Popcorn Balls at Christmas

I was making some cookies at Halloween and wanted to make the frosting orange.  I have several types of food coloring in the cupboard, but I found an old combination box of food coloring that I thought must be pretty old.  I forgot about it and finished my cookies.  Just about a week ago, I was at the store and saw the combination box of food coloring on sale and decided that I should get a new box.  When I got home and put away my groceries, I decided that I needed to get rid of that old box...and I was curious as to how old that box really was.  I looked all around for a date and found a date of 1975.  The more I thought about it...the more I started to remember what we used that food coloring for.

When I was a little girl, my Mom taught music lessons for piano and voice from about one o'clock in the afternoon to as late as seven o'clock in the evening.  Most of the time, she would have a casserole ready or something in the crock pot so we had dinner ready, when she came upstairs.  Mom did that so we would be able to be in swim team, boy scouts, girl scouts, camp fire girls or anything else we were involved in.  Mom also did that, so she could spoil us at Christmas.

Mom made Christmas special at our house.  I can still remember the tree dripping with tinsel that we had gone out in the woods to get.  It was never perfectly shaped and it seems that Dad was called on to drill holes in to insert branches.  Nothing was perfect...because she let us help with the decorating. Mom also did a lot of different candy and cookies.  I still do that, but I have never been able to make divinity successfully.  One of the things that I can remember is making popcorn balls at Christmas.

This was a relatively cheap gift but it was a lot of fun to make.  Mom would do the popcorn and the candy to make the popcorn stick.  She would use that food coloring to make any color combination that you could think of with those four basic colors of red, green, blue, and yellow.  I can remember having a popcorn ball Christmas tree that we decorated.  I can also remember popcorn balls wrapped up in plastic wrap that we could give to our friends as gifts.  The process was kind of fun.  We would rub butter all over our hands, then take the hot gooey popcorn and form balls.  We would finish one batch and color, and start the process all over again.

I have so many memories of Christmas that are wonderful and I feel incredibly lucky to have had the wonderful childhood that my parents gave us.  I hadn't thought about those popcorn balls for years...I would have a hard time eating them these days.  I can't have all the sweets and popcorn isn't very nice to my teeth.  I almost wonder if I should keep that old box of food coloring for posterity.  It is a nice reminder of Christmas popcorn balls and the fun we had making them!

Fan of Christmas

It is no surprise to anyone who knows me that I take Christmas rather seriously.  I love just about everything about it from the decorations, to the candy and cookies, and the music.  I love giving gifts to my family and while wrapping isn't my favorite thing, it is made bearable by Christmas music helping the time go by.

Perhaps the reason I love Christmas so much is because of my Mother.  She made Christmas special at our house.  The house was always decorated, Christmas music was always playing and the house always had many of the wonderful smells of cookies and candy.  Mom made everything from scratch and taught me how to make many of the family favorites.  Of course, I have brought a few of my own recipes to add to the tradition.

So, now as I am trying to finish the preparations for Christmas, my mind wanders back to some of my favorite memories...and I have already written about a few of them:

• An Elk City Christmas
• A Special Delivery - Revisited
• Christmas Flair
• The Old Stereo
• A Red Poinsettia
• O Holy Night
• Christmas Catalogs
• Christmas Tree 2011
• Winter Spirit in Lewiston ID
• Christmas Letters

Christmas -1968

Christmas 1966

An Elk City Christmas

Every year as I’ve grown older, I seem to reminisce back to Christmas celebrations of my youth.  My mother always made a “great” Christmas, but there were a few Christmas celebrations that really stuck out in my head.  I don’t remember any presents that I received (although don’t mention the robot to my brother) nor do I really remember anything specific that happened.  For a child, Christmas in Elk City at my grandparents’ house was special.  Elk City is located about and hour and half south of Grangeville, ID and is located on the South Fork of the Clearwater river.  It is just on the edge of being in the wilderness and is at about 4000 feet.

