From: Nancee Seifert
Date: 12/08/08 09:24:11
To: INOWEN(a)rootsweb.com
Subject: 'SNOW & CHRISTMAS MEMORIES'
Deb Jennings, the website owner of Sweet Owen, Indiana had asked for
stories/memories of childhood Christmas. This is what I sent to her. I
thought it just might 'tickle' a funny bone of someone else. Regards,
Nancee at iggy29(a)grm.net
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Subject: SNOW & CHRISTMAS MEMORIES
I remember, with glee, how my Daddy would put the chains on our 1949 Chevy
and he'd tie ropes to the bumper and to our sleds -- then find a good dirt
road covered with snow. He'd pull us on our sleds and we had more fun. He
and Mother would make sure we were all bundled up and safe.. One year I wasn
t feeling quite up to snuff, and we went sledding -- to find out the next
day that I had the mumps..
Well, off to Grandma's I went, so I wouldn't infect my two sisters. My
Grandma was my Angel; always there for me/us. We girls have such wonderful
memories of her -- showing us how and letting us bake cookies and decorating
her tree. Many Christmas dinners were spent at Grandma's, with everyone
bringing their special salads and desserts; aunts, uncles, cousins - the
whole 'lot' of us..... Grandma could make the flakiest pie crust you'd ever
want to eat. She taught me how. My granddaughter has learned how, too.
We all loved her date nut roll and divinity, and knew which cooler bedroom
she would hide it in... There was a steady line of us interlopers sneaking
in and getting pieces to eat before dinner.. It's funny, but I don't
remember her ever complaining about it disappearing.............I think she
knew, and probably had more than one laugh over it..
We would go uptown to the local Christmas tree lot and pick out a tree;
Daddy would tie it on top of our 1949 Chevy. He would always have a 5-gallon
bucket filled half full of very wet sand, with wires that were attached to
the bucket and then to the trunk of the tree.. which was our tree stand.. He
ALWAYS put the tree up and then made us wait a day, so the branches would
open out, before we could decorate it... That day seemed like forever to us
girls!!
We were Iowa kids who loved playing in the snow, building snowmen, eating
icicles, and trying to get someone to put their tongue on the pole covered
with ice, sledding and building snow forts. Of course, we knew not to eat
yellow' snow... smile..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am an Iowa child
Part and product of the land on which I grew
Flat and open and straight, like
the farm roads that bordered the corn
Friendly and receptive, like the rich,
black soil that grows the corn
Simple, and plain, but productive,
like the fields of soy beans and hay
Yes, I am an Iowa child
There have been times when
I have kept it hidden
Pretending somewhere, something, someone else
But today I stand with it
Drawing upon the strength of it --
Acknowledging the unique gifts
I share with it
Of course, an Iowa child has not many
deep, intriguing forests within --
Not many clear, refreshing lakes to draw upon
No lofty, grand mountain peaks to soar from
No yawning canyons to descend --
And I know my Iowa child must live
And come to terms with the part of me
That is controlled, precise, yearning
to be perfect --
Like the squared-off, ruler-straight rows
of hybrid seed corn
Perhaps I will never be
as exciting, as spontaneous,
as a tumbling Colorado mountain stream
As magnificent as a crashing California ocean wave
As serene and stately as a Minnesota pine tree
But no matter
I am who I am
An Iowa child
And that is enough
Author: Sarah Hall Mancy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am now 64, and have had the privilege to live in other States, such as
Colorado for 20 years; California for 2 years; Indiana for 11 years -- and
have come back to my native Iowa, to retire. How precious are the 'SNOW &
CHRISTMAS MEMORIES' to me.
Nancee(McMurtrey)Seifert
iggy29(a)grm.net