates the work already accomplished and is capable of finishing it. It was certainly more practical for Ina to mail a top than the full quilt, which would have been heavy, and Pearl was a capable seamstress. Perhaps it was even agreed that Ina would make the top and Pearl would finish it.

Still, I wonder about that top and what happened to it. Some questions will never be answered. KW

ADVENT 2024 -- TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3

People can do things like this. No use to let everything go because of hard times. – Ina

This morning, Ina and Shirley took turns ironing beside the old wood range where they heated the sad irons. They smoothed the clothes quickly with the heavy irons before they cooled and had to be reheated. No steam iron here! The clothes were mostly cotton, of course, so prior to ironing they sprinkled them with water, rolled them up, and placed them under a towel to keep them moist.

Lest you think sprinkling the clothes is easy, let me say that I could never do it to suit my mother. “You’re getting them too wet,” she would admonish. “Now watch me do it.” Finally, she just did it herself. Apparently sprinkling the clothes was an art and one that is lost today. Not only don’t we sprinkle, but we barely iron.

As Ina works, I see the resolve on her face. They would go on as they always had, and she would have plenty of food, light, and warmth – just no ready cash for extras. As for Christmas, though, it didn’t matter. She would look into her storehouse and find gifts for those she loved. She would send a jar of “fancy” strawberry jam to son Earle and his wife Bernice. They had failed to put up any this year, and Earle had been so disappointed. She smiled to think how happy he would be to receive the jam.

And she had pieced a quilt top for daughter Pearl and would send a fountain pen, a premium (or bonus) provided with the purchase of seed (or was it feed?) to grandson Stanley. And together, she and Shirley would make doll clothes for the rag doll that Santa would bring little granddaughter Shirley Jean, now six years old. And every box would include beans and popcorn grown right here on the farm.

Yes, it would all work out beautifully, Ina smiled to herself. No use to let everything go because of hard times. KW

ADVENT 2024 -- DECEMBER 2

I’m writing madly to get this in the mail. Someone has just dropped in for a hunt, and it’s wash day, too, so excuse mistakes and write as soon as you can. Yours as ever to the last and all the love in the world. – Mother (Ina)

Thanksgiving was late this year which always makes the time before Christmas seem shorter, probably because it IS shorter. It didn’t matter as much to Ina as it does to me. She had been getting ready for Christmas anyway, and she would continue.

You see, Ina’s Christmas focus was on gifts, and in that time and place – the remote central Idaho farming community of the 1930s – she did not have the distractions we have today. Christmas happened at Christmastime, meaning that they brought in the tree and decorated the house on Christmas Eve. Ina’s anticipation ran high during the December days prior to Christmas, and then they enjoyed a holiday week between Christmas and New Years. KW

ADVENT 2024 -- SUNDAY, DEC. 1

Out of the welter of Christmas plans comes this letter and how I wish I were coming to you with it. I hope and trust you’ll be with friends and be cheered and happy. – Ina

It’s Sunday, December 1, 1931. Dinner is over, the dishes are done, and the kitchen is tidy once more. Ina now rests in her rocking chair near the dining room window, her open Bible in her lap. I have already surpassed her age by nearly 15 years, but I feel no match for her wisdom and depth.

As was her custom on a Sunday afternoon, Ina pondered the scripture presented at that morning’s church service, watching as the stubble fields turn a lovely shade of deep pink in reflection of a vibrant sunset. Ina never tired of these “magnificent effects,” and neither do I. Daylight is fast fading, and it’s already too dark to read the fine print of her Bible, so she sits deep in thought.

Eventually though, the cares of the day stole in upon her. The Depression as well as loss of access to market had impoverished them, but Ina resolved to put these worries behind her, at least until spring. A sort of spirit of battle came over her, and she felt the challenge to outwit circumstances. “We’re going to have a big time this hard times Christmas,” she resolved. “Everything looks different when you look at it from Robinson Crusoe’s standpoint, surrounded by a sea of depression, and things show up at a more real value. We appreciate the actual value of things. So, we’re going to have a very merry Christmas.” KW