I looked out the window as I was finishing up the dishes from supper. It was just beginning to snow. Huge white flakes were falling down fast and covering the barren ground with a blanket of fresh white glistening snow. In the background, I could hear the sounds of “Silent Night” playing on the old phonograph. It was a peaceful scene. I hadn’t heard or seen a car all evening. But that wasn’t unusual since we didn’t get much traffic back here in the hollow.

“Steve, you and Tommy better bring in some extra firewood for the stove tonight,” mom shouted from the living room.

Steve and Tommy put on their coat and gloves and headed outside to get more firewood as Debby and Betty played by the fire.

Mom and grandma went into the kitchen to begin the candy making process.

The house was already a flur of activity since Uncle Bob was visiting for the Holiday.

Papa Mack was in the living room telling one of his “tall tales” to anyone that would listen.

The cedar Christmas tree was standing tall in the corner of the room, sparkling and twinkling with it’s lights all lit up and heavy with ornaments lovingly placed there earlier by all of us as we sang Christmas Carols. It gave off a lovely aroma that filled the house with that special smell of Christmas in the air.

I came into the living room and grabbed a bag of walnuts to crack for the fudge that mom was getting ready to prepare. Grandma had already started on the nuts and had the job well under way.

“And if you children are good, ” Papa Mack said, ” we will all go to the barn at midnight to see if all of the farm animals fall down on their knees to worship the Christ Child.”

“Really?” asked little Debby with her eyes wide. She was eating an orange, and she was so excited the juice dropped from her chin.

“Well, now, I’ve never seen it for myself, mind you, but they tell me that at midnight on Christmas Eve, all of the farm animals will fall down on their knees to worship the baby Jesus that was born in a manger.”

Just as he was speaking Steve and Tommy finished stacking the firewood, and grabbed an apple from the bowl on the table and started munching.

We sat by the warm fire and watched the snow fall outside. We ate hard candy and joked with each other and listened to Christmas Carols.

When I reflect back on that night, I really don’t know what made it so magical and special except for the fact that maybe because it was still a time of innocence and the hard realities of life hadn’t yet touched my innocent life, and sitting there in the safety and warmth of our little house surrounded by all of my family, I still could get excited about the thought of tomorrow and all of the  joy and excitement of what treasures lay in store for the morning. It was the true “Spirit of Christmas.”

Winter has definitely came early here in our “neck of the woods”.  We have had several inches of the white stuff and it has caused me to be “housebound” for the last couple of days. But I must say it does look like a picture post card around here.

 A gifted photographer could have gotten some great shots of our winter wonderland. I myself didn’t venture outside. But had I had a means of safe travel, I think I would have enjoyed getting out and finding some hidden treasures in the snow. There were plenty to be had as evidenced on the local news; as a lot of people sent in shots of their local scenes. 

Since winter doesn’t officially start until next week, I am sure there will be plenty of more opportunities to get that great shot. Or maybe I will just sit in the comfort of my living room with my hot chocolate, and enjoy the efforts of others.

Stay safe and warm and enjoy this most wonderful season!!!

Francis Van Landing-ham has a new book out called, “A Man’s Word was his Bond”. I haven’t had the opportunity to read it yet, but I know it will be well worth the time spent.

Francis, along with myself, will be at the Johnson County Library on December the 7 Th for a book signing from 5:00 until 7:00 PM.

I think this book is well timed. In a time when people seem to have forgotten how important honesty and character are, Francis reminds us of a time when that is all some men had. Their good name and the ability to work hard and try to make an honest living. Their word was their bond, and if they told you they would do something, you could “take it to the bank”. I honestly don’t know what some young men’s values are today. One young man I heard recently was bragging on his virtues which included, and I am quoting him, ” I can lie really well”. How far we have come from that time when if a man shook your hand, that was all the “collateral” you needed!

Yes, I am a little old fashioned, and as one young man told me recently, I am “old school”. But if honesty and hard work has gone the way of the hand shake, I fear to see what they have been replaced by.

Good luck, Francis, on your new book. And congratulations!!

Well, I guess all good things must eventually come to an end, and it appears that our weather has taken a turn to the North, and brought snow along with it. Although we didn’t get much accumulation from it, the cold temperatures made up for it. We went from the seventies to the thirties pretty quickly. And the  cold wind reminds me of that old song, “If we make it through December”. But now that it is here, we will adjust to it. But we don’t have to like it!!

With Thanksgiving over now and just one more memory, I have had time to ponder on the age old question, do you prefer your turkey to be white meat of the breast or dark meat of the leg? Not wanting to deal with the serious issues confronting us daily, I set about on my own little quest to find the answer to this dilemma.

I did an informal survey, and my findings revealed my own thoughts on the matter. Men in general prefer the darker meat and women in general prefer the lighter. Of course, I am sure that there are scientists out there who could come up with some very basic  reasons why this is so, but I have my own theory. I am sure there are exceptions to this rule, but in general, I have always found this to be the case.

