Part of every Christmas, I think, is thinking back to —
“Remember the year that Aunt Olive forgot to take the lining paper out of the frozen pie crusts, and she made a bunch of custard pies with paper in the bottoms!” “Remember the year that we bought each other the same things for Christmas!” “Remember the year it SNOWED!!”
One of my most favorite Christmas Eve memories involves a boat, a starry night, and battleships. 1972.
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When I was a little pre-reading kid, my parents read aloud to me, and some of those picture books were Little Golden Books. The only one I really remember well (and it’s somewhat because they saved that book) was A Day at the Playground, which I apparently called “Donny Donaldson,” after the book’s main character. The book was illustrated, as many of the Little Golden Books were, by Eloise Wilkin. And there was a standard sort of neighborhood depicted in those books.
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A friend and I meet at Barnes and Noble most weeks, one evening, and read each others’ writings. Oh, we do talk about the families, her nephew, my grandson, what’s been going on, that sort of thing. But, our reason for meeting is the writing part of our lives.
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I’m trying to be a good Earth citizen.
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I remember the first time I saw the movie Fiddler on the Roof. First, the oldest daughter goes to her father and says, no, she does not want to marry the butcher, which is an arranged marriage, as is the custom, the tradition. She would like his permission to marry the tailor, instead. Her father rants and raves, and at first refuses, reminding her about the tradition of marriages arranged by matchmakers and approved by parents. No, no she cannot. But, he thinks about how much the young couple love each other and how maybe it would be all right, and he relents, going against the long-standing customs and traditions of their Jewish community.
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I understand the circle of life. Really I do. I know that lions chase and catch zebras and have them for dinner. (They can also take down a giraffe.) I know that cheetahs run fast and can attack gazelles without any thought as to how graceful and lovely those animals are.
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I really had lost track of the passing time; or I guess I was uncertain about it. Anyway, she arrived! And, doing what so many do when someone new shows up on the scene, I grabbed both my phone and my regular camera and rushed to get photos of her in her wonderful fresh newness.
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Tradition!! Wonderful memory or millstone? Is it, “Oh, thank goodness Aunt Delilah brought her persimmon pie!” or, “Oh, no! Aunt Delilah’s getting out of her car and she’s got her PERSIMMON PIE!!!”
Caroline Kennedy says, of family traditions and memories, “Those memories, good and bad, are really what help to keep a family together over the long haul.” In the movie, milkman Tevye says that, “without traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof.” Other folks think traditions are silly and out-dated.<
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The reason I went to Fort Worth this time (last Sunday afternoon) was to attend the Fort Worth Symphony concert at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. They were playing some Carmen, some Liszt, and ended with a rousing 1812 Overture with firecrackers that were advertised as “jaw-dropping” and “hair-raising.” They were pretty fabulous; here’s a YouTube video from the 2012 event. This year’s really was better.
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I’m on the mailing list for a nursery in Fort Worth. I get e-mails several times a week, especially at this time of year, telling me about special offers. Wednesday morning, I opened their new message and it said, “Thursday Only—-Ladybugs, regularly $9.99, now $6.98!” Oh, yes!
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