This my 64th Christmas.
I have celebrated (endured and tolerated) this day in so many places and so many ways.
Let's see, one was in Ethiopia, Actually I got to do it twice in three months there because their calender was wacky because the Emperor left the country during WWII and time stop while he was gone.
One was in Nam.
One in Mananas, Virginia.
In 1957 Christmas brought a Chemistry set and the worst blizzard in Oklahoma history with 12 foot snow drifts and being stranded for 8 days on a farm West of Frederick, Oklahoma.
Ten Xmases were celebrated on one farm and 3 on another farm west of town.
Remember those cellophane wrapped candy-orange-apple-nuts packages the school system gave out.
All sort of Christmases were passed in Fullerton, California with the obligatory trips to Disneyland and the tide pools at Little Corona Beach.
A half dozen Christmases I was by myself, alone no other person around. (Wife gumply disputed this until she counted up the times she took the kids and went to see California mom and pop while I stayed home and worked, it now sums to 7 times)
Several down in Tuttle with Aunt Chris and family.
One down in Mission Texas, and one in Arvada Colorado.
I've had real Christmas trees, aluminum trees, trees made of tumble weeds, one of cardboard, one made from a ladder, and several pseudo trees of polymers of some sort.
I've almost never felt "merry" on Christmas except for that time....forget it.
I've had Christmases when all the toys I bought kids came from a thrift store, and Christmases when I spent way far too much.
The day before Christmas we had a ice/snow blizzard with 60 mph wind and drifts up to six feet.
Now the sun is about and the world is bright cold white.
This Christmas I spent the day sitting in a chair with the winter sun streaming though my living room windows and warming me in its rays as we paralleled played. My wife is here and my youngest son. It is a mixture of calm, rest, and a little sadness that others are not here. Good food, new music, new books to read. It was a good Christmas as Christmases go.
So what did you do today?
Merry Christmas.
1 comment:
I may know you if you wintered overed on a farm west of Frederick in 1957.
I hope some one was air dropping you food like we were air dropping it to cattle?
I still have the farm I was raised on farm 5 miles south and 4 miles west of town too. By 1957 we were living in town.
The Christmas Eve Blizzard is the worst one since then. The cattle are all over the place as the walked over the fences on top of the snow drifts and are all on the open fields of wheat. I heard one 160 acre field with 600 head of cattle on it 10 days after the snow.
contact me direct at gcouger gmail com
Happy New Year
Gordon
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