The preparations for my mother had to be intense and enormous.  Not only did she have to do the normal shopping, wrapping as well as the candy making and cookie baking…she had to prepare her whole family to enter into a winter wonderland.  I’ve no idea how long it took to pack the station wagon for our journey to Elk City which on a good day was 2 ½ hours but mostly around three hours.  In went the presents, the cookies and candy and the clothes.  The last bit had to take a good bit of planning.  All of us would probably spend the majority of our time playing out in the snow so extra clothes, mittens and hats were in order as well as our sleds.  After that was all packed, four kids and a dog were added to the mix with two probably weary adults.  I think that I must have sat in the front with my parents, being the youngest one, because three kids and a dog took up more than enough room in the back.  As soon as we were at the bottom of Mt. Idaho and a little bit down the road, the questions of “When will we get there” would start.  Mom being a musician would start us off singing Christmas carols to pass the time.    My father would listen to our caroling and concentrate on the driving.  This wasn’t an easy drive – it was usually packed with snow and there seemed to obstacles in the road quite often.

Soon we would arrive and climb the hill up to my grandparents’ house.   I don’t remember unloading the car of the presents or anything else – all I remember is playing in that wonderful snow.  Mom told me that we only did this a few years – and I suppose because I was so young that the years probably mesh in my mind.  I can remember the snow being so deep that I wasn’t allowed out by myself…it was taller than I was.  I can remember playing out in the snow for so long that your eyelashes became icicles and it seemed like every part of your body was frozen.  We would then run inside, take off our wet mittens and socks, lay them on the fireplace – probably warm up with some hot cocoa and then put on some dry mittens, hats and socks and head back out into the snowy paradise.  The logistics of collecting enough winter clothes to keep four children and two adults warm during our snow play was carefully managed by my mother.

One year – perhaps that first year, my grandparents bought us kids a toboggan.    My grandparents lived at the top of a hill – there was a fine road that wound around the hill that provided a great sledding course – but the toboggan…that was special.  All of us kids would pile in and start down the side of the hill, picking up speed constantly.  We would come to a snow berm (from my grandpa plowing the road) and we would sail over the top of the road and land on the other side.  We probably hit three of these snow berms on that trip down the hill.  At the bottom, my dad and grandfather would tow us back up to the top with the snow mobiles.  Mom thought this looked like a great deal of fun…until she took a ride with us.  I’m still surprised that she let me ride that toboggan.  Mom also had to try the sled on road and wore down the toes of her boots trying to slow down. 

Soon enough, it would be Christmas Eve and my sister and I were dragged in from our snowy paradise to get our hair done.  Mom always dressed us up on Christmas Eve, usually in matching outfits.  Neither one of us was all that thrilled to be dragged into the house…but night would soon fall and the boys would have to come in as well.  My grandparents had a huge living room with a gigantic fireplace that stretched to basement.    It was in the basement where Grandma’s Christmas tree waited with the presents under the tree.  Usually Mom would gather us around the piano to sing Christmas music and usually we would get so excited that we didn’t pay the proper attention.  I can remember running to the window and sing a red light blinking across the sky and thinking that perhaps Rudolph had just flown by.  Perhaps we would hear a kerthunk downstairs or some sort of noise and usually my mother would exclaim that Santa must have arrived.  All of us would head downstairs and dive into the presents.  It was traditional in my family to open our presents on Christmas Eve.  Then on Christmas day, we would have a big dinner. 

After the excitement of opening the presents and perhaps playing with them, all of us kids would bunk down in our sleeping bags – usually with a favorite toy nearby.  I know that on some of these Christmas’s my cousins would be there to enjoy the play and the presents with us.  The seven of us kids all within eight years had a wonderful time playing in the snow and being together. Each one of us holds these Elk City Christmas’s in our memories.  My grandparents have been gone for many years as well as my mother and her sister now.  The house has been out of the family a long time and the hill side that we used use the toboggan on has far too many trees to provide a safe path down the hill.  I don’t know if those Christmas’s were so perfect – but they sure seemed so to us kids.   I can still picture all of us in our mittens, scarves, hats with our red noses getting ready to pile back on that toboggan for another ride down the hill. 

