THOSE WONDERFUL GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS EVES PAST

Several years ago, on a cold and windy Christmas eve, I took a ride to Falls Village to hang a secret Christmas stocking on a tree branch at the end of my aunt's driveway.    A full moon was glistening on a layer of newly fallen snow.  It was Christmas eve at it's best.  The sight of it made me nostalgic.  A strange nostalgia that forced me to drive my car towards the Mosquito Path before I came home.  I stopped the car on the side of the Mosquito Path, sat alone in the moonlight and filled my head and heart with memories of Christmas past.  Oh.........such a heady feeling.  The sight of the hayfield in December had changed so little in 55 years that I became a child on Christmas Eve all over again.  

The only thing missing was the old barn.  The barn that was always so warm on a winter's night.  Warm and quiet with only the sound of the cows munching on their dinner of sweet hay topped with a swirl of molasses.   The barn had been destroyed in a fire when I was 12.  A new one was built but it would never match the warmth of the old one.

As I sat there enveloped in the white silence of a winter snow I could hear the sweet and ghostly sounds of our happy childish voices of Christmas eve's long ago in the old farmhouse.  And the silence.  The silence as we turned out the lights in the living room except for the blue light bulb in the overhead light in the living room.   The blue light bulb that we only used at Christmas.  When my mother turned the bulb to shine on the homemade blue star sprinkled with glitter that topped the tree we oohed and aahed with the beauty of it.  We never had any other lights on the tree.  This was our big deal.  

I  saw us carefully writing our letter to Santa and tucking it beside the cup of hot cocoa........and the carrots for the reindeer.   My mother would hustle us to the chilly upstairs and bundle us into our beds with the flannel sheets.   Flannel sheets were necessary in the old, uninsulated house with no central heat.  And there we would lie....eyes wide open, hearts going pitter-pat with excitement.  Every once in a while my mother would relay up the stairs the report that she was hearing on the radio as to the exact location of Santa.  "Girls.......he's in New York state now.  You better get to sleep."   How does a child get to sleep after hearing that?  And in the middle of that crisp, starry night I would wake up and hear the wonderful, jolly Santa downstairs laying out my gifts and gulping his cocoa.  He was trying to be quiet but I could hear his footsteps as he creaked across the old wooden floors.  I loved that magical man so much.

Sitting in the car that night, looking across the frozen field, I could still feel that magic.  I could smell the wood smoke rising from the chimney from the two wood stoves that warmed the house in those days.   Nothing had changed.  We did not have much money but there was no happier child than I was on Christmas eve.  And there was no happier adult than I that night.  The wonderful magic of our memories.

Fall Happenings. Nice and............................

After a week of blustery, wet and chilly weather this morning we were greeted by a sunny October blue sky and mild temperatures.  Finally finally finally.  The kind of autumn day in New England that makes you want to close the door on your cluttered house and point your car in the direction of the nearest mountain for a day of a body stressing hike.  That would have been perfect but those leaves.........those darn leaves.  The trees let loose of their leaves this week with all the wind and rain.  Under that October blue sky there was a sea of gold, waiting to be raked into piles.  And rake we did........all day long.

 We still have some "hangers-on" so our job isn't done yet.  I often wish that all the trees would just drop their leaves at once.  Or else a big wind would come along and blow everything beyond my borders.  A pipe dream.

 A few weeks ago, before the leaves fell, we were able to take some time for a walk on the boardwalk at White's Woods.   A picture perfect September day.......almost.  So perfect that I couldn't wait to take pictures.   Couldn't wait to get my camera out. 

But wait.........oh nooooooooooooooo.  Where IS it??  Oh come onnnnnnnn.  Not again.  I am always leaving my darn photo card at home.  I even bought two of them so I could always have one in my case to take care of those senior moments.   I looks like I have moved into a perpetual senior world.  

It looks like Paul is going to have to do the picture taking......again.  I will be trying to figure out ways to avoid him.


                         
I haven't been on the boardwalk in years.  I forgot how peaceful it is.  We saw birds, swans and eagles.  And very few people.


                         

We meandered through the cool and shady woods.


                                 
  Over the river within sight of one of several beaver dams. 



