Well, how the heck that snuck up on us, I’ll never know. It’s something of a mystery how time speeds up as you age. Days, weeks, months and years disappear behind you and without this blog and a healthy dose of B12 I might not remember a thing. Some of that is just being busy, not complaining there, just observing. And seriously, everybody is busy. Seems as though that is the new normal and I’d love to find a way to slow down. Stop to watch the snow fall. Jeff bought me a magazine for Christmas that he thought was about Folklore. It was actually about Folklife and the slowing down. It was full of people telling their stories of ditching it all to live an alternative life. To not follow the usual path. Surprise, it is written and produced by someone on Gabriola Island. Not following the usual path is precisely what I set out to do 20 years ago and continue to work at. I have never been a fan of the punching and out kind of life. Jeff is now questioning his sanity – wondering whether I will steal away in the night – pack up my hairy knickers to go live with the fairies. A life less encumbered is entirely too attractive when the busy tries to drag you down, but we are working on a dream here, so the life with less to do will have to wait. I think he’s safe for a while yet.
Despite the busy, Christmas is a nice time of year for slowing down. I realize that’s a contradiction; however, we indulge a little and make room for traditions and evenings by the fire and visits with family and friends. In the darkness of the evenings we work on the dream, imagine the possibilities and make plans.
This year, advent was a bit of a bust. I had many plans, but our busy daily schedule didn’t really cooperate and a last minute decision to drive to the coast put paid to two of our big advent days on the last weekend before Christmas. The girls and I usually spend an afternoon drinking tea and colouring together – taking a rare bit of time to be all together and relaxed, and another afternoon having a home spa day. We also didn’t get much baking done this year which was probably a good thing! BUT, just because advent is done, doesn’t mean we can’t still do those things, it just takes on a different flavour. This year, I will add a short trip to the hot tub as part of the spa experience. We have a foot bath, but really a bone warming soak in the hot tub will get us started a little bit better! And our colouring date and baking will happen, but maybe on a day down the road a bit.
As I sit, writing the blog, the snow is falling outside. I imagine it has been for hours now judging by the few inches that now cover the edges of the deck. Not giant fluffy flakes, but a finer mist that stealthily accumulates. It is not quite dawn here and I can hear the avalanche cannons on the ski hill, they’re all up and getting ready for their day. Purple and grey shadows mark the trees along the draw, and the chairs and other lawn ornaments that dot the front yardscape are slowly disappearing into the white. Out the back it is our familiar mound of dirt, waiting until spring to be smoothed into a gentle slope, and a sea of white against the the treeline and behind that, the mountains. I enjoy the view from my dining room in any direction. I could sit here and write and drink my coffee for hours.
Back to Christmas!
Mary performed in her first concert with the school band. It was not a Christmas concert, and in the end I forget the name they gave it, but she is playing the trumpet which is a long way from the piano or the guitar. She was pretty good and her class put on a good show – looking quite grown up in their dress blacks. There were of course, memories of the concerts from the Fine Arts School in Langley and a dismayed Margaret had a hard time listening to the strangled geese that made up the winds section. It was thoroughly enjoyable though and another opportunity for us to take a moment to watch the snow fall.
Advent gave us the opportunity to have a bit of fun with food and drink. There is a tradition of red and green food, which this year was made up of both red and green pasta, meat balls, marinara, and Caesar salad. Jeff missed this one while he was away in Calgary in early December.
And fancy hot chocolate, completed with marshmallows shaped like snowmen and chocolate stirring spoons!
We also managed to keep up our tradition of making gingerbread houses and after a good hunt for all of the pieces of the template, we set about building the sugary masterpieces! Lizzie, breaking from the norm, decided to design her house from scratch this year, adding stained glass windows to hers and a candle to light it from the inside. At the end of it all, we’d missed one of Lizzie’s roof panels and in trying to fix it, we ended up with what looked like a roof that collapsed from snow load. Kind of fitting for our part of the world!
Tree hunting was as much fun as ever with a long hike to find the tree that sang to us. Not sure this one sang to everyone, but we do love it. The experience of slogging through deep snow, Max along for the walk of course, a swede saw and a gaggle of Thorpes. Mary was out at a basketball tournament for the day, so Jeff and Lizzie went out on reconnaissance to see if they could pre-pick a tree. By the time Mary would get home, it would be late afternoon, with not a lot of daylight left for choosing a tree. All good though, we were not going far so tree hunting would be less of a day long affair this year. After choosing the winner and before getting on with cutting, someone started a snowball fight. (my money is on Mary). They knew better than to throw snowballs at me, but Jeff is fair game.
