Whatever He Says

I wrote this seven years ago and Molson has aged since that long ago walk on a sweltering August day. This will be his last Christmas unless there is some special dispensation for the most faithful of dogs. It was so good to read this, and remember "then." And the message of the story still rings true. August was hot and steamy. Sweat trickled and tickled down spines and hair clung droopily to heads. I explained to some English guests with a craving for bracing “fresh air,” that flinging open the windows would not help at all. After a few days here they believed me. I got into the habit of taking late evening walks with Molson, our golden retriever. Normally he bolts from the house like an arrow from a bow, but even he moved slowly on those sweltering August evenings, with the fields surrounding our village buzzing and humming with the rhythmic pulse of insect life, and the intoxicating scent of summer blooms hanging in the still air. With my senses drenched in summer...

I read the story over lunch a few days before Christmas, and laughed out loud alone in my kitchen, as it brought to colourful life in my imagination, the hilarious scenario played out on the page in black on white. A day or so later, I was talking to my son, and I said, "Pete, I have a gift I'd love from you this Christmas." "Oh?" he said, surprised, I suppose, at my unusual boldness in asking. "What is it?" "It's a story," I said, "And the gift would be that you would read it for me and the rest of the family, when we all get together for Christmas."  He agreed. asking only if he might get the story ahead of time to practice. In the end, with all of the busyness before Christmas, he never did pick up the story to ahead of time, but on Boxing Day, when we all assembled to celebrate what was for some family members, "Christmas Version # 3," the bright-yellow-covered book with its coffee-stained pages was near ...

Did you know that the word "tradition" comes from the Latin "tradere"; to transmit, or give for safekeeping? Thank you Wikepedia for that information!  This, of all times of the year is bound up in tradition.  Who can't look back on their childhood and remember, not just that there were Christmases, but the particular way in which it was done; the little rituals that you could count on? When our children were growing up, they knew that they would have one gift on their bed, along with a Christmas stocking when they woke up on Christmas morning. I think we hoped (vainly) that this would buy us a few more minutes in bed!  As new families form they make their own traditions based on thier values. One young mom with two preschoolers has begun a tradition of sharing their family Christmas with friends who would otherwise be alone. How true to the spirit of Christmas to shift the focus from giving things, to giving the gift of welcome.  And sometimes...

We left for Florida the day after Boxing Day, and I came home this past Saturday evening to a Christmas tree still brightly twinkling, wreaths on the doors, and our front yard lit up at night like, well, a Christmas tree! On my kitchen wall hang two ornamental gold painted metal card holders; one in the shape of a Christmas wreath and the other a Christmas tree. They are handy, because our many Christmas cards can be arranged in them, instead of falling off shelves as people walk by. Every possible moment I've been listening to a lovely Christmas CD given to Paul :) by Brenda and Kevin:  The Piano Guys--A Family Christmas.  Since we celebrate Christmas with family on Boxing Day, I had only had one day to enjoy Paul's CD before leaving and I just can't bear to put it away yet.  Now that the unpacking from our trip, the laundry and grocery shopping is done, the next job is putting away our Christmas decorations and tonight I made a good beginning. When I got to the ...

By Belinda The day ends as it began, in the peace and quiet of my small sitting room, the clock measuring the heartbeat of the hours in between with its tireless metronome rhythm.  We celebrated Christmas with family today;  Boxing Day.  Pete and Sue had planned to arrive with their 4 children at 10.00 but at 10.00 the phone rang and it was Pete's deep voice on the other end. "Hello, you aren't here," I observed. Pete laughed, "I know," he said, "the kids are sluggish. We wanted to let you know we'll be there soon." When daughter and daughter-in-law came they were bearing platters of their baking to add to our feast: haystack cookies, shortbread, ginger cookies, sugar cookies and fudge. Our house was soon full of more sugar than an army of sugar mice. We started the opening of gifts by attempting the orderly one at a time method, where each gift is duly admired before the next one is opened, but with 12 humans of various ages aroun...

