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