Staying Warm on a Rainy and (almost) Snowy Day

Since last week we have been getting weather forecasts of a terrible storm that was suppose to hit us from Sunday night into Monday. They were talking about snow and rain and sleet and accumulation and every horrible thing you can think of. Then last night they started putting the schools on 2 and 3 hour delays, cancelling meetings, closing facilities, and it hadn't even started raining yet. Today the schools are closed, the government offices are closed, all the colleges are closed, any meeting that was going to be held today is cancelled, and there is not one snowflake on the ground. We did get some rain and it froze to the tree limbs, but even that is gone and it is just raining now. It is cold--in the low 30's, but we always have crappy weather here in South Carolina in January and February. We are in Charleston so since we are closer to the coast we don't usually get snow, and when we do it is usually gone by the afternoon of the day it snows. On the other side of I-95 and from Columbia up they do have more accumulation and worse weather. But as you can see by this picture my husband and pets know how to keep warm. There is ole' Gunney in the front, next to him is Samurai, who is on top of Thumbs. If you look behind Samurai you can see Meiko's ears, and way in the back is Mike. Hope everyone stays warm and safe.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Now that the holidays are over and all the decorations are taken down and stored away for next year, I have been thinking of holidays past. They used to be so different when I was little. We lived in Baltimore until I was about 7, so I still believed. Every year after my brothers Bobby, who is six years older than I, and Pat, who is four years older than I , and I went to bed my father began his magic. First there was a platform put in the corner of the living room. On this he would put the tree--a real tree, not one of the prelit fake things from Lowe's. Of course, real trees didn't cost $150.00 then either. He would decorate the tree with lots of lights and glass balls, and strands of tinsel that had to be just so. Then he would do the garden. Everyone had gardens around their trees. There were salt roads and pebble side walks and people sitting on the bench in the park. There were houses and churches and trees. There was a train circling around and snow everywhere. The train would even have a tunnel to go through my dad made and it whistled when it came to a road crossing. The next morning when I came downstairs I knew there really was a Santa. There was one Christmas I came downstairs before anyone was awake and walked into the living room and NOTHING was there. As I went back to my room Bobby was going to the Bathroom. "Bobby, was Santa supposed to come last night?" "No, silly, he comes tonight. Go back to bed."

When you went to downtown Baltimore during the holidays it was a wonderland. Heckts, The May Company, Hutzler's, Hockschild Kohn's--they all had windows decorated with Santas, and reindeer, and elves and bright, shiny colors and everything was just perfect. It was cold--I always remember Christmas as being cold, and usually snow on the ground--maybe it didn't snow on Christmas, but sometime around then it did.

One year I got a Tiny Tears Doll. I had to be no more than four. She could be washed and she was the first doll whose hair could be washed. When you fed her a bottle of water it went right through her, so you had to change her diaper. Of course I had to give her a bath, wash her hair, feed her a bottle and change her diaper on Christmas Day. I still have that doll, She is made of rubber and is dry rotted now and falling apart. I named her Bonnie, and I just don't have the heart to throw Bonnie away. Someday when I'm gone and my kids are cleanng up after me they can wonder why I saved this piece of junk and then she'll go in the trash. They will never know how much I loved her and how much she meant to me. She slept with me every night and was my best friend.

Christmas Dinner was always a big deal. Mom would start cooking days in advance--pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, apple pie, lemon meringue pie, cookies. On Christmas Day she would get up at 4 am to start the turkey--it was usually a HUGE turkey. She made her own stuffing, and had no choppers like we have now. All the onion and celery had to be cut up by hand. The menu consisted of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and homemade gravy, candied sweet potatoes, souerkrout, cranberry sauce, peas and onions, and all the desserts. And Mom also did all the dishes--again by hand, she had no dishwasher. My maternal grandmother lived about three doors up the street from us, and we would usually go to Severna Park to get my grandmother's brother, Uncle George and we would have a wonderful dinner and together time. My mother was a fantastic cook--not fancy, but everything she made was delicious.

New Year's Eve was always an excitement for me and I have never known why. Half the time I was in bed before midnight when I was little, but I was awakened by the Volunteer Fire Department blowing it's whistle, the fire works and people yelling "HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!" Of course when I got older I went out for New Year's Eve and it was one year in the week between Christmas and New Year I became engaged. I didn't get my ring on Christmas because I had gone to Florida with a guy who lived next door who was like my brother. He was one of my very best friends ever in my life, 13 years older than I, but a wondeful man. Sadly, he has died several years ago of cancer.

Usually during the holidays we saw my mother's other brother, Uncle Jack, Aunt Vera and their children Joyce (who now goes by Chris, but will always be Joyce to me), Claire, Brian and Michelle. Joyce is the same age as Bobby and Claire and I are the same age and Brian and Michelle (we called her Shelly then) were the two youngest. Uncle Jack's job made them move around a lot--they lived in Catonsville, Maryland when I was small, then moved to Missouri, then to New Mexico and finally when they retired to Alabama just about a mile from my parents.

We also saw my father's sister, Aunt Regina and her husband Uncle Andy. I always thought she was so pretty and wished I could be like her.

Of course before Christmas when you wnet downtown there were "bellringers" on every corner, and every store had a Santa. We sat on all the Santa's laps, but I think we only have one picture with Santa and that is just my brothers, probably before I was born. We would tell Santa what we wanted and it was usually something simple--a doll, a truck, a bicycle, and lo and behold he always remembred who got what even down to the color. Commercialization was probably there then but no where near as bad as it is now.

Now Christmas is way too commercialized and I'm not four anymore. I have no small children and my grandchildren live in California and Alaska. If we're lucky after playing phone tag a couple days we talk to our children and to Mike's mother, but even they don't think it's a big deal, or they have too much to do or they just don't want to talk.

Someday I am going to have a Christmas I enjoy, even if I have to adopt someone's grandchildren. I want to see the wonderment in their eyes and their squeals and laughter, I want to watch them play with the boxes and wrapping instead of the toys and tell you they don't like anything on the dinner table. As my mother would say, "That's OK. You don't have to eat it. What would you like? A balogna sandwhich? I've got that and it will only take a minute to make. Do you want mayonnaise or mustard and what kind of bread do you want it on?"

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, especially to all those who are no longer with us. I know there will come a day when we will all be together again, but Mom, I'll help with the dishes!!