By Belinda I feel like a stranger! I have missed being here to chat--to share thoughts and laughter and awe. I've been down with a really bad cold--but woke up thankful this morning for returning energy and a voice that is croaking less with every minute. I will be returning to the story of Mum's stroke, which I was part way through. Thank you for hanging in with me in my circuitous story telling. I so appreciate you being there to listen, and I promise a brief re-cap, to remind you where we were when I start again. But tonight I'm thinking of those who are Home for the holidays; Mum is one of those and I know other blog readers also lost loved ones this year. I'm thinking of them too, knowing that our first Christmas without them we are aware of an empty place at the table; or in our bed; or a phone call we'll miss having to make.  I spoke to Rob on Saturday, just checking in. I know that he must miss her. Oh, he is still noticing the things he doesn't ...

By Belinda   The house waits; spruced up in the  finery of the season. Christmas lights twinkle and admire their reflections in window panes and shining floor. Fragrant candles scent the air with cinnamon, allspice, apples and vanilla; blending with the delicious aroma of turkey, and sage and onion dressing.  The Christmas cake's aroma is deep and rich with fruity goodness. Baked into it is the love with which it was made by a dear friend who insisted on making it in England in July, so that we could bring it home with us and she could keep her tradition of baking our cake. The turkey; dressing; potato casserole and coffee; my contributions to tonight's feast are made; the food ready in the warming oven. At 6pm the first friends arrive; Magda and Debbie; with cold drinks, and casseroles filled with squash and plump, green beans. Magda hands me a bag containing  mysterious  frozen lumps. "These are for you, to go in the freezer, but first you ...

By Belinda A wonderful Christmas Flash Mob that was shared by my friend Brave Raven on Facebook and which I had to share here. I know many will have seen it but it is so uplifting and wonderful that in case even one person hasn't, they won't miss it ! :)

By Belinda This beautiful Dutch carol was shared today by a friend of Dutch ancestry, on Facebook. I had never heard it before but absolutely loved it. It moved me deeply, especially at the end after the crowd leaves the church and then breaks into spontaneous singing again around a brazier, with the sound of chiming church bells in the background. Listen to it with headphones or a good speaker to get the full effect of the harmonies. And happy first Sunday in Advent!

Emily is one of Susan's five daughters and in an email today, Susan shared this little song, written for Emily long ago. Because I know that you will love it as much as I do, and because I know that Emily, with a heart as generous as her mom's, would gladly share; with Susan's permission, here it is: By Susan   I wrote a little song for my daughter Emily about 20 or so years ago which we sang every night to her as part of her bedtime rituals. As one of nine, she would grasp on to anything that was just "hers", of course, so simple though it is, she loved it, and still asks me to sing it to her at Christmas-time. You sleep in your own room in your little bed Mommy pulls your covers right up to your head You have toys and games to play and lots of things to do Like crayoning in your colouring books with red and green and blue... When Jesus came from heaven, he didn't even have a bed His mommy made a soft place in the hay to lay his head She put hi...

A guest post by Sue Smith (fellow member of The Writers Nest) A "Last-Minute Christmas Sale" flyer swirled around the man’s tattered purple running shoes. The brown paper bag, clutched in work worn hands shouted “alcoholic” to the world. A black and gray Goodwill hoodie made a frail attempt to block the insistent December wind. The man beneath the clothes looked out at the world from the soft shadow of his hood as he sat on the bench by the bus stop. A thirty something lady collapsed onto the bench next to the hooded man. She instantly projected a wall around him as she looked up at her friend. "Finally. I'm exhausted." She lowered a heavy bag on the ground next to her. " I've had all the phony Christmas cheer   from the stores that I can handle." Her friend, wrapped in a warm camel hair coat, stood glaring at the man willing him to move over. When nothing happened, she exhaled loudly and settled herself and her parcels as far to the other end of t...

By Belinda Her blue-grey eyes looked intently into the green of mine. I had just asked her when my birthday was; a silly question, because she remembers the year and date of innumerable people's birthdays with effortlessness. It is a gift that amazes me. "June 1st, 1950." she says, "You're 60 years old, I'm 54, that means you're 6 years older than me." Numbers fascinate the friend I'm sitting beside for a few minutes at our Big Christmas Party at work--it is a facet of her Autism. She leans in close and her eyes drill into mine as she asks, "How old is Jesus this year?" Still focused on numbers, I give a ridiculous answer, "He's 2010 years old!" Silly me, of course that was so wrong. For  all eternity, he was, and he will be-- forever. But for two thousand and ten years the Spirit of Christmas Present, as Charles Dickens wrote, has appeared, and the story of Jesus' birth has been told and retold in an unbr...

