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
4 comments:
We are currently the only house on our streets with Christmas lights. It doesn't help that there are so many townhomes--people in townhomes don't typically decorate. Sometimes there will be a tree in the window, but certainly no outdoor lights because they don't really have yards. We did a family walk a couple nights ago to look at lights and there were only a couple houses on each block that had decorated. Since it IS a short season this year, I am not optimistic that people will decorate. Maybe I'm wrong...maybe they'll do it this weekend.
When I was a little girl, people didn't decorate until a week or so before Christmas. (At least, that's the way I remember it.) In our neighborhood, we see quite a number of houses with lights, but I don't see many on the hill. Keep watching for them. I think of Silas last year: "Look at the lights; I see 'em."
We're always a bit slow, maybe into the second week, but some of our neighbors have lights up and we saw quite a few when we were out on Friday night. The weather is cold but clear so it should be fairly easy for people to decorate. I'm with Silas, I like to see 'em!
I like to see 'em, too. The days are short, and it's pleasant to see the promise of light.
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