Margie bakes Christmas cookies but there is no little boy here to eat them
Sunday, December 20, 2009 at 11:56AM ;)
Here is Royce, lying around listless, missing his buddy Kalib, who he has not seen for four days now. If you are a cat, four days is like two months or so.
;)
We have not gotten into the Christmas spirit here at all. We have yet to send out a Christmas card and we have done no shopping. When the kids were all at home and growing, every year, well before this time, I would pick up the saw, we would head out the back door, hike across the marsh and then keep going to this certain place where there were many trees of just the right size, but, being Alaska trees, most of them were kind of thin and sparse in the branches - but we always knew that if we looked hard enough, we would find the right one.
The kids would fan out and everybody would look for that special tree.
Once the candidates were chosen, we would gather around and compare and, amazingly enough, almost always everybody would agree on the same tree. Then we would cut it down and tromp back through the snow, everyone getting their turn at helping to carry the tree home.
One year, Royce followed us to and from. The snow was way too deep for him to wade through, but he would hop about in our footprints.
The experience seemed to please him greatly.
Then they made Serendipity and that ended that. In each year since, I have been amazed to find a suitable tree in our own backyard. Last year, I was certain there was not a single one left that would make a good Christmas tree, but Caleb found one right on the fringe, headed into the marsh.
It was the best Christmas tree that we had ever found, period.
Now, Margie is saying that this year she is just going to buy one.
I feel kind of bad about that, and I hate to see a Christmas tree go onto a credit card, but that's what happens in life, I guess.
;)
Margie does want to get the Christmas spirit going here, so she decided to bake some sugar cookies. And look - there, jammed into the cabinet door above her - baby Kalib, in a picture that I took while he was still brand new.
;)
And further over - a picture of Kalib on a book marker, courtesy of his day care center, and another of him and his buddy Lafe, when they were tiny (and yet, even when he was tiny, Lafe was large). You have not seen Lafe in this blog for awhile because he has moved out of state.
Margie with the first batch of cookies.
But there is no little boy here to eat them.
;)
So Margie eats a Christmas tree cookie by herself. Above her hangs one of Kalib's earliest pieces of art. Perhaps his first piece of art. I am not certain. Certainly, his first piece of art to be framed and hanged.
There is a chance that we might see Kalib today. Jacob is home now. I know he is exhausted from his two weeks training in Washington, DC, but he is going to get lonesome for Muzzy pretty soon. He will have to come and get him and Martigne, too.
Maybe that will happen today.
Reader Comments (5)
I think your Kalib is obeying the law (the one that I said should be passed...whereby children and grandchildren cannot move further than a 100 mile radius of the parents/grandparents). My grandson, on the other hand, has broken that law and lives 5 hours away by car.
But at least he and his mother will be here several days at Christmas.
Be sure to save a cookie or two for Kalib. And now, I must get into the kitchen and follow Margie's good example and make some Christmas baking for my family.
Reading this post, all I can say is I just want to cheer you up!!
Maybe you should look for that tree, it might be the medicine needed.
You've got five days to get together some semblance of Christmas cheer! Margie's baking. You need to go get a tree. I spent yesterday hauling stuff down from the attic. All alone. Not one person in the house. I decorated a tree, and I set up my little Christmas village, and the nativity, and even the Christmas dishes, which had to be washed, the ordinary dishes packed away for the month, and the Christmas set put in the cupboard in their place. Improved my mood considerably. It's a lot of work, but you'll feel oh so much more merry by the time it's done! Do it for yourselves! Get cracking. I expect to see some blog posts on your Christmas efforts very shortly. Even if it is only a matter of hanging a couple ornaments off your own ears.
Whitestone - Yes, you are right, and we all zip about frequently between here and Anchorage, so its really not that bad. Still, the house feels awfully quiet and empty right now. And your law makes me feel a little bad, when I think about it, because I broke it and moved the grandchildren of my parents and Margie's mom THOUSANDS of miles away.
They always wanted us to move back down there and they always seemed to think it might happen and I could not quite understand why, since I tried so hard to communicate that I had come to Alaska to stay, but now I understand a little better.
Michelle - I did look for the tree. I didn't find it. I will look again.
Debby - One way or another, we will have Christmas cheer here this year,
I empathize. My husband and I are ten minutes away from our two grandchildren. We used to be two hours away and it was not pleasant. My son and his wife are terrific parents, and it shows in their children.
Still, there are ways for you to keep in communication with Kalib. Just send occasional cards. Kids love to get "mail." I did that and my daughter-in-law still has all of them. When they have a major milestone (first dental visit, etc) type up a "certificate" and send it to them. They'll feel special and so will you!