By Belinda I left the office at 5.30 pm in a rosy glow. I'd worked hard all day but could not miss the sense of anticipation and preparation in the air. Plans were being made for visits home and staff coverage over Christmas and the Big Christmas Party is almost here. Yes, it had been such a good day. The roads were clearer than they'd been for days and I even ventured to the post office to pick up mail on the way home, finding our mailbox packed tightly with cards. I don't think one more thing could have been squeezed in there. "It was a good thing I managed to get there tonight," I thought. I pulled up to the house and approached the front door with my laptop bag hanging from one shoulder, and a briefcase, lunch bag, shopping bag and mail in my hands. I had to press the doorbell for Paul to let me in as I had no hands left to fiddle with the door. The first words he said as I came through the door were, "Frances called. She wanted to know if you cou...

By Belinda It's been one of our Christmas traditions for over 5 years, going with Susan and Ron to the annual Christmas concert at Yorkminster Citadel Salvation Army  , ever since one of their five beautiful daughters, Emily, married a handsome young man named Mike who plays the tuba in the brass band there. This year's concert was last Saturday night and it included the wonderful children's choir, the Con Brio Singers . The church was packed more tightly than I've ever seen it, with chairs being brought out and placed in every possible nook and cranny. There were no seats anywhere when we arrived, but Paul and I were given chairs in a window alcove--right at the very front. We felt as though we were sitting in the Royal Box! From our perfect seats I recorded some of the concert on my Flip camera. This clip is of the timbrels. I hope it brings a special bit of Christmas to your day. The people of this church put all of their own needs on hold during the Christmas ...

Tonight was my third Christmas party of the season--our writers group pot luck . Bonnie had made a 2010 Christmas anthology of our writings, which we called The Christmas Quilt. My story was one I posted here in August. After dinner, we gathered in the living room to read out loud, stories that we had brought with us. I had not brought one, but Susan asked me to read the story of mine that was in the anthology. I'm so glad she asked , because when I first read it to the group, just after I wrote it, I read it with a sadness and poignancy that tugged at my heart and those of the listeners. Tonight I read it as a prayer that had been answered and it sounded completely different! I have found Christmas. My heart is at peace; I am not stressed; I am enjoying each and every celebration and every card I open. So, I share it here again--to give you a taste of a summer so recently past while we shiver in the snow--and to say that God is so faithful and true. *****...

 By Belinda Today was spent preparing for what our six grandchildren call, "Dutch Christmas. We celebrate on the weekend in December that is closest to the feast of St. Nicholas, or "Sinterklaas." I love keeping traditions and celebrating our heritage, both English and Dutch. Our celebration will be tomorrow after church. It always includes baking sugar cookies. I make a double batch of the same recipe I made when Peter and Brenda were little and divide it into six ziploc bags that go into the fridge to chill until needed. Then each child gets their own bag of dough to roll out. They cut out the cookies with my 35 year old cookie cutters, the ones their parents used when small, and decorate the cookies wildly and lavishly with coloured sugar and sprinkles. Sugar will cover the floor, their fingers and lips, but that's all part of the fun. We have to have chocolate letters (the initial of each person.) Today I paid a visit to Dutch Treats ...

  Baby Gabriel came to the party  Lesley-Ann's delectable brownies. The heavily marzipaned Christmas cake was also a great hit, but next year I think I will forgo the fondant roll on icing and make royal icing as I normally do. The fondant is a little chewy. We celebrated Susan's 10th anniversary with our organization, as well as Christmas. Gabriel, Lesley-Ann's Christmas miracle, the picture of peace and  health--another cause for celebration! Lori Lei and Iris Dutch Blitz--a game for the swift of eye and hand. Not for me! :)  A pot luck feast and the best of friends