Just the simple things...

This year there will be just the three of us here for Christmas.  We alternate holidays with the Florida Heatherlys, and last year was "ours" at Christmastime...so I decided to simplify things a bit, especially decorating-wise, and I'm kind of enjoying it!  Like most of you, we have way more decorations than we really need to bring out...ornaments from 42 years of marriage, lots of homemade ones from our grown children's childhoods, the Santa collection, dishes and plates and trays and mugs galore, several small trees, lots of Christmas do-dads, etc.  I just left them in their resting places in the attic and brought out the manger scene, wreaths, stockings, Daddy's Scandanavian revolving nativity...and of course the tree!  It's a new one this year and just beautiful...and the lights work!  Yea!  We put garland on the staircase and balcony rails for the first time, and they look so pretty!  That's about it...and I LIKE it.

There's something peaceful about simplicity.  It is freeing and refreshing.  And it'll be so simple to dismantle, after the holidays.  I like to leave everything up til January 6...Epiphany...Old Christmas.  That's what we did when I was a child, and it makes me happy to do it that way.  We'll see!

I'm finished with the Christmas cards, and that's a good feeling.  We LOVE hearing from family and friends and seeing the pictures and readying the notes.  Part of what makes Christmas so special is the ties with friends from all around...catching up, remembering old times, keeping in touch with friends we see and those we don't...it's a warm-fuzzy for sure!

I need to do more shopping and then shipping...then maybe I can bake some or make some candy from Mother's old timely recipes.  She was a master of Christmas treats, and I miss helping her with that task...and sampling all the yummy things that she created and loved sharing so much. 

Yes, simplifying decorating and buying is just enhancing this beautiful time of year and allowing us to focus on the real meaning of the season:  sharing with the less fortunate, enjoying family and friends, relaxing in front of the tree, having friends over, enjoying music and carols, contributing to our favorite charities and causes...I think perhaps simplicity best honors the One whose birthday we celebrate. 

Don't you? 

Little Reminders

They are just little things, little reminders...and I love looking at them.  It seems a little silly, I know, but they bring me comfort and joy.  I probably would not have admitted keeping such in past times.  I would have kept my little reminders to myself.  But somehow "grandmotherhood" has freed me up to not only admit it but to embrace these little things with a great big smile.

Here it is:  we just got back from a wonderful Thanksgiving trip to sunny Florida where we spent 8 great days with little Barrett and his parents and Aunt Cindy.  Barrett is 21 months old now, and to say he is the light of our lives is the understatement of the year.  He is bright and happy and healthy...inquisitive, energetic, loving, sweet...and all boy!  As in throwing things, chasing the dog, making messes, etc. 

He rode with us several times over the week and of course had his traveling snacks with him...Cheerios and Goldfish.  They make the drive easier on everyone, as he happily snacks along the way.  So when we got home and were unpacking the car, we found one...a single little Cheerio that had been left behind in the cleanup.  It just made me smile, that little reminder of a precious child whom we love so much.  I pointed it out to John, and immediately he smiled, too!  So I said, "I'm keeping that one!"  And I did.

My other favorite reminder is a little giraffe that was actually my husband's baby toy.  His mother gave it to me when Johnny was a baby.  I treasure it because it has withstood time and was special to the Heatherlys.  I brought it out when Barrett was here a few weeks back, to entertain him in the bathtub.  When they left, I just left it out on my tub, and I enjoy looking at it everyday.  Just a little reminder of love...you understand!

So, I'll just keep on enjoying my little reminders.  Proudly and unashamably, I will smile as I look at my little treasures.

40 Years

It doesn't seem that long ago, that Thanksgiving spent at the Holiday Inn on Padre Island, TX.  But it was almost a lifetime ago:  40 years!  We had had an eventful few months:  the birth of our beautiful baby boy, college graduation and commissioning into the United States Army, a move to San Antonio, emergency surgery for appendicitis.  So we thought we'd venture south for a few days of R&R...thus Thanksgiving, just the three of us, miles and miles away from family and friends.  It was fun, though, and we spent those days letting John recuperate and heal from his surgery.  We found a nice hotel buffet and had our turkey and all the trimmings...and took some pictures on the beach with our 4 month old son. 

Fast forward a few years to 2011:  we are all together at that now-40-year-old son's house, celebrating Thanksgiving with him and his wife and baby along with our daughter who flew in from Nashville.  It is warm...warm enough for shirt sleeves!...in sunny Florida.  We have had a wonderful visit, cooking and eating together, grilling out, seeing the sights, eating out, taking walks, shopping, going to the ocean.  It just didn't seem possible to me, though, that 40 years had passed since that Thanksgiving in 1971.

