Christmas Eve 2008

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8 A. M. Well, it's finally here - Christmas Eve. And James is patiently waiting beside the tree. Why does it come so fast when you get older? When I was growing up, it was a very long time from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Now it seems that you barely get over one holiday before another one comes along. Of course the media and stores start celebrating Christmas long before. This year they were filling the stores with Christmas "stuff" before Halloween was over - 3 months before Christmas. That's just too long.


I don't start decorating or put up a tree before the 1st Sunday in December. We usually try to have our tree up for James' birthday on Dec. 8. The tree and the nativity are the first 2 things to appear. James brought home the white ceramic figures for this manger scene when he was attending the "little white school house" in Paris, TX in the 1970's. I bought the wooden manger when we lived in Winston-Salem, NC in 1980's. I turn the small light on and it burns day and night until I pack everything up and put it back on the tallest shelf in our storage building.


Doesn't matter that one of the shepherd's has a broken neck held together with scotch tape, or the back side of one of the camels has a big hole where it is broken, or the little lamb is missing a leg. Baby Jesus used to disappear from the manger where he lay on some straw and we would have to locate him and place him back in the manger. Usually we would find him in James' pants or coat pocket. I'm sure that when I'm gone, all of this will be considered "old" and placed in the dump! But for now it is one of my fondest memories of Christmas.

3 P.M. - Bill and his 3 daughters arrived from Florence, SC. We were so glad they arrived safe and that they got here before dark. They arrived with their packages and there really wasn't room for any more packages under the tree. We kept putting them in layers. James spent a lot of time today looking for his name on presents and he kept an eye on the tree so that nobody would open a gift!


We went to communion at our church at 5:15 P.M. and then rode around looking at Christmas lights. Then we came back home and I made a delicious Christmas Eve dinner. We had smoked turkey breast, pork loin, rice, veggies, Christmas strawberry jello salad and praline cheese cake.

Christmas Pageants - then and now

When I was growing up in the 40's, the highlight of our little country church every Christmas was the Christmas pageant, usually the Sunday before Christmas. We didn't have a lot of people in the audience since most of us were in the pageant, which always took place at night. The same costumes were used over and over except for the shepherd's robes, which were always borrowed from some of the older men.


A couple of years ago, Phillip Mixon, son of one of the ladies in the church, discovered some boxes in the attic storage of his mother's home when the house was being torn down to make way for the new highway. In those boxes were the costumes (folded away neatly) that were used in the Christmas pageants for many, many years. "Miss Viletia" was the only director that I can remember and she took care of the costumes over the years until her death in the 1990's.


More about the pageant. Angels were my favorite. Maybe that's because that was always my part. I wanted to be Mary but the older girls always got that part. Angel wings were made from coat hangers, covered with white crepe paper and outlined with shiny silver tinsel. They were pinned with large safety pins to the back of the white robes. They were always getting off center. Shepherds had to wear sandals and this was a time when men didn't wear sandals. The director made sandals using rope and cardboard for the soles of the shoes. She was very, very creative. I remember that the 3 wise men were always older members of the church, and their gifts were so shiny and pretty. I remember we used macaroni to glue to the boxes and then they were sprayed gold. I always wondered what frankinsence and myhr looked like. Of course we didn't have computers and google to do searches back then to look up things.


What I remember most about Christmas at our old wooden church was how cold it was. The two big wood heaters would start putting our heat and turn red about time to go home. Then the fire had to be put out before we left.


In the 1970s the church we attended in Paris, TX had a production of "Amahl and the Night Visitors". It was fantastic. I had never heard of Amahl and I love the story. The next year and succeeding years the choir presented the Messiah at Christmas. There were visiting opera singers from colleges singing with the choir, and a small orchestra. I remember thinking that this was a far cry from our little Christmas pageant.

Then a few years ago I was brought back to the days of our church pageant when I read the funniest book, "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" by Barbara Robinson. It reminded me so much of my childhood Christmas plays. I learned that a movie had been made from the book and I checked the video out of our library. I think I will see if that movie is still in the library, and just maybe I'll check it out to show the granddaughters on Christmas eve. I know I'll enjoy it but I'm not sure they can identify with the story, never having been in a Christmas pageant.

