retrospective

I've almost waited too long to even write about Christmas. We loaded Santa into our compact wagon and visited both of our families. The children were dazzled by four days of gifts, candies, confections, sparkles, light up tennis shoes, and the low whirling of the red toy vacuum cleaner. I keep getting asked what their favorite gifts were, and, to tell the truth, it is too soon to tell. They haven't had time to really play with all of them. It has been nice seeing them enjoy all the building toys together. Ella is enthralled with her new dollhouse furniture. All the children have beds now. We are thinking of having a new level built to add three rooms and a patio.I'm thinking about a cedar shake roof and wainscoting.

We went over two mountains and through the foggy woods and spent New Years Eve with Isaac , his family, and some of their friends. There was good food , and I drank lots of champagne. The kids piled onto the bed to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and at nine thirty they had a toast. Real glasses on a flowered tray. That was lovely. At midnight we were driving down Main street. Shortly after we were in the house and the local revelers started "shooting in the New Year". It is the habit of the indiginous folks to go out in the yard and shoot guns at midnight. I don't want to use the term redneck or white trash in a negative way, but for those of us who have lived in big cities with crime, it can be fairly disconcerting. I recently read that this is a purely American custom, most likely a way for rural people to greet their neighbors in celebration. Apparently, this custom is alive and well here in Appalachian smalltown.

Here in the New Year we are counting our blessings and cleaning out our cupboards. I've been saying that I'm going Swedish in the New Year. Spare. Boxed. Clean. Ella and I got to work on the pantry yesterday. Today we took all our old pictures off the refridgerator and put up all the new photos of our friend's children that came on Christmas cards. Our Christmas tree is growing in the yard, and the the decorations are boxed and packed. My mother asked me if I was celebrating the sixth of January. No, I'm just being Swedish. I am making lists for next year. I want to celebrate Saint Lucy's day with candle crowns and wizard hats and cardomom breads. I want to make lots of elfin dolls for the tree. I want to make a family star for the top of the tree out of some leftover material from my wedding dress, or maybe even a fairy doll with white mohair hair and the dupioni dress. Next year I want to have a Buddha day party to celebrate the day of the Buddha's enlightenment, and a bigger bolder toddler be darned Christmas tree.

We have resolutions and budget plans and yoga videos and massage gift cards. We have happy children. We have dreams of a house with a fireplace, a coop for chickens, and peace on earth.