Yes, time is getting by; times are changing.  We are aging.  Our children are grown and doing well in their lives and careers.  We have so much for which to be thankful.  There is not enough space to even begin listing our blessings.  But we ARE grateful...for life, for health, for family, friends, faith, and provision.  We are blessed with memories, heritage, roots...We are enjoying our time with our adult children and precious little grandson.  Our memories are warm, the present is great; the future is promising. 

So, as we reminisce, as we look forward, we look up and say, "Thank you, Lord.  Thank you for loving us and giving us the promise of life everlasting if we just trust in You.  Thank you so much for all you are and all you do and for never leaving us alone.  You are the love of our lives, and we trust you for all we are and everything we have."

It's doubtful we'll be here 40 years from now, but perhaps our children will stop and reminisce about that fun Thanksgiving in 2011 when we all gathered in Ft Walton Beach, FL and spent that week together.  If history repeats itself, it won't seem possible to them, that 40 years have passed!  They'll be in the twilight of their lives, and that little grandson will be over 40 years old himself! Seems impossile, incredible...but just the way it is, as time goes by :) 

Holiday Memories...

While grocery shopping today at Publix in Mary Esther, FL, for our Thanksgiving feast, I spotted some Nabisco Chocolate Wafer Cookies on the shelf.  My mind went happily back to Norris, TN, around 1953 and our house at 44 West Norris Road.  I don't so much remember eating the cookies as I do the tin can the cookies were packaged in.  It was brown with some yellow and red on it, if my memory serves me well...and it had an important job to do in the Reynolds household. 

For we had wall heat:  two coils with space inbetween, and that's where the cookie tin can into play.  There was just enough room between the coils for a cookie tin filled with water to fit.  So that's what Mother did:  filled the empty tin with water to humidify the air!  And it did.  It made our house cozy and comfortable and memorable.

It's funny how one's mind works.  With all the thousands and thousands of food items in a big store like Publix, why did mine focus on a little package of cookies?   I don't think I've ever purchased a package of those cookies...but I enjoyed so much just seeing them and the happy memories of childhood they envoked.

I often find myself reminiscing about childhood and family.  They are happy memories for the most part and are often the result of something catching my eye, like the chocolate wafer cookies.  Last night we were watching old Muppet Show episodes on Netflix, and I immediately thought of my mother and how much she loved that show.  It was just good old fun, and she laughed and laughed at all the shenanigans that went on.  The Thanksgiving season floods my memory with food-related images:  turkey and dressing, homemade cranberry sauce, gravy, homemade rolls, pumpkin pie...and the felt turkey head that was pinned to a fresh pineapple to make a cute turkey centerpiece.  And Christmas:  all the homemade candies like Turkish Delight, Divinity, fudge, Spritz cookies, pecan finger cookies, fruitcake (it was actually good!), pulled mints, stuffed dates...and our traditional Cherries Jubilee for dessert after Christmas dinner.  We never tired of the flames!  It was quite dramatic, and Mother just loved serving it.  I also fondly remember how Mother let me wrap all the presents...yes, a young child with that big responsibility!  I felt very important, being trusted with that job, and I enjoy wrapping gifts to this day.

 I could go on and on...but not to bore you, I'll stop.  Moral of story:  enjoy those memories that pretty much come out of nowhere.  Savor them.  Replay them.  It's good for the soul.  Some folks let memories at holiday time depress them; I understand.  But how much better to let them brighten your day!  It's all in attitude, I think.  What you look at is what you see.  So turn your eyes and mind to a positive mode, and enjoy your holidays.

Dormant Seeds

I spent this morning deadheading my marigolds.  It's become a late-fall ritual that I really enjoy...waiting til the blooms die down from the first frost, then clipping them.  Then next spring, I'll prepare the soil and plant my recycled seeds and await the beautiful blooms.  This is fourth year of my replanting, starting with a gift of seeds from our friend Jim's garden.  Some of the plants hybridize themselves, creating slightly different looking plants...just a little different in color and/or form than the "parents."  It's a fun and fascinating and rewarding type of gardening.  And economical, too.  Just a few seeds can cost more than a dollar...I probably will have almost two Kroger bag-fuls by the time I get finished harvesting my seeds!