The children in our church always have a little play a couple of Sunday nights before Christmas and the families crowd into the fellowship hall to see the play. It is always a modern story - no Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus lying in a manger. Gathering with families afterwards for food and fellowship is a great tradition for our members.


Our church has a living nativity scene a few nights before Christmas, in front of the church by a busy street. There is a wooden stable with 3 sides and open to street so that you can drive by and see Mary and Joseph and the baby. 


Sitting or standing around the Holy family are wise men, shepherds, angels, etc. Sometimes they have live animals. Last year we signed up to be there for an hour (and nearly froze to death). There was recorded music that could be heard when cars passed by and slowed down to view the nativity scene. This year I'm going to be one of the "onlookers" and let younger people take my place. Maybe I'll take them some hot chocolate!!

Christmas Classics

I was in college in 1953 before I ever heard of the Nutcracker Suite. It was in a music appreciation class that I heard this beautiful music and the story behind it. It is one of my most favorite Christmas stories and I love the ballet. I've seen it on stage a few times in my lifetime, but the most memorable was in 1998 when I left the farm and flew to Austin, TX to see our granddaughter Allison, age 10, dance in the Austin Nutcracker Ballet. I think she was on stage a total of 5-6 minutes and she was absolutely beautiful and I loved every minute of her performance as a dancing flower.

It was on this particular night that Michael Dell (of Dell computer fame) was Mother Ginger . Each night a different person played that part.

The ballet was beautiful and I was so happy to be able to be there to see Allison dancing.

I enjoyed my week-end, despite the rain and icy conditions. The planes left from Austin on time, despite the icy conditions, and I arrived back at the Dothan airport to much wamer weather and sunshine.

The Nutcracker always brings a bit of sadness to mind for me also. In November, 1996, our daughter in law Barbara was very ill and I was spending some time in Florence, SC with them. She had tickets to take the two older children (ages 6 and 4) to see the Nutcracker ballet and asked if I would take them for her. They would get so excited when they recognized some of the performers on the stage. I remember it was a long evening, trying to keep them quiet. She was so happy that her little girls enjoyed the ballet. She had read the story to them. Then that following Sunday, the day after I returned home to Alabama, our daughter-in-law died after a short illness.

Alabama Public TV has beautiful Christmas programs each year. I just finished watching the San Francisco Nutcracker Ballet and now I'm watching the St. Olaf College singers from Minneapolis singing carols in an old cathedral in Norway, and it's just breathtaking.

Each year on the Sunday before Christmas, one of our male choir members, Kenneth Baker,  sings "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" and everybody waits in anticipation on that Sunday to hear this traditional message of Christmas.

Last Sunday was our Christmas Cantata and included in it were some Christmas carols. I noticed that our mentally handicapped son singing along (quietly thank goodness) when he knew the words of some of the carols. My husband Jim always enjoys singing in the Christmas cantata at Elba United Methodist Church which is usually on the 2nd Sunday morning in Dec. This year the church was beautifully decorated with candles burning in the windows and 60 large red poinsettias at the front rail at the altar.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

It was Christmas eve, 1940, when I was 6 years old. We lived with my grandparents - my mother and daddy, and sisters Christine(4) and Susan (2). It was a cold, rainy night. Mother had slipped on ice on the steps on the back porch a couple of weeks earlier and sprained her ankle. She went to the Dr. and he wrapped her ankle but for some reason, she didn't have crutches to use. I remember she used a straight back chair to rest the injured ankle by kneeling her leg on the seat of the chair, and pushing it along and walking with her left leg.


She made her way to the fireplace in the room where we were all gathered by the big, roaring fire, and we were talking about Santa Claus and wondering what we were going to get for Christmas. We didn't make long lists on the computer, along with photos, etc. of what we wanted for Christmas. In fact, I don't remember making a list at all. I guess I thought Santa would know what I wanted. We didn't have TV to tell us what we wanted, or the newspaper ads to see all the toys that are available.