It is my hope that everyone has treasured memories of Christmas past and hope that they can make new and wonderful Christmas memories this year.  Merry Christmas to everyone!

A Special Delivery - Revisited

This is my father's favorite Christmas story.  Christmas at his house was a slim affair.  Dad's story reminds me that Christmas presents can be something other than prettily wrapped gifts.  It can be the generosity and kindness of a postman who went wall beyond any expected effort to make sure that a family was able to celebrate Christmas.

This photo shows the farm back in 1957.  You can see the road going towards the house.  By Christmas of that year, that road was impassible and the closest passable road was over a mile away.

So please read - A Special Delivery - if you are of a certain age and lived far off the beaten path, you may have a similar story!

Have a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Flair

My mother never thought that she had much artistic talent.  I think that she always loved looking at those who could paint something and make it beautiful.  I would argue that she had a great deal of artistic talent…just not the traditional kind. 

Christmas Decorations 2012 - Living Room

When I was about six years old, Mom really got into ceramics.  Mom never did anything part way – she always dove in and immersed herself with whatever skill she was attempting to learn.  That Christmas, Mom decided that we kids were going to make our grandmother Christmas presents.  So, each one of us chose something and we painted it with a glaze it was fired and Grandma Cappy got several gifts including an ugly shaker shaped like a mushroom that was about 8 inches tall.  I don’t know what my sibling made – but that was the masterpiece that I made.  I still have it, hiding in a shelf in my bedroom.  Mom decided that she too was going to make a present for her mother as well as a few decorations for our tree.

Mom began assembling a fairly large nativity set.  She painted each one with the appropriate colors.  As it was, I’m sure it was painted beautifully – but here is where Mom’s artistic talent came in.  Instead of making it look like a normal painted nativity scene, she washed everything in gold.  The colors were still there, but she made it look special with gold tint.  Dad made a stable for the nativity set and when it was presented to Grandma at Christmas that year, she was absolutely thrilled.  She didn't do much decorating, but every Christmas that followed during her lifetime, she lovingly unpacked her beautiful nativity set and placed each piece in the appropriate spot.  When Grandma died in 1985, Mom took the nativity set back and I remember us putting it up near the fireplace.  Over the stable, Mom would place green boughs and some of Grandma Cappy’s artificial poinsettias.  I think Mom thought of it as a wonderful way to honor her own mother at Christmas.  The stable has long since fallen apart and now I am the one who puts it out each year in honor of both my mother and grandmother.  I place it on the electronic baby grand piano that Mom so loved and place a large poinsettia in the background.  As you walk in the room, it still draws the eye.  I've had my nieces help me set it up in some years and I show them the marks under the pieces that say when the nativity pieces were painted and by whom and then I tell them the story. 

Mom's Nativity Scene

There are also Christmas ornaments that Mom made that same year.  There are probably close to ten of these ornaments.  I’m probably most fond of the Santa ornaments myself…but there are a few angels and holly hobby pieces as well.

Some favorite ornaments

  No matter how small the Christmas tree that I have, those ornaments will always be on the Christmas tree.  I don’t know if it was the same year, but Mom also made a wonderful Santa who is holding his sack open to provide a place to put Christmas cards.  As I look around the house decorated for Christmas – there are so many memories and beautiful pieces that my Mom lovingly created with her own unique artistic flair.

The Old Stereo

Most of the year, the stereo was dormant.  Occasionally you would hear a record being played, but for the most part it was a silent piece of furniture in our living room.  However, at Christmas time, it seemed like it was always playing.

I can remember the pile of records that my mother had in the side cubby hole in that old stereo.  There were probably twenty or thirty records.   Mom wasn't one to listen to music all of the time…she always said that she found it too distracting.  For me, it helps me concentrate – but Mom said that she concentrated on the music rather than was she was trying to do.  When it was time to decorate the house for Christmas, those records would be brought out and thumbed through to find something that suited her mood.  There are only a few records that I remember specifically – but the music is something that I remember well. 