This experience has me thinking about the process of a rather dead-looking seedpod going dormant for months and months...and then emerging from the cold ground as a plant, ready to grow and bear fruit in the form of gorgeous blooms.  The process involves patience, readiness, water, sunshine, nurture, cultivation...kind of like the process we humans go through in life.  We go through periods of "dormancy" in our own lives...times when we feel rather stagnant...in the doldrums...not too creative nor productive.  Then, God with His grace, gives us a little push...perhaps from a person, maybe from a special scripture verse, maybe a book or a sermon or a life-lesson from a song or a card from a friend.  And then it happens:  growth!  New life!  An awakening...just like magic, just like the marigold seeds, we feel invigorated and alive. 

So, as I clean up my garden for the winter...and pack away the newly harvested seeds, I'll remember my recently learned lesson about dormancy.  It's just part of the process of life...it happens...and it can have a beautiful outcome when the dormant period ends and new life begins again.  I'm thankful for this lesson.  May I apply it to my life...and be used as a catalyst in the lives of others who are going through their own personal dormancy.  "Summer and winter, and seedtime and harvest, sun...moon...and stars in their courses above, join with all nature in manifold witness, to thy great faithfulness, mercy and love."

Pure Joy

Sometimes...many times...it's just the little things in life that bring us great joy...like:

- a big hug from a little guy, with sweet little arms wrapped around my legs
- giggles while playing a silly game
- excitement from the new experience of a boat ride in The Lost Sea
- Hearing "OK!"  when asking if he wants some Goldfish or Cherrios!
- Precious little voice, singing himself to sleep, with "Twinkle, twinkle little star..."
- The clean scent of Baby Magic
- A big smile of accomplishment when he buckled his own seatbelt!
- That wonderful "Amen, aMEN" after the blessing
- Grandmommy and Granddaddy's little boy, snuggling with blankie and elephant and monkey and George
- Thumbsucking...so sweet!
- Mastering getting a forkful of sausage and eggs into the mouth!
- The sheer enjoyment of running and running
- Storytime, with a old, familiar book

Yes, it's the little things.  It doesn't take a lot of money or fancy things...it doesn't involve making elaborate plans or investing much expertise or preparation.  It just involves a little time and attention and one-on-one.  Small children, in their innocence, can teach us older ones much about experiencing pure joy.  Because everything to them is fresh and new, they just savor the moment and drink it in with gusto.  They haven't yet been jaded or spoiled by the extravagances of life, and they can find joy simply and easily in the simplest of things. 

Barrett has been visiting, and it was just wonderful watching him as he experienced some "firsts."  He was fascinated by our trip to The Lost Sea in Madisonville.  We hadn't been in years, so it was fun for all of us, but especially the little guy.  He loved the cave...the big rocks...the boat ride and feeding the fish.  He talked about it all afternoon.  As we left, through the gift shop (of course!), he said goodbye to the piggies (piggy banks), the toy horses and leopards and bears...without ever expecting to take one home with him.  The nice clerk gave him a bear (for being so undemanding, I think!), and he left clutching it in his sweet little fist.  Pure joy.

Perhaps this week, we can back off a bit from our sometimes complicated lives and just experience life through the eyes of a 20 month old:  enjoy the little things; look at things through fresh, new eyes; relax and take it all in.  Maybe, just maybe, the pure delight of living and breathing and being with loved ones will allow to experience joy in its purest form.  Thank you, God, for little ones who teach us great lessons about your kingdom here on earth. 

Willy

During this season of Thanksgiving, while thinking of our many blessings,

a little 12 pound bundle of joy comes to the front and center!

When we got him, he was less than six weeks old, the runt of the litter,

and just about the cutest thing you've ever seen.

John had been wanting a puppy:  a portable one, who could be a lap dog

and go places with us...one who wouldn't shed...wouldn't need grooming...

and who would be easy to pick up and to bathe.

I resisted at first, as we had his elderly dad living with us,

and my mother who was in the throes of Alzheimers.

I thought we had enough to take care of.

But, on July 3, 2003, we saw an ad in the paper for a litter of Miniature Dachshund pups

who were ready to leave their mama.

So...we went up to Oliver Springs "just to look."

There he was:  less than a pound, blonde, barely walking, still in the birthing basket, all alone.

It took me about 5 seconds to say, "I want him!" 

And for John to respond, "He'll be Willy."

Willy's been pure joy...very loyal...very loving.

The picture above was taken when he was four years old,

when he was recovering from ruptured disc surgery.

We think he looked kind of like a football!

He's eight years old, now and slowing down somewhat.

But since starting on arthritis medicine, he's rejuvenated and

acting like a puppy again!  He loves to run weiner dog races

and to snuggle under the covers...and to go to the lake or on rides in the car.

Yes, Willy plays a very important role in our family,

and we are so thankful for him.