All we had to do was "believe" and Santa would come and leave us some toys, along with candy and fruit. Once we even spotted Santa riding down the road in the Coca Cola truck, and he waved to us. I don't recall ever visiting Santa in a store and telling him what I wanted.


That particular Christmas was special. It's a memory I have kept all my life. My Aunt was visiting us that night, along with her little son, Tom. Daddy told us to listen, that he heard someone on the roof. We were worried that there was a fire in the fireplace but daddy told us not to worry; that Santa could come in doors and windows if there was a fire. Then we heard someone on the porch. I think probably the wind was blowing the porch swing against the posts and the chains were making a noise. But we all thought it was Santa coming and we were very quiet so he wouldn't know we were still up. We sat still for what seemed like a long time, and then my aunt came into the room and said she also heard a noise and went into the "front room" and Santa had already come and there were presents under the tree. Mother and daddy led us to the Christmas tree and indeed, there were unwrapped presents with our names on them. I remember getting a doll whose eyes would open and close. We were allowed to take one toy to bed with us. I remember taking my doll to bed with me and my heart was pounding at the thought of Santa coming early and we didn't have to wait until Christmas morning to see what he brought.


Looking back, I guess this was a good idea, and probably my parents were hoping we wouldn't get up so early the next morning. Our only heat was the fireplace and we stayed in bed until the fire was warming the room where we always gathered (which was my grandparents bedroom).


On Christmas Day, daddy took us outside to look for the raindeer footprints but we didn't find any. And I guess we didn't think about that anymore. After all, Santa did come, and we got some presents. I think my daddy loved Christmas as much as the kids. He could hardly wait for us to see our gifts. One Christmas he spent long hours repairing a firetruck pedal car for our little brother. He painted the car, replaced broken parts, etc and had it ready by Christmas. I was 10 years old when he was 2. I didn't know my daddy was working on the firetruck and until I saw them putting it in Mama Wilson's closet on Christmas eve. I was very confused on Christmas Day when they said to my brother, "Look what Santa brought you!" This was the first time that I even questioned if there was a Santa. Mother read me the editorial in the newspaper, "Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus". I can remember thinking that if I stopped believing in Santa, I wouldn't get any gifts. So I pretended to believe there was a Santa for a few more years. I didn't want my little sisters to find out there was not a real Santa.

Christmas was so much simpler back then. Jim and I have been trying to decide what to get our 5 granddaughters (ages 13-23) for Christmas and asked for a list. Their lists were very confusing. Many of the items were electronic and completely foreign to us, i.e. wii games, play station 3 games, ipod touch, etc. There was only one sensible item on the list: our granddaughter who is a sophomore at Clemson University and living in an apartment asked for some shelves to put over the toilet for storage. She inherited her "neatness" and organizational skills from her grandpa - not me!! And I can't believe I paid over $50 for a pair of jeans that were faded, torn places on the front and legs, and even allowed the 13 year old to wear them to a school party, before wrapping them up to put under the tree. I thought "why not" when she asked if she could wear them. I bought them for her when we were visiting them in SC at Thanksgiving, so she could try them on. 



When it was time to make my list this year, I couldn't think of a thing I wanted. Most of all I want good health and to spend Christmas with family.


Pictured here is our little friend Isabella is giving Santa her list at the Children's Party at church.


Want to know what I think Christmas is about, besides the birth of Jesus? I think it is "Loving, Caring, and Sharing".

Our Christmas Trees - a family tradition

We have always had a Christmas tree during the 55 years of our marriage.

Our second Christmas we were living in Wurzburg, Germany and we bought a large fir tree. We had to cut off about 12" of the trunk to get it inside our living room. We still have the small part of the trunk we cut off and every Christmas I put a red candle in the center where Jim drilled a hole, and add greenery to make a small yule log. And of course we remember the snowy day that we dragged the tree through snow to get it up the hill to our house. It was frozen and we had to put it in the basement to thaw before we could bring it inside. We didn't have many ornaments for the tree and I don't remember if we had any lights on it. All I remember is how good it smelled.