Years ago, they used to see records at the Firestone tire store.  Not year round, but at Christmas time.  Dad said that they would make a special trip down to get the record every year.  These records would have singers like Perry Como, Dean Martin, Peggy Lee and Bing Crosby.  We must have had about 10 of those records.  It was almost like listening to your iPod today.  There was a terrific mix of music from people you liked to hear sing.  Mom was a music snob and so all of the music was classical in nature or from the crooners that Mom enjoyed listening to.  With the mix of music that she had in that stereo, it was almost shocking to find a Chipmunks Christmas album in the stack.  At Christmas time, we were even allowed to play that one a few times.

As we decorated the house, music would be playing on that old stereo and Mom would be singing along to the familiar tunes.  I have a great memory for the lyrics of just about all of the famous Christmas songs, and I think I learned most of them listening to either those old records or to Mom singing at the piano. 

I started playing Christmas music about the second week of November in my office.  My coworkers know that is the music of choice for me this time of year.  There is some modern stuff but there is also a lot of Bing Crosby, Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra.  Now I play it from my iPod with my own Christmas mix – and when I go home at night and do some decorating, baking or wrapping – that Christmas music is still playing in the house.  They may not be those old records on the stereo in the living room – but I suspect that the same type of music is still playing.  Those old songs always make me love Christmas and fondly remember my childhood listening to that old stereo!

O Holy Night!

My Mom made a big deal out of Christmas….from the Christmas tree and decorations to the candy and cookies.  Her favorite thing about the Christmas season was music.  Music was an integral part of who she was and how she thought…but at Christmastime it was even more pronounced. Mom was a classically trained pianist and vocalist.  My name, itself, came from one of her favorite operas, Carmen. When she graduated from high school she had scholarships to Stanford and the University of Idaho and was a Peabody award winner.  The fact that her boyfriend at the time when to the University of Idaho might have had something to do with her decision to go to school there.  But if she had wished – she could have aspired to bigger and better things.  Mom said that she never regretted choosing to be a wife and mother rather than a professional performer. If you talk to a certain age group around Lewiston, ID, Betty Tannahill Johnson is still a well remembered Lewiston performer.  Mom did share her gift with numerous students through the years as well as her church and especially her family.  Growing up, I can remember listening to all the old classics from Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Dean Martin or even the Chipmunks on the record player at Christmas.  I especially remember listening to my mother play and sing at the piano for hours at a time.  Even the last Christmas she was alive, she still spent time playing on her piano despite the fact that she was on oxygen and her hands were crippled with arthritis.

Mom singing with her granddaughters.

  Her grandchildren remember singing with her at the piano just as her children did.  Of all of the Christmas music that she played and sang, there was one song that to this day is extra special to me.

Mom was the choir director at our church as well as the organist.  When the opportunity arose, she was also the soloist.  At Christmas Eve Midnight Mass…Mom’s talent really shone.  She would usually have the children’s choir sing a few songs as well as her adult choir.  Everything was orchestrated and planned.  Then the time came for Mom to sing.   At Christmas, she usually chose “O Holy Night!”  As Mom stepped up to sing, the church waited expectantly.  They were used to hearing her sing – but when she sang “O Holy Night,” it was special.

Mom singing with her choir at St James Catholic Church.

Mom singing a solo.

  Despite the large crowd and standing room only space – as she began to sing, a microphone wasn’t necessary.  She could fill the entire church with her voice and she let her love of God shine through her special instrument.  To this day, when I hear “O Holy Night” I am always reminded of my mother.  I like to hear someone sing it that has a great voice because most vocalists don’t do the song justice.  I was spoiled by mother’s beautiful singing.  So, as Christmas Eve approaches and I lay down to sleep.  I will dream that I am once again a child listening to her mother sing and marveling that that beautiful voice belonged to my Mom.  Merry Christmas Mom!  I love you and miss you!

