Today is the winter solstice, and so I decided to spend a few hours reading Rosamunde Pilcher's Winter Solstice. The wood stove is lit, the front room is toasty warm, and there are ice cubes in my glass of wine. The dog is restless as we did not go for a walk after work, so she gets up periodically to bark at the reflections the lamps are making in the windows.
A vehicle pulled up in the driveway and I kept reading thinking it was our neighbor who lets herself in without knocking on the door. Instead, there was a knock on the door. The dog barked, so I got up to see who was bothering my quiet evening.
A young man and a small boy stood at the bottom of the steps. He introduced himself as Greg W.... and his son Seth. They are our neighbors who live two miles down the road and 3/4 mile north. He expressed remorse for not stopping by earlier to introduce himself as he handed me a beautiful tray of Christmas cookies. We had a nice short visit and I invited them inside out of the cold. He indicated they had other trays to deliver but that we should get together in the future.
We wished each other a Merry Christmas as they got in their big white Chevy Suburban and they drove away.
All day long, I have been doing a very good job on my diet. My weight loss goal established on 11/1/10 is attainable by 12/31/10, but difficult at this time of Christmas goodies at every turn. All day long, I have turned away the cupcakes, cobblers, and high calorie free lunch until this beautiful tray of handmade goodies showed up at my door.
I'm sure that Christmas love has deleted all of the calories in the chocolate dipped fudge balls, and the white almond bark coated crackers with peanut butter between. I'm even more sure there are very few calories in the rolled out sugar cookies with blue sparkles and the chocolate coated mint graham crackers. Even if there are a thousand calories, the tray brought back memories of the many years I used to bake endless batches of cookies and distribute trays to our friends and neighbors.
Calories don't count tonight. My heart is glad with holiday giving.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Peace for Christmas
This year, I'm trying something new for Christmas. I know, Christmas is all about traditions, but it seems to be a good year to try something out of the box and get out of my comfort zone.
Traditionally, Ken and I go to our river property to select the best possible red cedar tree to decorate for Christmas. Grandma and Grandpa used to decorate red cedar trees and the smell brings back memories of Grandpa’s chewing gum and favorite dollies from Santa. Red cedar trees are considered weeds and are typically cut out of pastures. They are prickly and have meager limbs. It is challenging to find a tree that is nicely shaped and has enough branches to support decorations.
Since Ken isn't much of a tree person, I end up decorating by myself and have to listen to whatever football game or NCIS episode happens to be on the television instead of listening to Christmas music. I also end up enjoying the tree by myself, since he doesn't think that sitting in front of my glowing cedar "bush", is entertaining. The more I decorate, the more he detaches. As I considered Ken’s dislike, the freshly steam cleaned carpet and the work required to cut, decorate, water daily, keep the cats and dog out, and undecorate seemed to require more effort than I could summon. So, there is no tree nor holiday bling in our front room.
When I got home late from work tonight, supper was ready in the crock pot and Ken was out hunting. I made a cup of tea, lit a fire in the wood stove, and sat on the couch. Maybelline, the youngest of our cats, purred on my lap. It was peaceful. It was warm and relaxing. I read my entire Better Homes & Garden magazine. It was a silent night, a holy night. .
From the quietness of my evening, I wish you peace.
Traditionally, Ken and I go to our river property to select the best possible red cedar tree to decorate for Christmas. Grandma and Grandpa used to decorate red cedar trees and the smell brings back memories of Grandpa’s chewing gum and favorite dollies from Santa. Red cedar trees are considered weeds and are typically cut out of pastures. They are prickly and have meager limbs. It is challenging to find a tree that is nicely shaped and has enough branches to support decorations.
Since Ken isn't much of a tree person, I end up decorating by myself and have to listen to whatever football game or NCIS episode happens to be on the television instead of listening to Christmas music. I also end up enjoying the tree by myself, since he doesn't think that sitting in front of my glowing cedar "bush", is entertaining. The more I decorate, the more he detaches. As I considered Ken’s dislike, the freshly steam cleaned carpet and the work required to cut, decorate, water daily, keep the cats and dog out, and undecorate seemed to require more effort than I could summon. So, there is no tree nor holiday bling in our front room.
When I got home late from work tonight, supper was ready in the crock pot and Ken was out hunting. I made a cup of tea, lit a fire in the wood stove, and sat on the couch. Maybelline, the youngest of our cats, purred on my lap. It was peaceful. It was warm and relaxing. I read my entire Better Homes & Garden magazine. It was a silent night, a holy night. .
From the quietness of my evening, I wish you peace.
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