We had many more trees during the following years, always fresh ones. In Texas the boys went to the woods and cut cedar trees. They were always too big when they brought them home and we had to trim them a lot. One year our youngest son Bill bought some wooden ornaments and painted them. I still put this one on our tree every year. After Bill and Ronnie left home, we helped James collect train ornaments and that's usually what we put on the tree every year. Tonight as we unwrapped the ornaments, he had fun talking about where they came from. The most expensive ornament is a white train with a gold nugget on top and ruby "hub caps" on the wheels which I bought for him at Pinehurst, NC. His favorite is a cable car from San Francisco. Last year he wanted a red, white and blue tree. It was different! Our trees do not have themes and they would never win a designer's award. But we love them anyway. About 10 years ago we bought a small "fake" tree because we didn't have much room at the farm for a big tree. This year we have a new, tall, skinny pre-lit balsam tree and it is beautiful - but you can't smell the balsam scent! 
Our 2008 tree is pictured above, and it is still in progress. Have to add shiny balls.

The ornament pictured on the right is New York City inside a clear ball, with a train running around and around, as long as the tree lights are on. Of course this came from NYC on one of our trips.


I love Christmas trees more than any other Christmas decorations. On the farm when I was growing up we usually had a pine or holly tree. During WWII it was hard to find decoations and we had to make most of ours. We didn't have very many lights on the tree. I remember that we covered sweet gum balls (with all those little stickers on them) with alum. foil we peeled off the back of cigarette cartons we found along the roadside and hung those on the tree. We colored strips of paper and glued chains to put on the tree. We loved our little trees and they were very special to us. I wonder if today's children ever get to decorate their trees. They are missing out on so many things that we enjoyed.

I spoke to my 89-year-old aunt in Brewton last week who still lives at home and she said she and her caretaker had been shopping for a new Christmas tree. Last year she gave her tree to her daughter because she wasn't going to use it anymore. This year she was feeling sad and said she just had to put up a tree or it wouldn't feel like Christmas. I'm planning a trip to Brewton before Christmas and will get to see Aunt Ida's tree and enjoy it with her. I know that some day when I am 89 I will still have a Christmas tree - wherever I am.

A Christmas Memory

A few years ago I watched a TV special "A Thanksgiving Memory" that was written by Truman Capote, one of my favorite writers. Since then I have read the story and watched the TV special a few more times, enjoying it more each time.


I identified with this story about the little boy and his aunt gathering things she needed to make a lot of fruit cakes for family and friends.


You see, we did the same thing when I was growing up in the country and we were living with my paternal grandparents, Mama and Papa Wilson in the Curtis Community. It seems that from early November up until Christmas Day the women were always preparing food for the holidays.

I suppose the fruit cakes required the most work. First they boiled grapefruit and orange peelings in sugar and water to make them crystalized. We didn't have dates so they used dried figs. We got really big Muscat raisins from the grocery store in Elba and we had to hand pick the big seeds so the raisins could be used in the cakes. The Muscat is a very special type of raisin. It is quite large, blackish in color, very sweet and quite sticky. How I would love to have some of those big raisins again. They were in bunches like grapes, and we were told they were dried grapes. 

I went online to see if I could find those delicious raisins and found this info: Muscat raisins are available year round from www.sunmaid.com. Go to Gift Shop link, then Bulk Fruits and find #62: Muscat Raisins, in a five pound box for about $22 US plus shipping. Or call Sunmaid at 800-786-6243.)


Muscat Raisins are large, oversized, dark, meaty, sweet raisins with a full fruity flavor.

We started cracking and picking out pecans early in November, to use for the cakes. Then the day came when they made fruitcakes. They steamed them in the huge pressure cooker they used for canning in the summer. Oh, and they put some of Papa Wilson's homemade fox grape wine in the cakes.

Once the fruitcakes were finished baking, they would be wrapped in a large white flower sacks, and the cloth was then soaked with wine. The cake was put in the "ice box" on the back porch to keep it moist and cool.


