DAY 8 – A FARMHOUSE CHRISTMAS

The first week of December has slipped away, and a new week begins. Technically, it was washday again, but Ina had already decided to keep it light and just rinse out a few “unmentionables” so that she and Shirley could get on with Christmas doings.

Frankly, Jack was relieved to be released from laundry duty. It was time to deliver a tree to the schoolhouse, so he went up the hill to June and Bertha’s house where Bertha and her daughters were busy doing a full load of laundry. Bertha was reluctant to have June leave, but he promised to scrub the floor when he returned. After all, everyone wanted to support the school, which was the heart of the community.

So off went Jack and June to search for a nice 7- or 8-foot tree. It must not be too lopsided nor too large at the base. They found one that was just a little flat-sided, but they deemed it good and carried it to the school.

The teacher, Miss Dorothy Johnson, was glad to see the tree coming and hurried the students through their lessons. Jack and June found the makeshift wooden stand used from year to year and nailed it to the base of the tree. Then they set it up in the corner near Miss Johnson’s desk and made sure it was stable before they left.

That afternoon, Miss Johnson had the older students cut strips of red and green construction paper and then she asked them to help the younger students make paper chains to decorate the tree. The youngest children had to be watched closely to keep them from nibbling the paste.

It was a fun day at school, and the children were glad of this diversion from their studies. Miss Johnson was glad, too. The children were distracted these December days before Christmas vacation.

[I can only imagine what school was like at the one-room schoolhouse prior to rural electrification, which was still in the future. At any rate, there were no strings of lights on the tree. It would have been dangerous to burn candles, but did they do it?]

“Oh!” said Ina that afternoon as Jack reported on setting up the tree at the schoolhouse, “that reminds me. I must order candles for the tree. We burned them down to nubs last year.” KW