More Snow & Christmas Thoughts

We are living in a beautiful winter wonderland - again, or still, depending on where in the Northeast Kingdom you happen to be. I was in St. Johnsbury Friday and there was almost no snow - but here at Joe's Pond, we still had five or six inches on the ground, even with warm weather and some rain. We haven't seen sunshine for more than a few minutes for some time, and today we are getting pelted with heavy, wet snow again - just like last Sunday, only this week it came earlier. It began a little before noon and now, at about 3 o'clock, it seems to be winding down. I don't know how much fell, but I'm guessing only 2-3 inches. Enough to weigh branches down and there could be power outages later, especially if the wind picks up. I haven't seen the forecast today - it really doesn't matter. Knowing more about the weather isn't going to change anything for me. I'm in place for the duration, whatever it is.

I went out this morning and cut some branches from my big spruce trees along my driveway. They  were drooping from the heavy snow of last week and then got caught in the snow that Jamie plowed, so they were very accessible. I'll make some wreathes and swags later, perhaps this evening, to decorate outside. I don't plan to have a Christmas tree, but I do like a few greens around, maybe some poinsettias. I will probably use fake flowers - I have poor luck with live poinsettias. And I'll probably put lights in the windows. It's nice to be festive, but whatever I get out has to be stored again, and the more live arrangements, the more needles and cleanup there will be. I have limited energy and patience for that sort of thing these days, so I don't go all out decorating like I used to. 

I used to have a ritual every Christmas. There were Christmas pillows and cozy red and green throws for the sofa and chairs; velvety spreads for the coffee table; a special display on the mantle, lights in every window and around the deck. There were dishes I used only at Christmas when the family gathered, and always a tree decorated with ornaments from years past, mingled with new and trendy ones. I was never quite as overboard as in a Hallmark movie, but I sure did enjoy the season. And it was always all gone on New Year's Day. Back in the tubs and put away. I still enjoy it, but with less work involved.

This year was so much easier getting those big tubs of decorations down from the garage loft. I chide myself every time I go up my new stairs to that loft, thinking why didn't we have stairs built years ago. 

Looking back at Christmas when I was growing up, I don't remember it being such a big deal - with anyone. Certainly the stores had special decorations and displays, but they didn't start advertising even before Halloween like they do today - more like the 1st of December was soon enough. Later, it seemed everyone began to think about Christmas as soon as the dishes were cleared from Thanksgiving dinner. We always had a tree at our house, but it certainly wasn't elaborate, and the tree was about the extent of it. We had a lot going on at school - pageants and learning special carols to present for parents and neighbors, or we sometimes drew names and exchanged gifts at a special afternoon party and then got to go home early. I remember there was always candy - striped candy canes, ribbon candy, and sometimes my favorite treat, tangerines or kumquats. The smell of a tangerine being peeled still brings back memories of those school Christmas parties.

About two weeks before Christmas the older boys would go into the nearby woods to cut a tree - with the land owner's permission, of course. The stand was made of wood and the tree usually was secured to the wall to keep it from accidentally toppling over. We had "art" class on Friday afternoons and we would make paper snowflakes to hang on the tree, and of course yards of chain garlands from red and green construction paper glued together with thick, white paste that came in big jars and had a distinctive minty smell. There were  well-worn "store-bought" decorations that had been donated over the years. Decorating the tree was a lesson in compromise - not everyone viewed the process the same and there were frequent disputes about what should go where and how much was too much. But everyone had an opportunity to contribute and with 25 or 30 youngsters from age 5 to 13 or 14, there sometimes had to be "assignments" so nobody got left out of the process while others dominated.

We also used to decorate the big blackboards at the front of the classroom, sometimes there were pictures or designs in colored chalk done by students who had some drawing talent. Other times, the teacher had stencils that we could use. The best part of all was that we had a full two weeks of vacation after Christmas.

Please drive carefully if you must be out and about tomorrow, and if you are in the north country, enjoy the snow!