Maybe because of our DNA, we are just genetically wired this way, but then again, maybe it is God’s way of seeing that the whole bird is divided up to every-one’s satisfaction, and there is no waste. Just a little something for you to think about if you are a little bored, and you can store it in all of the other “useless facts and information” category if you so choose. Just thought I would pass on this little tidbit of information to you. And don’t take life so seriously all of the time. It can cause heart disease.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!! I surely hope that your day is filled with good food, the love of family, the laughter of children, and the joy of a happy home!!!

Well, it happened!! The temperatures dropped down enough to produce a few snow flakes here in the mountains. It seems much too early for my taste. I have so enjoyed fall and the wonderfully warm temperatures and all of the amazing colors.

It seems winter is fast approaching, and with it all of the hustle and bustle of the Holiday Season.

Fortunately this is just a little preview for us, as the temperatures are suppose to be back in the higher range in a few days.

I use to enjoy that first snow fall with it’s bitter bite of cold wind, but as I am getting older; not so much! 

I hope the weather is nice where you are and you are enjoying these last days of fall!!

We’ve  been blessed by a large family. Unfortunately, most of them has already passed on, but I still have two very special aunt’s left on my grandmother’s side of the family. I also have one uncle left; and that is all that is remaining of my dear grandmother’s children.

I remember times were hard when I was a child growing up, and travel was a little more difficult, as fewer people actually had cars. A visit from relatives was always cherished, and my grandmother was never happier than when her children and their families came to visit. They always brought a special kind of joy into our lives.

I don’t have many memories of my grandfather, as he died when I was still very young. But I do remember how he loved for his daughter Viola and her husband and family to visit. He seemed to have a special fondness for them. He had an old trunk where he kept things in that was “off limit to us kids”; but I remember how when Viola brought her kids, he would open up that trunk and pull out peppermint sticks to give to all of them.

They didn’t get to visit all that often, but when they came, they were always loaded down with groceries to fix fabulous meals. We didn’t have any fast food places then, and we rarely ate at restaurants, but all of my family had great cooks.

It was on one of these visits, that I tried pizza for the first time. Quite frankly, I didn’t care at all for it. I thought it kind of smelled like rotten cheese baking, and the taste was even worse! But it must be an acquired taste, as it is now one of my very favorite foods!! But my first introduction to it wasn’t pleasant. That is one example of how my aunt Viola and her family brought new and exciting things into our lives. Every family has those who are a little more “well to do”, and I guess they were it in our family. We all looked up to them and admired them and were very proud they were a part of our family. They always filled our lives with fun and excitement.

Viola always was and still is a little doll, and we will always  cherish her as the special person she is. She has had a long, loving relationship with her husband of over fifty years, and they have a lot of children and grandchildren to make new traditions with now, but I will always remember fondly those early years of waiting with anticipation of their arrival, and another visit from one of my special aunts.

Recently I had the pleasure of a rare visit to relatives. With all of hustle and bustle of everyday life, it is hard to find the time to just take a day to just simply visit and enjoy your relatives.

My friend and I sat off early on this particular morning. The sun was shining down on us and it was a beautiful fall day; we couldn’t have asked for better weather. Not too hot, not too cold; just right. My friend said that she hadn’t seen some of these people in years. So we were both excited about our little adventure.

First we visited my aunt. The house soon filled up to overflowing once word got around, as it usually does here, and there was laughter and noise, among all of the hugging and catching up. One of my cousin’s came down the hill riding his four wheeler to see what was up and join in the fun. We had a wonderful short visit, and then made our way “up the holler” to visit more kin. We got lucky, as there were several relatives  already  there visiting each other, so we saw quite a few in that one stop. After another short visit there, we proceeded on out of the holler and headed off to see another cousin. This time we weren’t quite as lucky, as we found no one home there. We had already had a fairly long day, so we decided to make our way back home.

We decided to stop at a little country store on our way out to  get some refreshments. I knew the proprietor of the store, as we had worked together once in our “factory days”. (Before most of the factories left this area).

Little country stores like this are becoming a thing of the past, and I always enjoy stopping by  whenever I get the chance.

We watched the clerk as she put our burgers on the grill, and we stood there catching up with all of the news while she worked. I drank an Orange Crush, and my friend had a Root Beer. Soon the burgers were done, and we took them outside and sat on the bench in front of the store. The mountains surrounding us gave us a colorful background to enjoy as we ate our meal. Customers came and went as we sat there, nodding hello as they passed. One of my cousins came by as we sat there. We had missed him, so it was a special surprise to see him. We enjoyed some conversation as we finished our burgers. All to soon, it was time to end our visit and hit the road once more. I took one more look around, and just drank in the nostalgia. And thought how lucky I was to live in such a beautiful place.

As we headed back to the “city”, I reflected on the day’s events, and thought about how wonderful it is to just take the time to visit friends and relatives and how it connects our soul and warms our hearts.

We had a wonderful day on our “visit”. And I surely hope the next one is not so long in coming.

Have you noticed the October 12, 2010 picture of “Autumn Rose” on www.todaysphoto.org ? Beautifully breathtaking!!! So artistic in it’s simplicity! A simple rose is so romantic, and this beauty just begs to be admired!  Notice the skill of the photographer as he brings out the color of the rose from the dark background; how much it adds to the intensity!! Another stunner, Mr. Rockwell!!!