A fantastic walk through the swampy marshy area, something you normally would never be able to do without the addition of the boardwalk. 

 We came across a big green frog.  So peaceful basking in the sun.  But whenever I think of swamp I immediately think of, you know, S_ _ _ E.   I just KNOW they are slithering around in there somewhere.  I'm trying to relax but it's hard.  That thought is always in the back of my mind.  I make my "fears" known to Paul but all I get is a "don't be silly, Midge".    I look over the edge of the boardwalk and THERE_IT_IS...My worst nightmare.

OMG OMG OMG..Noooooo......There it was.  A BIG FAT water snake.  (I am having a really hard time even typing under this picture.)    Oh ewwwwwwww.............  The instant I saw it I heard in my head the sound effects from the shower scene in Psycho. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuIQJ-l16b4.  Doesn't that sound make your stomach clench with fear?  Exactly the feeling I get when I see one of these things.  This is not "just a little garter snake", although there really is no such thing as "just a little" garter snake.  These things are so nasty and aggressive.  I once saw one chase a poor little child out of the water and on to the sand at the pond where I USED to take my kids swimming.   USED to because that was the incident that led me to successfully talk Paul into getting a pool. 


                           
 The rest of that boardwalk walk was VERY long and I walked VERY gingerly....really really.  We were there in the fall when the water was low.  So what happens in the spring when the water is higher.  Do they just slither onto the boardwalk and lie there sunning themselves, blocking your forward progress?   It was a beautiful walk but I have to re-think going back there.  Maybe I will just stay home and rake leaves..or plant flowers....or mow the lawn......or pick our thousands of black walnuts from the ground.

Wonderful Day - Wonderful Addiction

Yes, I admit it.  I am a true book addict.  Any sign by the side of the road containing the two words "book" and "sale" brings me to a screeching stop as I leave rubber on the road and shove the poor startled car into reverse.  I've been very good at not giving in to my addiction lately. In fact, I have even made Goodwill the recipient of some of my book collection, a very difficult thing to do.  But this was a holiday weekend.  Time to do something for myself.  I weakened.  Yes I did.  I did something I haven't done for several years.  We drove to Falls Village for the monthly tremendous fantastic stimulating out-of-this-world book sale at the DM Hunt Library http://www.huntlibrary.org/events/.  I was in book heaven, truly.  SO many books. 

To make the day even more special my sister, another book lover,  met me there.  I don't get to see her very often so this was a wonderful treat.

Several years ago when she was going through a pile of books that I had bought some years before at a used book sale she found $100 in one of the used books I had purchased.  A rich person's book mark?  I told her that I would split the money with her the next time we went to a book sale together.  "Next time" took a long time in coming but this was it so we each entered this event with $50.  Can life get any better than this, especially when most of the books were $2?  And to make things even more wonderful, besides the upstairs room-full-of-books, they have added a huge new space downstairs including old and rare books.  Oh, be still my heart.

 This is just an itsy bitsy tiny % of the books they had.  Oh, those wonderful people who put this together..............

It was just one of those fantastic days.  So simple but so memorable.  Once we finished lugging our treasures to the car we drove along the river to the Daylily Farm http://hardydaylilygarden.com/ where my sister looked for and found a lovely pale yellow lily among their hundreds and hundreds of varieties.  As we roamed through the acres of lilies under the gorgeous blue sky we could hear the roar of the Falls Village  falls in the background.  Life is sometimes very good.

We followed this up with a visit to The Toymakers Cafe https://www.facebook.com/pages/Toymakers-Cafe/190664957654987 where we sat on the front porch and ate our lunch feeling like we had stepped back in time to a quieter and simpler place. 

Being surrounded by a plethora of books and spending time with my sister was the perfect combination to make my holiday weekend complete and one of the best in a long time.   Days like this make me wish that my family lived closer to me.

My wonderful haul for the weekend.  25...I am SO excited!!  Can't wait to get started.

Paul's haul.   7............and this makes me feel like a book glutton.

I saw oh-so-many more that I wanted to buy but my arms just couldn't hold another book.  But I WILL be back.  And I can't wait.  My addiction is in full swing.  And why not.  I'm retired and I need something to do.