in other words
Living On a Lake: My Best Christmas Ever
By Gayle Rich-Boxman
Richmond Virginia, Christmas
Eve 1968. Mom and Dad stick my
sister and I in our guest room, close the
door and we promise not to come out
til Christmas morning for any reason. I
remember several things: lots of noises,
bumps, a bit of yelling or grousing from
our parents on the other side of the door
throughout the night. I also remember
having a little television and of all
things, watching Lawrence Welk (oh
my) and The Miracle on 34th Street—a
Christmas classic. In those days, we had
only a few TV stations and it probably
got late and we were either not tired or
bored and Lawrence Welk was one of
the few shows to choose from. For those
of you who are old enough to remember,
there was a lot of old-fashioned music,
bad hair-dos and clothing (that haven’t
come back into fashion thankfully) and
BUBBLES! It was the first and last time
I ever watched it, so I am still clueless as
to the significance of the bubbles.
Fast forward to Christmas
morning…we woke our parents up early,
and though they were quite bleary-eyed
and utterly exhausted, they allowed us to
drag them out of bed and were thrilled
by our over-the-top reactions to what
they had done for us for Christmas. In
ONE NIGHT, they
had
completely
transformed both
of our bedrooms!
I’m talking about
furniture
and
everything! Many
small individually
wrapped presents
were
discovered
in the drawers of our new night stands
beside our new beds. For any of you
who have staged a room or two, just
think about MOVING EVERYTHING
OUT AND MOVING NEW STUFF IN
up a flight of stairs and arranging it all
in less than twelve hours with just two
people! I truly can’t imagine how they
managed to not hurt themselves, or do it
without blowing a head gasket!!
It was the best Christmas EVER.
One of my fondest memories of those
three days was actually the smell of
incense. In that day, incense burners were
the new craze. That was one of the little
presents found in my night stand. The
incense burner was made of brass in this
East Indian sort of
small configuration,
with a flattish round
bottom and a small
center where you
placed the cone of
incense, along with
a rather Mosquish-
looking top with cut-
out stars on the sides
so that the incense could filter through
in an aromatic drift of smoke. The day
after Christmas we had a freak snow
storm and lost power for three days.
Even though the temperatures upstairs
were freezing, I spent hours up there in
my newly refurnished room burning my
incense and letting it waft around. I was
in heaven!
As a neighborhood we all
gathered together in whatever warmth
january2
2014
7
and light we could find during the power
outage and so, post-Christmas, we
asked our neighbors over to sit around
in our den near our only source of
heat, our fireplace. It also had a piano,
someone brought a guitar, we had the
fireplace going and candles lit and we
sang Christmas carols. I recall my dad
backing up into a candle and lighting his
new Christmas sweater on fire!
Other than burning toast in the
fireplace and Dad’s mishap, I have only
fond memories of spending three days
with no electricity right at Christmas.
We all managed to stay warm no matter
what the temperature because we were
happy and truly embraced the feeling of
Christmas in every way! The smell of
incense still takes me immediately back
to my youth and is a reminder of how
incredibly generous our parents were.
This season is one to embrace
generosity. Don’t forget those who are
less fortunate and give freely…even if
it’s just of your heart. That’s the best
kind of gift - free, but priceless.
Celebrating Families 2013
On Friday, December 20 and Saturday, December 21
kids and families gathered at the Grace Family Fellowship Church
to join the fun at the “Celebrating Families” event. This is the
third year that volunteers from the Summer Meals Program have
organized the event which allows kids to make craft projects that
they can give as holiday gifts. Activities this year included cookie
decorating, holiday cards, a cupcake mug kit, candy cane art and a
holiday sticker book. All activities were free although donations
were accepted. On Friday children could get their photos taken
in their PJ’s with the Grinch; on Saturday Santa stopped by for
photos. The photos were a fundraiser for the Head Start Program.
The Celebrating Families event is organized in partnership with the
Vernonia School District.
Vernonia Computer Services
Computer problems? We can help.
Hardware testing, repair, replacement
Mac – Windows – Linux
Software install/upgrade
Virus/spyware removal
Custom systems built
Housecalls
Owned and Operated by
Don & Kim Wallace
DON WALLACE, PLS
Professional Land Surveying
1224 E. Alder St.
Vernonia, OR 97064
Phone: 503-429-6115
FAX: 1-866-297-1402
Email: DWallace_KLS@msn.com
CORPORATE
MEMBER
Bill Langmaid
(971) 998-3705
bill@rangelights.com
Available by appointment
A Soul Quest
Readings by Stacey Lynn
Palmistry
Tarot
Angel cards
Medicine cards
Sacred Path cards
Osho Zen
Ruins & more
If you have questions or are unsure
how to go forward in life
This can help
Reasonable rates
Safe • Fun • Confidential
For appointment
503-828-8323
entertainment only