A Special Delivery

When my father was a boy, his parents weren’t well off…in fact, they were poor.  I know that my father and his siblings didn’t really realize that circumstance until they were much older.  Dad’s family had what was necessary and made do with what they had.  In 1952, they moved from Hatter Creek (near Princeton, ID) to Mountain Home (just north of Freeze Church and just south of Skyline Drive).  After a lot of work and finagling…they had a larger home that was able to accommodate the family even though they were a long way from town.  Christmas was always a bit lean because of money and one Christmas was especially hard but really showed the generosity of spirit that some people have.

Dad was probably about 13 or 14 and as the oldest knew that money was tight.  But Dad had two younger sisters who expected Santa Claus to leave presents under the tree.  Grandma Marian and Grandpa Frank had to wait until payday to buy the gifts for their children.  The toys they ordered through the catalog were supposed to be there by Christmas.  Grandma and Grandpa anxiously waited for the toys to arrive and their post man knew of their anxiety.  Their mail was delivered from the town of Garfield, WA which was quite a ways away and during those times the snow and weather was especially brutal.  They didn’t have the equipment that we have today so travel was always difficult.  Mail was usually delivered to their mailbox which was a mile and a half down the road.  It was trip that during the worst of the snow they would take the horse to make the journey.

It was Christmas Eve and the presents had not arrived.  At this point, Grandma and Grandpa were heartbroken because they didn’t want to disappoint their children especially the little girls.  They gathered the small gifts that they had and pondered what they would do.  It was about seven at night when they heard a knock on the door.  Their postman had gone back to the post office and saw the package sitting there waiting for delivery.  He got the box on his truck and headed back out.  He knew that my grandparents had been waiting for that box.  By the time he got back to their mail box, the only way he could make it to the house was walking with a sled behind carrying the box.  He walked the mile and half to their house and delivered that box.  Even though this happened 60 years ago, my Dad still remembers that Christmas – not because of the gifts or because of the celebration but rather the kindness and extra effort a postman took to make sure some children had their Christmas.  

Christmas Catalogs

Sometimes I miss getting those big Sears & Roebuck or JCPenney catalogs in the mail.  I realize that I am dating myself, but they were especially fun to get at Christmas.  Those catalogs were an education to both parents and kids as to what the newest toys were out there.  I can still remember when the Christmas catalog would come in the mail.  The only way I could get first crack at it was to be home while the others were still at school.  Even then I would lose custody as soon as they got home.  We were also lucky enough to have Uncle Jack’s catalogs to peruse and I was fortunate to get one all on my own.

Uncle Jack and Aunt Hilda were my maternal grandmother’s brother and sister-in-law.  We really didn’t get a chance to see them that much but it was always a special occasion when we did.  Jack & Hilda owned a “Ben Franklin” store in Santa Rosa, CA.  As storekeepers, they rarely had holidays off especially at Christmas time.  Jack & Hilda would send up catalogs for us kids before the Christmas season and we would thumb through these catalogs with great intent.  Mom actually had to tell Jack to send us up two each.  That way we wouldn’t fight over the catalog.  The second one was for our orders.  By the time we sent the catalog back to Jack with our individual requests that first catalog was well used so the 2^nd one was kept pristine so it was easy to read.  I’m sure Mom made us tailor down our requests.  Hilda would always add a few items that were more practical…knowing Uncle Jack – he took great fun in filling our requests.

When my parents had my sister, money was very tight.  They were essentially a newly married couple only in their 2^nd year of marriage and they had a baby that needed a lot of medical care so the bills were high.  They didn’t have much to buy Christmas presents with that Christmas in 1961.  In fact, they were counting on a shipment from Jack and Hilda to help with Christmas.  Jack & Hilda sent up the big care package through the mail…but as things sometime go – it took longer than expected.  In fact, it was Christmas Eve and the box still hadn’t arrived.  Mom reasoned that my sister as a baby wouldn’t know the difference – but Mom certainly did and was heartbroken that the box hadn’t appeared.  The postman knew that Mom and Dad were waiting for that box, so when he went back to the Post Office after his route, he saw that the box had arrived.  He loaded the box into his truck and brought it up to Mom and Dad’s house.  Mom was thrilled – they would be able to have Christmas after all.

