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Christmas with Logan

Neighbor Logan’s family had more visitors than we did over Christmas. There had been no time to give him the little gifts we had for him until the day after Christmas. His mom was busy cleaning up after company, and his dad was doing a project in the garage. Logan chose to have cookies first and then open presents.

A few weeks ago Logan was in the musical Elf. When we saw an elf hat in the store, we had to buy it. He popped it on his head and wore it while he finished opening his gifts.

Nathaniel handed him another small package, one daughter Kate had sent down from New Jersey. Logan had a big smile on his face when he saw it was the card game, Uno. David and Nathaniel played one game with him that lasted over an hour.

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David, Logan, and Nathaniel play Uno.

This was Nathaniel’s last full day with us, and he made us a proper chicken pie. By proper, I mean it was made from scratch. He roasted chicken breasts in the oven, used the drippings as a base for the sauce, shredded fresh carrots, cut up celery and onion, and cooked peas and corn to go in it. He had planned to make his own puff pastry for the top, but we were running out of time. He made pie crust instead. It was delicious. The vegetables had just the right amount of body to them, and I liked the very fresh taste of the onions. He spoiled us to the end of the visit.

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Chicken pie, and yes, that’s a train on the table

I insisted on one last informal portrait of the fellows, to have their smiling faces all together.

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We were not going to forget the mirror ritual this time. Nathaniel started high and ended in a goofy stance to check his appearance. Until next time….

Food and Mirth of Christmas

Christmas is a time we often gather around the table to celebrate with family and friends, so there are an inordinate number of foodie photos. On the Fourth Sunday of Advent we went to a Japanese steakhouse after church. The chef was home-grown. He had lived in the town next to us and learned to cook when he was a dishwasher at a Japanese restaurant in Asheville. We laughed through the delicious meal.

 

There are natural and flash photos to show John’s Christmas tree. No one could be more meticulous in the placing of lights and ornaments to make it a work of art.

 

Grandson Nathaniel cooked a festive dinner for us on Christmas Eve. David worked all afternoon at Burger King, joining us in time to eat part of the meal. He finished in the car on the way to the 11 pm service.

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For the foodies: We savored roast pork with a sauce, roasted asparagus, and baked sweet potato.

The service was beautiful. Midnight is not the high point in a day for me, but I stayed

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Our church at 11 pm Christmas Eve

awake and thought the message good. This was the fifth year for me to celebrate not being on the organ bench – a benchmark of sorts.

 

 

 

 

 

A few days before, I pressed the boys for suggestions of something Santa might bring them. David agreed to a quick shopping trip, but Nathaniel wouldn’t play the game. He said, “I need a toilet bowl brush for the dorm, but I don’t want Santa to bring it.”

What would you have done with nothing else to go on???

Nathaniel was not awake when the rest of us looked at our gifts from Santa. We stood around watching him with his stocking. He posed with a bag of chocolates and set of measuring cups, not looking down at the floor again. He seemed to be studiously avoiding the toilet bowl cleaner.

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I asked, “Nathaniel, are you going to look at the other thing Santa brought?”

“What? Oh, no!!!” he said, as he keeled over with laughter. “I didn’t see that!”

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After that, he wore the toilet brush proudly.

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Neighbor Connie made Christmas stockings for all of us this year. Aren’t they lovely? We were very touched and pleased with these gifts from the heart.

 

Nathaniel took it one step further and tried his on without touching the floor.. He said it was perfect, but it could have had a bit more toe room.

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After the 10 am service on Christmas Day, neighbors Dawn and Jeff shared our traditional family dinner. I took a photo as the flame from the pudding died down. Logan was with us for only a few minutes of the day, but that was fitting. We consider him neighbor, family, and friend.

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John, Logan, David, Jeff, Dawn, Nathaniel

Foodies: We had the Chicken and Stuffing casserole, cranberry sauce from a 100 year-old recipe, peas, lemon-lime Jell-o salad, frozen cranberry salad, Christmas pudding, Lebkuchen, and coffee.

The four of us had at least one gift each under the tree, and we opened them around 9 pm. The last photo of the day shows John with his new shower curtain. Daughter Lise helped me locate it on line, and it arrived on Christmas Eve. As Nathaniel held it up, John began to tell us about the name of the engine and much of its history. That was much more information than the manufacturer provided.

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Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

Candle on a Biscuit

I was promised snow on my birthday, which pleased me. No snow fell, so thousands of others were happy. How could I be sorry?

Grandson Nathaniel baked his special biscuits and lit a candle on mine. Your assumption is correct, they were scrumptious.

