Mother's Knitting

When I was young, in high school my Mom & Dad could not afford much for gifts. My Mother was a talented lady. She would knit presents for all of the grand kids, eight of them. She also would knit for her children. The clickity-clack of the knitting needles would begin in August and mittens, scarfs, sweaters and lovely hand made items would start to accumulate. My Mother had the capability of knitting while socializing. She might carry on a conversation and all of a sudden she would grow quiet and concentrate as she came to the end of a row or some intricate knitting maneuver.

My sister Phyllis took up knitting and for a number of years when I was in high school I had the most beautiful collection of heavy cable knit sweaters, ski sweaters, and even a beautiful blue Angora sweater. All of them hand made. What a talent these kin folk had and what beautiful garments were provided. There certainly was the cost of the yarn, but the love and care that went into making those items probably wrapped the receiver in as much warmth as the sweater or mittens did. It was always appreciated, but the skill of patience of the craft was amazing.

Nuts In a Bowl

My parents kept a bowl of nuts around at Christmas time. So do I. I enjoy Filberts or Hazel Nuts and Almonds. My folks used to keep mixed nuts around consisting of the two I just named plus Walnuts, Pecans, and Brazil Nuts. I enjoyed them all. I can remember times when during Christmas Day my Dad would sit by the bowl located in the living room in view of the Christmas Tree and crack some nuts and enjoy a quiet moment of contemplation. Me, I made a meal of the nuts. I tried to crack them as fast as I could eat them. I couldn't keep up. So I might sit and crack half a dozen then stuff them in my mouth to enjoy the crunchy flavor for as long as I could while I furiously crack some more. Holiday nuts are as big a part of my Christmas past as the Christmas Tree is. So I keep nuts around to this day. A big bowl, only now instead of mixed nuts I have just Filberts and Almonds. Every once and a while I will buy a bag of mixed nuts just to enjoy the challenge of cracking a Walnut and extracting that sweet meat.

Anyway, having nuts around still honors the tradition that my family had when I was a young boy. Isn't Christmas about remembering? Some recall with great joy the birth of Christ. We personalize it by honoring the traditions we participated in as a child that were meaningful to us. So I keep nuts around, I'm about the only one that eats them. Still it means a great deal to me.