St. Patrick's Day Thoughts

There's something about holidays to get me thinking...and also to remind me that I haven't posted anything in a while. So here goes.

St. Patrick's Day never meant too much to me as a kid. It was a reason to wear green so as not to get pinched. Sometimes I would try to cover up the green in the hope that if someone tried to pinch me, I could show the green and then retaliate by punching them. (Ah, the innocent yet violent games we played as children.) But not being Catholic or Irish (that I knew of), the significance of the day never extended beyond that.

Sometime in college, I found out that I have ties to the Wallace clan. Yes, the same Wallace clan as William Wallace of Braveheart fame. (Break out the bagpipes!) I also found out at this time (from a Scottish classmate) that the Scots celebrate St. Patrick's Day by wearing orange instead of green. So I began wearing an orange shirt and explaining myself to anyone who questioned the absence of green. (No pinching was involved that I remember...I suppose we do grow out of some things.)

Finally, a few years ago on a trip to England and Ireland, my parents found out that my mother's family name, Hurley, is of Irish origin. So I do have a bit o' the Irish in me after all. Now I can wear green, or orange, or both, and still celebrate my heritage authentically. (The only thing I have that's green and orange is an old University of Miami shirt, as those are the school colors. Good thing I've kept it.)

Our 2008 Christmas

Jennifer and I drove up Wednesday evening to Sacramento to spend Christmas with my family. We stayed the night at my parents' house then drove to my sister's in Wilton for Christmas morning. (Wilton is a small rural town in southern Sacramento County.)

Altogether, there were 16 for gifts and dinner: my sister & her husband; their two girls and son-in-law; my mom and dad; older brother, his wife and 3 boys; younger brother and his wife; and Jen & me. It was especially good to see my younger brother, because we weren't expecting him to make the trip from Anaheim. But a friend was able to use an airline voucher for him, and the flight had a seat, so my sister-in-law (who was already in town visiting) picked him up Christmas Eve from the airport.

My sister loves to cater for parties, so you know the food was good: roast beef, ham, twice-baked potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, and plenty of dessert: banana cream pie, cheesecake, fudge, cookies and snowballs (a recipe from Jennifer's family of cream cheese & chocolate chips rolled in coconut). YUM! It makes me hungry just thinking about it again.

Another fine holiday spent with the family. I hope all of yours were good too.

A Christmas Adventure...sort of

Our family had an unusual experience this Christmas. Some might call it a miracle, others a good coincidence. But whatever your belief system, it's a pretty good story.

My brother-in-law received a large toolbox from my sister as his big gift. It was so big, in fact, that she couldn't bring it home, so he brought my dad, me and my two brothers, and his son-in-law to pick it up from my sister's office and load it into the truck to take home.

On the way back, the six of us noticed a van on the road with smoke pouring out of it. So we pulled over to help. OK, so here's the interesting part: our family in the truck included a Fire Battalion Chief, a firefighter trainee, an ER doctor, an electrical engineer, and enough collective knowledge to put together a whole vehicle from spare parts. What's more, my brother-in-law, the fire captain, carries his dispatch radio with him all the time, so we had fire & police on the way before we had even crossed the street to help the stranded van. (MORAL: If your vehicle breaks down, you could not ask for better qualified help in one vehicle unless a fire engine was driving by.)

Fortunately, the van had only overheated and was not on fire. By the time the first police squad car arrived, the engine had stopped steaming and everything was completely under control. The mother and grown daughter in the van were just fine and so glad that we stopped to help. As we were leaving them and wishing all Merry Christmas, it seemed that just a few seconds difference, and we might not have seen them to help.

Call it what you want to, but we were glad to be there when we were. It didn't have to be Christmas Day for us to lend a hand, but not many other occasions would have put those six guys in one vehicle (especially when that vehicle includes a radio with a direct link to a fire station). Don't worry, I'm not going to write to Hallmark to make a TV movie...it wasn't that dramatic. But for two strangers, at least, we saved Christmas, and that felt pretty special.

2nd Vermont's Christmas Party

My Civil War reenactment group meets every December at the home of one of our officers for dinner, the election of our officers and board members, and a gift exchange. It is always a good time and worth the 2-hour drive to Ventura County.

After two seasons serving as corporal for the group, I have been promoted to sergeant for the upcoming year. So now Jennifer has yet another sewing project--this time adding a third stripe to my uniform sleeves. I actually had an opportunity to step in as 2nd lieutenant, but I decided that was too big of a jump too soon. Besides, officers carry pistols and sabers, while sergeants still carry rifles, which are more fun to shoot and make a bigger bang. Someday I would like to be an officer, but not just yet.

The dinner, as usual, was fabulous -- ham, quiche, homemade biscuits, and vegetables, with chocolate trifle and peanut butter fudge for dessert. Many thanks to our captain's wife for her excellent culinary skills and graciously hosting more than 30 people for the afternoon.

The gift exchange is always a high point too. Unlike the 'white elephant' gift parties where people often get stuck with something less desirable, our group tries to contribute gifts that will be appreciated by many (and thus frequently 'stolen' in the game). The most popular items are new Civil War books, fine spirits, and sweets...not necessarily in that order. I initially opened a hand-knitted wool scarf, but that was taken from me almost right away, and by the time I had the chance to steal it back, it had been won. When all the dust had settled, Jennifer took home a book on women soldiers in the war (and yes, they did exist), while I grabbed a box of See's candy.

My thanks once again to our captain and his family for being such great hosts. We look forward to another great season!

The Inside of Our Tree

Really awesome view from the inside of our Christmas tree. Hmmm. do you think we have an artificial tree??

I was chasing the cat out from under it where he was happily chewing on a bulb or ornament. I was all the way to the back and looked up - "Hey - that's a great picture."

So what does the inside of YOUR tree look like?

Time for decorating

Yesterday Jeff and I made time to go running around to a couple of stores to get new lights for our house then spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening putting everything up.

We have lights around the roof and small hedge, full garland on the mantel and arch and of course our 6' tree. Although with our 9' ceiling we could get a taller one. This tree was purchased in 1996 the first year we were married. So it's lasted us well. But maybe next year....

All Hallow's Eve

Halloween is one of those holidays that has changed in my view over the years. Growing up, I always liked wearing costumes (sometimes even to school) and trick-or-treating. Between the houses on my street and the next block, I would get so much candy in my bag that it usually lasted past Thanksgiving. I knew it was not a religious holiday, but my family never felt like there was anything wrong with a little costuming and candy begging.

Then in my teen years, I had a kind of spiritual awakening. One of the results of this was a rejection of Halloween, because I felt there were too many associations with the occult and other activities I did not agree with. So for the rest of adolescence and most of my young adulthood, I chose not to recognize the occasion. No costume, no decorating, no turning on the porch light because there was no candy for trick-or-treaters.

My church and college did have a sort of "Harvest Carnival" with the opportunity to bob for apples, play street fair-type games, and take home candy, all in a safe, well-lit, non-threatening environment, with no scary costumes allowed. Even then, I was not entirely comfortable going, and some years I still skipped it on principle.

My views have since softened, and I take a more relaxed stance now. I still enjoy dressing up, but I usually keep the costume more fun and less scary. We do leave our light on, but we don't turn the front lawn into a graveyard or do any great decorating job. And we bought less candy this year because last time we had so many leftover sweets that they lasted until almost Christmas. Well, I suppose that part wasn't so bad after all.