Christmas trees have always been one of my favorite traditions of this holiday season. Recently, I toured the Biltmore House in Asheville during the special Downton Abbey Exhibition. The tour guide told us there were seventy decorated trees inside the house and seventy outside. Because of the massive rooms with high ceilings, most of the … Continue reading Not a Usual Christmas
Christmas memories
Family Ties: Someone’s Favorite
I've been decorating my home for Christmas and I keep finding special things that remind me of my Aunt Polly: an engraved ornament, my blue porcelain angels, woodland birds. On Saturday evenings when my husband and I watch movies, I work on my crewel embroidery pillow and remember how she taught me the stitches when … Continue reading Family Ties: Someone’s Favorite
Your Favorite Things
I spotted the Santa holding the globe on an after- Christmas sale table. That’s mine, I thought and wasn’t sure why I was so attracted to it. But then looking around my house, I was reminded of the globes and maps I’d collected, drawn to the landforms of the earth and the blues of the … Continue reading Your Favorite Things
Polly’s Gift
I first saw the painting in December of 1992. My Aunt Polly invited me to come to her house and pick out presents for my sons for Christmas. She loved all her great-nephews and nieces and had purchased toys, books, and candies to give the seven of them. I was surprised to see paintings lined up … Continue reading Polly’s Gift
Letter to Santa
I look at the picture of Daddy from 1964 when he was caught in the act of Christmas shopping by the photographer from our hometown paper. He must have been amused at my father managing his cigar above the Rose's Dime Store box and shopping basket. When an acquaintance saw the picture and heard my … Continue reading Letter to Santa
Journeys to the Past
At this time of year, I feel a yearning to return to childhood. I long to smell the cedar tree decorated with a string of large multi-colored lights and icicles; to taste the cherries in my aunt's paper-thin cookies; to feel the rush of being in the basement of Rose's Dime Store looking at my hoped-for … Continue reading Journeys to the Past