It was so much fun getting ready to make holiday cakes. Another cake they baked was called a Lane Cake. The icing was made with sugar, butter, and eggs. The nuts and raisins were ground in the food chopper and added to the icing. And this also had "spirits" in the icing. Today, this is my favorite cake at Christmas time.


Daddy would bring a couple of coconuts home from the store for mother to make his favorite coconut cake. My job was to crack the coconut, drain the juice, and peel the coconut after removing the hard shell. I did not like to grate the coconut as I always grated my knuckles in the process.


My favorite cake at the time was called a Lemon Cheese Cake. The cake was like a sponge cake, made with egg whites. The yolks were used to make the lemon curd used as icing. I was surprised when visiting my sister in London a few years ago that you could buy jars of lemon curd to eat with shortbread cookies. It tasted exactly like the lemon cheese my mother made. Maybe that's where the recipe came from, a long time ago.


My other grandmother, Mama Smith, always made chocolate cakes at Christmas time, with thin boiled chocolate icing that reminded me of fudge. And lots and lots of tea cake cookies.


Now at Christmas time, I have this feeling that I must get busy and start baking. I usually give my goodies away. Nobody likes fruit cake anymore. But Jim and I do. Our daughter-in-law in Texas always sends us one of those delicious Corsicana Fruit Cakes each year and we only eat a little at the time, making it last til spring! People who didn't grow up in Ala. have no idea what a Lane Cake is, and they think lemon cheese cakes are puddings - not cakes!


I'm so sorry my 5 granddaughters are missing out on this great experiece of "getting ready for Christmas" as we did long ago. What great memories I have of smelling the cakes baking, and the aroma of the wine as they opened the cloths to remove the cakes when it was time to eat them.


I guess their memories will be shopping at the mall, ordering things online, and ordering pizzas when getting home from shopping.


When they visit us during Thanksgiving or Christmas, they always want to see what's on the dessert table and they all find their favorites. I must get busy picking out pecans and start baking. Our youngest son and his 3 teen girls (one in college) will be coming from SC for Christmas this year. We can hardly wait.

Sweet Potato Weather

Sweet potatoes

This afternoon was sunny, but cold. Not a cloud in the sky. I came inside around 3 P.M. and had memories of childhood afternoons, coming home from school on the school bus, and running inside the house to get in front of the warm fire place. Then we went to the kitchen for a real treat. There were sweet potatoes baking in the big oven of the wood cook stove. Mother or grandmother Wilson placed them there after baking cornbread in the oven for lunch. They cooked slowly for about 2 hours and were just right. We peeled the dark crusty skin back, sliced the potato lengthwise and put a dollop of fresh churned butter on top of the potato. The potato was still warm and the butter would melt and run down our chins.

I cannot find potatoes in the stores or curb markets today that even resemble those delicious "roots". I think it's the process they went through they went thru after they were dug in the fall. We had to pick up the potatoes after they were turned up from the ground where the vines grew all summer. They were handled carefully and then spread out on boards to dry for a few days. Had to cover them if it rained before they were "cured". Next they were placed in hills or mounds with layers of pinestraw and dirt covering them. boards were placed over the mounds, standing up like an Indian teepee, with an opening in the top for any steam to escape.


I have made many trips to the "potato hill" to get sweet potatoes for meals. We washed them before putting them in the oven to bake. Sometimes we would boil them and then peel the skins off and mother would mash them and make a sweet potato pie, adding lots of spices, eggs, cream, sugar and baking the pie until it resembled a custard. Still one of my favorite pies.


My sister suggested that I bake a pan of sweet potatoes, all at one time and put them in the freezer, taking out one as I desired and heat it in the microwave. They're much sweeter than they are if you cook them in the microwave when they are raw.


I can only imagine our grandchildren coming home from school and being offered a hot baked sweet potato for a snack!


Tomorrow I am going to the store and get a dozen sweet potatoes, the long medium (not big round fat ones) potatoes and bake some for cold days for an afternoon snack. This will take me back about 68 years to those good ole' sweet potato days of my childhood.