Nathaniel practiced piping with chocolate, as he was supposed to do during the holidays. Taking parchment paper, he cut and rolled small piping bags. He snipped off the tip and made designs on paper. David took a stab at it, then piped the rest in his mouth. I liked my name in chocolate. As delicate as the designs were, we could pick them up after they cooled.

John offered to take us out for lunch, and I opted for pizza. It was something I was sure I could taste, despite my head cold. The red pepper flakes helped.

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We ended the day with chocolate cake and Nathaniel’s eggnog. As a rewards card holder at the supermarket, I was given this cake for my birthday. For Miser Me, that was super special. We knew the eggnog was going to be wonderful, because Nathaniel prepared it for us last year. A year is a long time to wait for a treat like that.

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It’s hard for me to remember numbers, but it’s going to be easy to recall my age this year. I’m pegging it to the song from Music Man, “76 Trombones”.

It was Bad, Even for Me

Misers do not throw things away lightly. When a head cold struck, I searched the bathroom closet for something, anything!, to make me feel better. Since my children regularly check for out-dated medications, I was confident nothing dangerous lurked there. I found cough medicine in a new-looking box. The expiration date was December – so far, so good. The year? 2006. It was 12 years old! I moved that box from New York to North Carolina when it was eight years old. Did I think it would improve with age, like wine? I certainly was not improving with age.

A day later, we bought cough syrup in the supermarket. Wouldn’t you think pharmaceuticals would have improved in 12 years? I thought so. I’m still getting worse after three doses. It must not be a miracle drug. I think my eyelids are swollen, because they don’t feel like they fit on my face any more. I would take a selfie if I thought it would prove I’m still alive.

The Contortionist

After grandson David’s college graduation, we were driving through the Pennsylvania countryside on our way home. He and I were in the second row of seats to make chatting easier. The headrest prevented his seeing to the front, so he tried to remove it. It wouldn’t budge. With the tips of his toes, he maneuvered the levers on the side of the seat until it was as far back as it would go. I laughed that he had stuck out his tongue, so he posed that way. How could anyone keep a straight face while watching that?

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Contorting himself a bit more, David covered his toes with Grandpa’s flannel shirt. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and using the headrest as a chin rest. Surely doubters will now see for themselves that we have serious fun with our grandsons around. I would say we were laughing a mile a minute, but John was driving faster than that.

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Graduation!

The graduation ceremony was like most others – dignified and solemn. What made this one different? This graduation was OURS!!! Our grandson graduated from college, and we were as proud as could be. There were only three tickets per student, which covered Kate, John, and me. We wished for one more for David’s roommate, but he saw it streamed to a nearby building.

An organist and two trumpeters played a beautiful piece as the faculty processed in.  They switched to the traditional Elgar for the students.

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We wondered if David could find us, because we were in the very first row! Kate saw him looking straight at us from that group of 219. John and I were amazed at the number. We thought there might be 10 or so mid-year graduates.

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David is in the middle, wearing a blue tie.

One of David’s favorites, the head of the music department, was announcing the names as the students went up for their diplomas. David was in the choir all four years and enjoyed Dr. J. Maybe this is standard procedure, but I thought it brilliant. Each student handed him a card with his name on it, along with the phonetic spelling.

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The president of the college handed the diploma to the student and turned to pose for the official photo. Dr. Nunes had a wonderful smile for each and every one!

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Dr. Nunes addressed the class and instructed them to change their tassels from the right side of the cap to the left. I was relieved none of the caps were tossed into the air. The new alumni followed the faculty out of the building to music by Handel.

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We ended the day with a celebratory meal at the Odyssey. The Odyssey is the diner in Broxville where John took Lise, Kate, and David (all now alumni of Concordia) when he went to see them or was on campus for a meeting. Justin and Caroline were special friends of David who were at the graduation. They returned to campus, and Kate drove home. We began the trip to North Carolina, going into Pennsylvania before stopping for the night. It had been a long day, but a very satisfying one.

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Justin, Caroline, Kate, David, and John

New York Adventures

Before breakfast John’s sister Barbara and I took a short walk from her house to an overlook where we could see Long Island Sound. I had a bird’s eye view of the harbor where I walked for 20 years. John joined us, and as we walked back, an old friend stopped his vehicle and hopped out to greet us. It was marvelous to see Dave. Another man strode past, carrying his newspaper. I was glad to see him alive, because I used to see him reading his paper as he walked near the grist mill. Evidently, he didn’t run into anything that killed him after we moved away.

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Dave, John and Anne in Stony Brook

We had breakfast with niece Tonja at the dining hall of the boarding school. She is head of the lower school on campus, where she is expected to be visible and available much of the day, including Saturday.