Uncle Jack & Aunt Hilda

Jack and Hilda have both passed away and remain only in memories…just like those old catalogs.  There are still a few reminders of the gifts they gave us though.  My sister has a stuffed Santa Claus that has been well loved and is almost falling apart.  She no longer puts him out but he is in a treasured place.  I think that Santa was in that first box of gifts that Jack & Hilda sent up that arrived on that late Christmas Eve afternoon.  I have a little vest with my name on it and a Santa Claus that only fits a stuffed bear now.  I look at that vest and have to smile.   

Christmas Tree 2011

Yesterday I went down to the Christmas tree lot to select our Christmas tree for the season.  I have to admit that paying for a Christmas tree is probably cheaper than the process that we did as kids and we definitely get a nicer tree - but it sure isn’t as fun!

My Mom was fun – she was strict…but she was fun and creative.  My first memories of going out to get a tree must have been when I was five or so.  Granny Shearer went with us and Granny, Henry and I stayed behind while the rest went to get the tree.  Granny was too old to tromp through that snow and Henry and I both had too short of legs.  By the time the rest had come back with the necessary trees, Granny and I had filled our time up with making baby snowmen.  We would drink the hot cocoa that Mom brought in a thermos and then the real fun would start.  Dad would connect our sleds to the back of the car and drag us all over the place.  I was too young for most of this fun – but was allowed for short rides.  We would then begin the process of going home.  All of us singing Christmas songs made the ride go that much faster.

Usually, more than one tree was necessary – a tree for our home, a small tree for Granny, and another tree that would be used as filler and for wreaths.  You might wonder why we needed one for filler.  The sad fact is Mom was also very picky about her Christmas trees – they needed lots of branches and no blank spots.  No matter how good a tree looks in the woods…there are always problem areas by the time you put it up.  So, Dad would have to get his drill out and he would drill holes in our tree and insert the branches where Mom told him.  There was always a bit of grumbling about this process but it was entertaining for us kids.  Then we would add the lights…those big bulbs that needed strong branches just to hold them.  I think they were 15 watt bulbs.  Dad’s eyes roll today at the cost of electricity when we used to put those bulbs on the tree, the house and the big spruce out front. 

Our cat Cinder peeking out after all the presents had been opened!

Next we began to add the ornaments.  There were homemade ornaments that we kids had created which I’m sure had to be put in the pride of position in the front of the tree.  We also had ornaments that Mom had made in ceramics and old bulbs that had been passed down as well as new ones that Mom had bought.  Back then, there were no fancy Hallmark ornaments to display.  Then it was time for the garland and that was strictly Mom’s domain.  She would add the garland arranging it in sweeps and drapes around the tree.  When she finished – it was time for our favorite activity – putting tinsel on the tree.  We just didn’t put one box or a single strand on one branch – we put clumps on.  Mom would later go back and thin out our clumps and make sure that we good coverage throughout the tree.  It seemed that we always had back ground music on from the TV.  For several years it seemed like either the Bing Crosby Christmas special was on or the Bob Home Christmas special was blaring across the TV.  It seems sad to me that kids today don’t really know about the silly fun of those Christmas shows. 

Christmas Tree 2011 - Not as spectacular as
when it is dark and the lights are twinkling,
 but definitely pretty.

By the time I was about 12, the Christmas tree was Mom and my project.  The rest of the kids had pretty much lost interest.  It was still Mom’s tree and many of the same decorations were still hanging on its branches.  By this time we had twinkling lights with a controller that allowed us to control the speed.  In our opinion, we had beautiful old fashioned Christmas trees that sparkled with colors, gold garland and silver tinsel. 

