I’m reminded

I related our difficulty getting Her Mostess into Ugly’s confines to see a Christmas village evening last. And it was there in I had made an uncomplimentary reference to a cow. Well, that slip of my tongue wasn’t the worst one I had ever made. Going back over a half a century there was a moon lit night over looking a Lake Michigan parking site I had wrongly spoken of a similarity which only added a clue to the life sentence I was about to receive for wrongful acts towards a certain young lady vamp. The criminal’s mind worked something like this:
“Frieda, you’ve the same eyes as an old girl friend knew and grew up some with.” I whispered between kisses.
Her interest piked her hands on my chest pushing herself back from me, “And who was this girl?” she’d spoken in an alarmed tone…….
While her manner was more liking, “How dare you have so many loves before me?!” I wondered either how or why hadn’t I kept my mouth shut?
………”Well?“ she insisted, “You’ve brought her up. Tell me about her.”
“Hmmm….well….okay.” I hemmed and hawed, “She had the prettiest big brown eyes just like you…..
You’ve sad that!” she interrupted.
……. and, her name was Martha.” I had continued.
“Is that all? What she look like?”
“Well,” I started, expecting to get clobbered, “She was a dark red haired Jersey cow.” already cowering in my seat expecting the worst, she righted herself, flung her arms about my neck and squeezed me ever to tight my thinking she was either about to smother me or break my neck.
And, she surprised me with, “That is the nicest compliment I have ever been paid!” Then it was sloppy kisses she planted all over me. Obviously I survived to tell this tale of whoa. And then trying to explain the lipstick traces all over my face and on my collar to mom wasn’t the easiest episode to explain. Lawd! Oh my! How I’ve suffered ever since!
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Remembering Christmas Eve’s fun times
They were all so impressionable, where will I start. How about with in my own home this time. With our children when each had reached the age to be impressed, bedazzled, shocked, wondering what all this was and when urged get into it, where does a kid start. Watching each child’s first impressionable Christmas, I liked our turning each one loose and then selfishly positioning ourselves where we could watch our child’s eyes widen with surprise, wonderment, and astonishment.
All the bright lights on a tree that wasn’t there when they’d gone to bed. There was a new unfamiliar smell. There were hung on that tree all manner of colored lights, bright shinny mirroring balls, tinsel, with an Angle and Cross way up at there at the very top. Underneath the tree rested brightly colored boxes. Some with ribbons, all with name cards. And, Mommy and I weren’t worried somebody had snuck all this stuff into the house. Looking at Mom I was encouraging our children to do something. But what? I had bent down on the floor taking my hand leading the latest one to the tree. I seated us and handed our child a package cover in funny not everyday paper. In the child’s lap I placed a first package. Open it I’d said, whatever that meant? Then within the blink our parenting twinkling eyes we started ripping a ribbon and paper off the box for the surprise hiddened within.
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For each new child about to witness the spirit of Christmas I saw to it a live tree was brought into the house Christmas Eve. Keeping the tree alive was the rewarded hard part. Burlap wrapped roots firmly set into a half bushel basket we set it within a galvanized laundry tub we’d fill with water.
Each new tree removed New Years weekend was immediately planted to keep it’s roots from freezing. Then either covered with snow, leaves, or straw to keep the limbs from freezing. This covering whatever it might have been was to help the traumatized tree to mellow out to it’s new surroundings. Now, we’ve many living reminders Christmases past living around/about the South Haven community.
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Seeing as how our wedding anniversary was but a couple weeks before Christmas the timing eventually required gifts of a less practical nature. The same such gifts I had come to give my love became welcomed lingerie playwear between us. As it followed, it happened we both looked forward to the personalized effects on each of us. On our anniversary I was usually treated to a late evening vamp’s fashion personalized fashion show of things she liked putting on so I could spend hours just taking it all back off. Such wardrobes often kept me up all night.
Quite often Santa’s helper received additional good naughty girl wardrobe pieces. Once and again and more Santa’s helper upon opening her gift within our privacy had disappeared to redress in fashion’s hinting promise Santa’s rewards for spirited giving. How I ever survived those days now eludes me just some of my memories.
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Now for a bit of granny eye candy.....


And now one more picture to blood shot an old codger's peepers.


Frieda and I wish everyone who ventures into Shorthorn country a very Merry Christmas.
May everybody be kept safe this Holiday week End.
Fernan