Dec. 24
This morning, I skipped breakfast in
order to stay behind at the duplex to wrap gifts for tomorrow
(Christmas) and Monday (when we're having Christmas with Sue's
mother, Oggie).
When I stepped outside, the snow
crunched crisply under my feet. A crystal-clear, sunny, very cold
day. It was 12F. There wasn't much of a breeze as I happily walked
towards the main house.
My husband had left before me,
neglecting to take his hat, gloves, and coat. Really. How does one
step outside and not notice these things? My hope was that he had:
1. Turned right instead of left when exiting our driveway; 2.
Remembered which house he was looking for; and, 3. Not succumbed to
the cold. Not necessarily in that order. I was a bit concerned,
though he was wearing a thick flannel shirt, a wonderfully warm
fleece vest, and heavy boots. I needn't have worried.
Sue pulled up in her SUV, told me Harry
was snug as a bug at her place, and invited me to join her in a
little expedition. Soon, the two of us were off to pick up lobster
for tonight's sandwiches. Yum! You can't go to Maine and not eat
lobster, right? (Jim also made an absolutely delicious Maine shrimp
bisque to go with the sandwiches, which were lobster meat with the
tiniest bit of Miracle Whip in a grilled bun. The bisque was a
milk/potato/corn base with lots and lots of shrimp. Truly delightful.
But I am getting ahead of myself again.)
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| Maine Countryside Photo by Chris. All rights reserved. |
As Sue and I drove along, I had an
opportunity to admire the landscape in beautiful sunshine. The
countryside is so lovely, with rolling topography and lots of trees
and little lakes. “Ponds,” they call them. Ha! They are lakes,
all right. And with the frosty snow that remains on the ground, the
frozen landscape looks just like a painting. It just needs a frame
around it, and you could hang it up in a museum. Just gorgeous.
Today was to have been sleigh ride day,
which we'd all been looking forward to. As it happens, Sue has never
been on a sleigh ride! And she still hasn't. There was apparently not
enough snow for the sleigh, and there was too much snow and ice for
the wagon, and, voila...They canceled on us. Believe me when I say
that there were sad faces all around. Especially so for the sleigh
ride guy, who earns most of his dough this time of year.
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| Cabela's Photo by Chris. All rights reserved. |
To make up for our disappointment, we
all loaded up in Sue's SUV and headed to Mecca. No, the other Mecca:
Cabela's! It's in Portland, Maine.
On the way there, I mentioned to Sue
that I'm quite enamored with the farmhouses that go on and on, with
the attached barns [See photos in last post]. She said that they are
typical country construction here, and the old ones started out as
regular, two-story farmhouses that were added onto as kids came along
and families grew, which is what gives the rambling look. The
attached barn was for animals. Jim said that smart folks had a
separate, detached barn for the hay some distance away from the main
house. Something about spontaneous combustion, which you can imagine
might have had devastating effects on many families.
Before entering Cabela's, we went to
American Pie to eat. Pizza pie, that is, and very good, too. As a
rule, I'm not a big fan of pizza crust, but the beer dough was very
good. We ordered two pies. One was sausage and pepperoni and peppers
and onions. The sausage was very tasty, and the pepperoni didn't give
me indigestion! Yay! The other one was sort of Asian influenced, with
chicken and julienned carrots and spinach and a sauce that was a tiny
bit sweet, but also very good. I admit to eating quite a bit of the
pizza. It was yummy.
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| Cabela's Photo by Chris. All rights reserved. |
And then, it was across the parking lot
to Cabela's. That is one huge sporting goods store! If you're going
camping or fishing or hunting, and you can't find what you're looking
for here, you really don't need it. They had lots of taxidermy about,
too, in “nature” settings. Deer and wolves and elk and moose and
dozens of other kinds of animals. It was kind of an educational
exhibit, if you will. No offense to my wonderful sister-in-law, who
simply can't abide this kind of thing. My husband was in heaven.
It was already getting dark when we
left the store with our purchases. I thought perhaps we'd been there
longer than we'd planned. Then again, it seems to get dark very fast
here. But I could be imagining things.
On the way home, we stopped at the
Hanniford Market so Zack could pick up the ingredients for our
traditional homemade eggnog. It was a very nice market, with
attractive displays and much variety in the product department. We
weren't actually shopping for produce, but I was browsing, not
shopping! And I like a good produce department. So there.
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| I guess he is a lap dog, after all! Harry and his buddy. Photo by Chris. All rights reserved. |
We returned to Sue and Jim's by way of
the construction site for the new casino that everyone hopes will
boost the local economy, which is in a slump. I'm led to believe that
the economy in Maine is pretty much perpetually in a slump, thus the
hope that the casino will mean lots of hiring, benefits, and so
forth. I'm sure we all have our own quite varied opinions about the
probability of said hopes being realized or dashed. We shall see.
We enjoyed the aforementioned
delightfully rich and delicious supper, followed by Needhams and
Whoopie Pies and Moxie (the original) Soda, which is the official
soft drink of Maine. Come on!
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| Photo by Chris. All rights reserved. |
Back at the duplex, as I write in my
journal, it is one minute before midnight. Our little tree is lit,
and we're watching “A Christmas Story” on the television. I've
called my loved ones back home to wish them a Merry Christmas, and
I'm reflecting on the Reason for the Season.
Two thousand years ago, a Child was
born who would clear the way for us to be in relationship with our
Creator. His perfect life was sacrificed in atonement for you and for
me. Today, we're celebrating His birth, though, not His death and
resurrection. It's a joyous time. Unto us a Child is born. Unto us a
Son is given. His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Almighty
God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Joy to the world!
The Lord is come!
I wax nostalgic and a bit teary-eyed,
as I have a tendency to do during my more contemplative moments.
Peace on earth; goodwill towards men. Merry Christmas!