Yesterday, my sister-in-law helped me put up our tree.  Every year they are different but still beautiful.  It isn’t my sister-in-law’s style of tree – but like I told her, we are all products of our mothers.  My mother’s tree never had bows or ribbon decorating the branches and I doubt if my tree ever does.  There are a lot of Christmas trees that I like and I appreciate their beauty…but I love our tree and am always somehow sad to take it down.  However, I know a new one will spring up during the next year at Christmas.

Uncle Carl...

Several years ago – I found a number for Geneva Hansen.  She was the daughter of Joe Friddle and Bessie Silver.  I called her and made plans to drive to Coue d’Alene, ID which was where she lived.  At the time I met her she was in her 90’s – still living at home and still very sharp.  She was a bit puzzled as to why I wanted to talk to her, but there was definitely a great reward. 

Geneva was old enough to remember living up on Grouse Flats with her parents and grandfather, Albert Friddles.  Albert was my great grandfather’s older brother and was probably the closest father figure that he had.  Albert was actually 34 years older than Pop Friddle (David Carl Friddle, my great grandfather) and was the one who encouraged him to come out west and homestead up on Grouse Flats which is in Wallowa Co., OR.

Geneva recalled when she was a little girl she thought that Uncle Carl (Pop Friddle) was her favorite person in the world.   Whenever he was around, Geneva would follow him around like a puppy.  She loved is deep voice, big laugh and hugs.  My mother used to say that Pop Friddle gave the best bear hugs.  I’ve always heard stories from my mother and my great uncle about Pop Friddle, but it was great to hear stories from someone else who had a completely different perspective. 

Geneva told one story about a Christmas when she was young – probably about 1920.  Evidently they were having a Christmas party at their church. Pop Friddle being a large and husky man must have been the obvious choice to play Santa Claus.  So, he dressed up in the red suit and beard and made an entrance at the party.  He looked nothing like his normal self.  Geneva was one of the younger children who they were trying to surprise with Santa.  Geneva said that she took one look at the man in the red suit and went running towards him shouting “Uncle Carl, Uncle Carl”  - They weren’t able to trick young Geneva and she was so thrilled to see her favorite uncle.

Pop Friddle as he must have looked around 1920.

Geneva told me that that Christmas was one of her favorite memories as a child.  They didn’t have much but they did get oranges and nuts and perhaps a toy at Christmas.  They were much simpler times and Christmas was a simpler celebration…but that Christmas party so long ago was still very fresh in Geneva’s memory.

Geneva passed away a few years ago at the age of 94.  She was the last of her family – her 3 other sisters, parents, and husband had all preceded her in death.  She spent the last few years of her life living in Everett near her daughter.  What a lovely lady – I’m so glad I had the opportunity to meet her. 

Winter Spirit in Lewiston, ID

When I was a little girl, Christmas lights were among my favorite things.  I can remember many holiday drives in the evening when my parents took us around to see the lights.  Back then, there were competitions and every year several homes would go all out to decorate for the holidays.  That was probably about 35 years ago.  Then we went through a session when few people put up Christmas lights and during the past twenty years there has been another change – for more decoration.

Back in the early 1990’s, a group of Lewiston people began decorating what we locals call Locomotive Park.  There is an old early 20^th century locomotive that has had its home there ever since I can remember.   There is also a large curving park that circles around what would be Highway 12 as it enters Lewiston, ID and continues over to Clarkston, WA.  As you can probably tell by the names – our two cities here in the LC Valley are named for Lewis and Clark.  Near the Locomotive is a fairly large tableau of trees – the Winter Spirit committee has decorated Locomotive park for at least the last 20 years with literally millions of lights.  The Locomotive is awash with colored lights and the tall tree in the center flickers with dancing lights that match the music being broadcast on speakers.  Kids young and old can dance around on the pad and help make the lights move.  There is a beautiful archway snaking through the park that is a glittering trail that leads the visitor all over the park and its beautiful trees.  Every year volunteers work for several weekends to get the lights up and there is a lovely lighting ceremony during the weekend before Thanksgiving.  The lights stay up through the New Year. 

