CHRISTMAS REFLECTIONS 1936 (PART 1)

The story of Christmas 1936 at the Gilbert home place continues:

Shirley Jean went with Ernest to get our tree and Dad set it up on the 23rd. Then she, Shirley, and Henry trimmed it. Shirley Jean was thrilled to be allowed to tie on gifts, etc. Ina to Vance

Christmas night, 1936:  Ina sat alone before the fireplace. Shirley and Shirley Jean had retired early while the others sat up to visit. Now Ina was the only one left downstairs. She loved to ponder the events of a Christmas well-celebrated as she sat quietly in the darkened living room -- the fire burning low in the grate, the Christmas tree stately in the corner.

A thinker and a student of the Bible, Ina knew the religious meaning of the season but also appreciated Christmas as a winter celebration and thought it essential to morale in dark days. It lifted the spirits and brought plenty to think about.  

Gifts? Ina put a great deal of thought into what she gave. She never asked the recipient what he wanted but endeavored to provide a thoughtful gift from her storehouse. For those of her household, she would buy needful items, such as stockings, gloves, pajamas, stationery, and soap. A jar of strawberry jam, an apron made of scraps, a book from her shelf, or a premium from a feed sack were the kinds of gifts she sent to her children and grandchildren. To a struggling neighbor she would send a chicken, a jar of cream, a sack of beans.

As for what she received, Ina expected the same kind of gift in return. Her children were all thoughtful, giving her dishes, yard goods for a new dress or curtains, or even a little cash. But Ina remembered her disappointment in '33 when they all said they couldn't afford to send anything. She thought they could have been more imaginative. After all, she cared not so much for worldly goods but for ideas.

Food? Christmas was a time of feasting, but Ina believed in simplicity – roast beef and/or stuffed chicken, plenty of vegetables, fresh rolls, and pumpkin pie for dessert. The ostentatious presentation of rich food promoted in women’s magazines eluded her. On one page they discussed healthy living and on the next they presented rich food. What was the matter with the world anyway?

On the eve of Christmas Eve, all was in readiness so that the festivities might begin. Then, and only then, was the Christmas tree brought in. Jack suggested that Ernest and Shirley Jean go after the tree. He was sure, he told Ernest, that if they headed into the gulley beyond the flat, they could find a suitable tree. It was not worth a lot of discussion, and the two men, one short and the other tall, immediately saw eye-to-eye on the subject: make short work of finding and cutting a four-foot tree. The important part was the experience for Shirley Jean.

Within two hours, Ernest and Shirley Jean were back at the house, Ernest easily carrying a sparsely branched fir while Shirley Jean jumped for joy beside him. Jack then took over, placing the spindly tree in a stand.

You could talk about strings of electric lights all you wanted. Ina had seen the ads in the back of the Good Housekeeping magazine she was reading. In fact, she had even seen these lights at the Merc in Orofino. No use to think of these things. Her tree would be lit as always by real candles -- a dangerous practice now becoming obsolete. Never mind. They were always careful – always.

After the noon meal, Shirley and Henry helped Shirley Jean decorate the tree with a few ornaments and tinsel. Ina always tried to remove as much of the tinsel as possible for re-use the next year, and this year she had purchased a new box as well. Once the candle clips were in place, Shirley inserted and secured new candles.

After the tree was trimmed, Ina brought out wrapped gifts and showed Shirley Jean how to tie them on the tree with green string. It was just common green string – the kind everyone had for tying packages for mailing – but Ina had a fondness for it. Shirley Jean’s delight in this simple task was infectious. Ina marveled that the presence of even one child enlivened the celebration. KW

NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING . . . REALLY?

It was snowing when we got up at 7:00. Yes, a white Christmas at Gilbert. Thank goodness Hallie and Nick left yesterday. Mike said he thought if we could get up Plank’s Pitch we could make it out. I offered to leave stuff behind for another trip, but he said the more weight in the back the better. After we ate our left-over “Christmas Day” waffles for breakfast, we started packing the pick-up.

Truth be told, I didn’t unpack much of what we brought in last week – just worked out of the boxes and baskets. So, yesterday I spent a little time consolidating this and that and the boxes were good to go. It seems like every bit as much goes out as comes in. I can never figure that out.

We left the farm at 9:00 -- three inches of snow and snowing. I didn’t pause to take pictures. We travelled steadily up Plank’s Pitch without difficulty, but Mike said he was afraid if we had stayed another day we’d have been snowed in. The upper half of the grade was snow floor but became slushier as we approached Orofino. No snow at Lewiston.

Back at the town house, we unloaded the pick-up and I commenced to unpack. I filled the kitchen sink with water – and that’s when I spied it . . .

MOUSE SIGN!!!! NO!!!!! Not on Christmas Eve!

“I wonder if they got into the pantry,” said Mike. Standing in the open doorway, he proclaimed, “Nope. No mouse sign here.”

“Oh yes there is,” I said, elbowing him out of the way. All I had to do was move a box or two – and there it was.

Cleaning the pantry is not what I would choose to do on Christmas Eve, but I removed everything stored on the floor and mopped. Then I removed everything on the bottom shelf and cleaned. And, of course, I put everything back. And that’s as far as I went today.

Where is the mouse now, we wonder. And I’m nervous about that. We were successful some weeks back with a couple of traps, and then we left them out for weeks. I guess we just thought we had won so we took the traps to the farm, where we know the war is never over. So, out we went to buy more traps which Mike will set tonight. Because . . . regardless of what the old poem tells us, if they're here, they'll stir. KW

[Ina took the "panorama" the winter of 1934, a northward view from the farmyard.]

SUNDAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS

I'm reminded of the old Irving Berlin song -- "The Song is Ended (but the Melody Lingers on)." I hate to say that Christmas is over because, of course, it isn’t. Still, Hallie and Nick left this morning, and it felt as though the celebration had ended. Mike and I had to decide next steps. All things considered -- important mail outstanding, an overflowing laundry hamper, the forecast for cold temps and snow – we decided to go back to town tomorrow. And, as Mike says, the computer works better there.

This was not Nellie’s best day. How did she know that Nick and Hallie were leaving? Did she understand that there were no more pig ears in the sack? Was it the extra bustle about the house? At any rate she figured it out. While Hallie was showering, Nellie began to whimper. She was happy when Hallie took her outside to play, but back in the house, she curled up on her pillow to sulk.

“She hates good-byes,” said Mike. “Just let her be.”

So – what to do, what to do? Since new geocaches have appeared in the Gilbert area, Mike and I decided to spend the afternoon daylight geocaching. We followed the trail of caches along Highway 7 toward Nezperce.

While Mike looked for caches, I took pictures as the spirit led me. The sky was dark and sometimes beautiful. Will it snow? It’s predicted.

This distant butte was beautiful as the clouds reflected the setting sun. Returning to the farm, I took another picture of the butte as we see it from the pond before daylight totally disappeared. KW

REAL TIME: HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

December 2012 --

December 20 was Christmas Eve at the "Old Dobson Place," Gilbert, Idaho. The setting sun behind the house casts long shadows across the front yard looking eastward into a dark sky.

"All is calm, all is bright." The tree stands in quiet readiness, and once again I learned that the readiness of my heart is what's important, and that's not tied to any day.

Nellie sought the security of Hallie's lap during the opening of gifts on Christmas morning (December 21). Mike checks over something Santa left him.

Hallie and Nick gave Mike a retro phone handset compatible with the new iPhone he ordered with Hallie's assistance.

In the afternoon Mike took Nick and Nellie on a "strenuous" geocaching hike in the vicinity of Dworkshak Dam. They were "first to find" on two caches.

This morning (the day after Christmas for us), Nellie eagerly waited for Hallie and Nick at the stair door. Hallie always brings pig ears as a morning treat for Nellie, a loving gesture which earns Hallie Nellie's undying affection. KW

NOW IT REALLY SEEMS LIKE CHRISTMAS

Shirley came home Wednesday evening and from then on it seemed really like Christmas to me. Ina to Vance, 1936

December 1936

This afternoon the youngest daughter Shirley breezed through the door, earlier than expected. With her presence came a festive atmosphere – everything that was Christmas – good cheer, energy, secrets, the smell of oranges, etc. Ina marveled that just one person can make all the difference, and it was Shirley.

Right now it was quiet. Jack was working in the barn, Shirley had quietly slipped upstairs with a box of gifts to wrap, and the Robinson family had gone to visit Aunt Bertha and Uncle June. Ina continued to roll out pie crust in the pantry where western exposure took advantage of every bit of afternoon light.

Ina felt a little guilty about not sharing the Christmas Eve dinner and gift exchange with “the June’s”* this year, breaking a tradition of many years standing.  Ina had broached the subject with Bertha by saying that opening gifts together would be too much hubbub for the space at hand (which was true enough) and that it would save Bertha the expense of buying gifts for everyone (also true), and Bertha had reluctantly agreed. But Ina suspected that Bertha had guessed the truth – she wanted to savor this time with just her own family.

Yes, as she thought it through again, Ina was sure she had made the right decision about the Christmas Eve celebration. Instead, they would share dinner on Christmas Day, and it would be just fine. Yes – just fine. . .

After all, Ina’s thoughts led on, life was changing. It wasn’t just that the Robinsons anticipated a move that would take them clear across the country. And it wasn’t just that Shirley and Henry planned to marry in June and who knew where life would take them. No, it was more than that. The Robinsons had come for the old-fashioned country Christmas at the home place, and Ina didn’t want this special experience overwhelmed by too many people. Ina had lived here forty years with no water source, no electricity, no furnace, and this way of life was no longer acceptable. Her children all lived in a world of modern conveniences, and those conveniences were setting a new standard of living for the country.

“No use to think of these things, though,” said Ina to herself. She wouldn’t let her concern for the future dampen her spirits on this lovely holiday. KW

Update 2012

. . . and Mama in her kerchief and I in my cap, had just settled down for a long winter’s nap . . .

“Our own dear Hallie,” as my dad (Vance) would call her, and her husband Nick arrived at 12:30 a.m. A late start from Seattle, slow traffic over the pass, a stop for supper and another to pick up the mail at the town house pushed their arrival time back by several hours. Mike and I had gone to bed to wait and doze. Clueless Nellie was asleep in her house.

 

“When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter.” Well, not really a clatter. More of a low rumble. But there was commotion as an elated Nellie sprang from her bed “to see what was the matter.” She knows who it is that comes in the middle of the night – her “dear girl” Hallie and yeah -- that fella “what’s his name.”

We were soon all in bed and not a creature stirred for quite a few hours. Today the Christmas festivities will begin. Yes, no “last chance for two-day delivery” here. This is it – Christmas 2012.

*-“The Junes” were Junius and Bertha Dobson, Jack’s twin brother and Ina’s sister, who lived on the adjacent homestead. 

[The photo is of Henry and Shirley Shockley on their wedding day, June 1937.]