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Daughter/mother Tonja and Barbara

David’s roommate went with us for our Manhattan adventure. Daughter Kate met us on 5th Avenue, having driven in from her home in New Jersey We walked to the back side of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, knowing we didn’t have time to push through the crowds at the front.

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We passed a display of a replica of the star on top of the tree, and I took a picture of our group in that area. I was surprised to find a reflection of the ice skating rink above their heads.

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John, Justin, Kate, David, Barbara, Tonja with reflection of ice rink at Rockefeller Center

Hiking back to St. Thomas, we had seats near the front for the service of lessons and carols.

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I should never be left with a camera and time to kill. Our group is shown in the pew, waiting for the service to begin.

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As we inched our way down 5th Avenue in the car, I took a photo showing the front view of the tree in Rockefeller Center. The crowd was still as thick as could be.

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There are pictures of store fronts with light shows on the facades of the buildings. New York is really spectacular at Christmas.

Instant Friends

I knew if we ever went to the eastern coast of Maryland, we had to meet one of my favorite bloggers, Rooster (Lee), and his wife Mary Agnes. The opportunity came as John and I planned a trip to New York. As usual, we could not loiter. I wrote Lee that I’d set a timer for an hour for our visit. Well, we were late. I texted where we were, and he replied, “43 miles away. Be safe, clock starts in 10 minutes, will be a short visit. LOL!” We had no idea we’d be laughing before we ever met them.

Have you ever met people with whom you have an instant bond? We were at home with Lee and Mary Agnes as soon as we got out of the car. What a marvelous time we had! That dratted timer went off way too soon.

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Mary Agnes, Lee, and John

For an hour or so after we left, I savored the visit while John drove. Every once in a while, I’d ask, “Did you hear what he or she said about….?”

First of all, we got a quick run-down of their children, grandchildren, and great-grands. Lee held a portrait-sized photo and explained everyone. That was a marvelous beginning, because we then knew who they were talking about. A photo family tree is a real treasure.

I couldn’t begin to recount all the things we talked about, but I loved hearing stories of the ten years they ran a bed and breakfast place in that little farming community. Both were working full time, as they catered to guests who were there about 350 days out of the year. They never once had a guest that they hoped would not return. The stories were marvelous, and we were spellbound. Woven through their narrative was a haunting tale that you’d need to hear first-hand to appreciate. Mary Agnes told Lee he needed to write the stories, and I know he’d do a beautiful job.

Lee’s blog address is elfidd.com.

Snow!

Our weather forecasts are rarely accurate, so we weren’t concerned about an impending snowstorm. Several people around the US asked if we were ready for the storm that was not yet on our radar. It hit. There were a few flakes Saturday morning, lots of drizzles, and finally real snow after 5:30. Power went out at 11, and we got it back about 18 hours later. Our church in Asheville was closed, and I’m sure a huge percentage of other churches in the area were shut tight. Roads, if passable at all, would have been treacherous. John is a drive-through-anything person, and he said we weren’t leaving the house. We found out later that trees fell across the road near the stop sign, and neighbors Bob and Jeff walked there and cleared the road. Our heroes!!!

We are blessed to have a generator that runs a few outlets around the house, and we had hot water. Water is not taken for granted here, because you need electricity to run the well pump. After dressing in my warmest clothes, I made pumpkin soup in the microwave. We were ready for the day. Logan and his parents, Shawn and Bob, came over to huddle with us. Neighbor Joyce joined us later. We used our collection of throws and flax warmers to keep from shivering. Not knowing how long the power would be off, we didn’t use our gas fireplace. If the house had gotten colder, we would have turned it on. We were able to make coffee and hot chocolate, with no takers for tea. Conversation never flagged, and two worked on a jigsaw puzzle. I don’t know how long they stayed, maybe four pleasant hours.  There were no unpleasant moments.

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Bob, Logan, Shawn, John, Joyce.  Curtains block drafts from the doors.

Bob left to help a neighbor start a generator, and the rest of us played balloon. We told Logan to get a new balloon, and he asked his mother to tie it. Logan and I are not good at that. Balloon is an active game that never fails to warm me up. Adults sat on chairs, and Logan was EVERYWHERE. John claims Logan could play a fierce game of toss and return all by himself.

As daylight faded, everyone went home. That’s when the power came back on. I became concerned when John didn’t come in from shoveling snow. He was still shifting the wet mess. That’s when I realized how much he missed New York weather. He cleared our driveway and was shoveling the street!

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Christmas lights were again visible at Logan’s house.