I still can remember the first year that it was lit.  My nieces and nephews were small children.  They ran through the archways and watched the lights flicker with the movement.  Sometimes the weather was warm and other times quite chilly and snowy.  The adults in the family would walk around enjoying the children’s joy and wonder as well as our own.  We would spend at least an hour walking through the park, no matter how cold it was.  Then when we go out on drives to look at the Christmas lights – we would drive by Locomotive Park and enjoy the beautiful colors.  I don’t know that any of us ever completely outgrow looking at pretty twinkling lights.

My Niece & Nephew enjoying the lights!

Several years ago, my sister-in-law and brother were visiting from out of town.  They had moved north several years before but one thing they wanted to do during that Thanksgiving weekend visit was go and look at the Christmas lights.  We enjoyed looking at the new Fireplace with the tiles that had been painted by local schoolchildren and reacquainted ourselves with all of the new displays that had been done.  My teenage niece and nephew ran around and played like children.  I still remember my brother saying that he wished that these lights had been around when he was in high school – it would have made for a cheap date.

If you are interested in looking at some of the photos or wish to look at more information check out their website at http://www.winterspirit.com/ .  There is even an opportunity to donate to the cause as this is a volunteer operation.

Through the arch!

Some of the lights of Winter Spirit!

Christmas Letters

Christmas cards have always been an integral part of the Christmas season for me…unfortunately; they seem to be going out of style as is the handwritten letter.  Isn’t it sad that many of the younger generation will never understand the value of a letter or even a newsy email?  They only want to communicate in short tweets or texts and don’t care for the long and leisurely conversation that lasts over 140 characters. 

When I was a little girl, I vividly remember watching my mother sit at the kitchen table writing out notes in her Christmas card.  Mom had absolutely beautiful handwriting with an artistic flair – I’ve seen letters that she wrote to her sister and mother and those old Christmas notes had bits and pieces of their lives that I had never known.  I remember that it was exciting as a young child getting those Christmas letters in the mail and having my chance to read them.  There was a wealth of information in them about family activities and events – connections to old and new friends and in some cases an actual Christmas card that came to me personally.  Those Christmas cards were often a shared time with my parents when I learned about their friends and our family and learned how to read different handwriting and words that I wasn’t used to.  For me…they were a learning opportunity that I took advantage of. 

We still have some of the old Christmas cards and letters that were sent by family members – and many of the Christmas letters that my mother sent out once she got a computer.  I think Mom was one of the first people I know of who sent out a Christmas newsletter every year.  I look back on those old letters and relive some of the wonderful memories of the last 30 years.  One year she sent out some favorite family recipes, when her grandkids came along – her letters were full of them.  When I moved out on my own, I too sent out Christmas cards.  My list was much smaller than my parents but even then they were full of friends who I had not seen for a long time as well as beloved family members. I followed my mother’s example and wrote my own Christmas letter that was full of everything that was important to me – my job & home, my family & friends and my pet.  Not too terribly imaginative but they improved with practice.

Today I send out cards to my parent’s friends and family and my own.  I still remember that last Christmas letter that my Mom sent out.  She wasn’t feeling well and I helped her write it, print it, and got her labels done.  There were still many that she wrote a handwritten note to.  Mom downplayed her own health problems and instead focused on the positive…that was her attitude.  I’m sure when everyone went through their cards at the end of the Christmas season that year that they paused on her card.  So, now when I write my letter, print it and my labels then sit at the kitchen counter to write a note or two, I feel a kinship with my mother and grandmother and all of the other family members who have shared Christmas cards through the years.  Perhaps someday – someone will pick of that old letter and read it and wonder about the people in the letter.  Perhaps they too will take it upon themselves to research and find out who they were.  Those letters are a window to our lives and communicate what is important to use as the years pass by.  Wouldn’t you love to find a passel of letters written by your ancestors…and if you did – wouldn’t they be a precious resource!