Just a week to go before Christmas as we were finally getting down to shopping. We (or I) had had a bit of bad luck at the end of November had had to have a credit card replaced. While trying to buy a gift for one of the girls, my card was compromised and long story short, it set off a cascade of issues with using either of my credit cards for anything but groceries, fully hamstringing my efforts to get ahead of Christmas. It took a few weeks of sorting (and in all honesty I don’t think its all fixed yet), but we decided a trip to Lethbridge to try to get it done was the way to go. Off to Lethbridge we went, with lists in hand. A very long day, and I’ll say 80% success. The rest would have to wait until we got to the coast.
Last year we did a whirlwind trip in and out of Vancouver to visit family. The Thorpe/Monk gathering, if at all possible, is a must attend event and this year, we decided to watch the weather and go anyway. In keeping with the theme of time passing quickly, these gatherings are gaining importance to us. It is an opportunity to be present, laugh heartily, eat much, be merry and again, watch the snow fall. Jeff will attest to the fact that as much as I love the visit, the process of getting there and back is a stressful one. Roads are icy, weather can be bad, and it can take an eternity (or what feels like an eternity sometimes) to make that drive. But it is always worth it.
On our way to the coast this time, we arranged for a stop with some dear friends, George and Inger. This is a visit that was long overdue and for no better excuse than when you point the nose of your vehicle in the direction of Vancouver, you seldom stop unless it is for gas or to address food/water/washrooms. George and Inger moved back to Grand Forks a few years ago into a lovely little house that has lived longer than us all, and right on the path for us. Literally a few blocks off the highway and nearly in the middle of the journey so the perfect opportunity to break and spend a moment stretching legs, sipping tea and reminiscing. Jeff of course knew Inger growing up, but I only had the pleasure of meeting Inger and later George, years ago when they were visiting Roy and Jean, and nearly straight away, Inger and I starting playing scrabble together on-line. We have had a steady two games running for many years now and it is a bit of a beacon…if our game goes quiet, its time to send a message. Inger is very reliable though, and I have yet to call out the guard to see how she and George are doing.
Our visit consisted of a romp in the yard for Gus and Max, some lovely cookies, warm soothing tea, good conversation and some music! Margaret, Lizzie, Inger and George all took their turns at the piano entertaining us with their favourite tunes. The visit ended too soon, but we had hours ahead still and sketchy roads.
Back home again, we had a couple of days to get our ducks in a row, get some things wrapped and groceries in the fridge so we could get on with making some merry of our own. Christmas eve came fast, and this year Jeff and Mom took on the task of making the tourtiere. It was not a hard sell for me to pass the torch there. They did a marvelous job, with little instruction or intervention from me. It somehow tasted better for not having had a hand in it. We had a wonderful evening although the days of travel I think had worn us down a bit. After watching a Christmas Story, we called it a night and headed for bed. Marci and Bryan would visit Christmas Day, making the journey from Airdrie to stay the night and celebrate mom’s 77th birthday with her the next morning.
Mom had done us the great favour of heaving our 9 kilo turkey out of the freezer before we returned home from the coast, so he had been defrosting in a cooler for 4 days. Perfectly in time to be ready to go on the rotisserie. I trussed him up, we set up the rotisserie and we were off to the races. Sides were being made for dinner, and I was on to making the stuffing. Used to barely watching the BBQ, we went about other things, visiting, eating the plethora of food that Marci had brought for snacking, playing monopoly, generally ignoring our responsibilities. A lovely day all told. Until we checked the turkey. Turns out there is a point where our rotisserie taps out. It appears that is somewhere around 9 kilos. In my defense, I don’t think we have been too far away from that in past years, but maybe the motor is aging (like us all!) or we just took it a few grams too far. Either way, we were met with a half-turn and one side decidedly darker (ahem, burnt). While Jeff troubleshooted the not turning rotisserie, I set about trying to find the roasting pan, knowing that this would end in the turkey being cooked in the oven. Good thing it was already preheated for the stuffing, and I had a spare oven to continue on with the making and warming of sides! It wouldn’t be Christmas if a fuse didn’t get blown, a fire didn’t get started somewhere or some other calamity didn’t happen. Our Christmas memories are littered with “remember the year when…?”
Benny (nee Bentley) was a perfect gentleman for the whole visit once we removed all the tantalizing distractions. He is a large lovable cow of a dog and he and Max thoroughly enjoyed their visit, getting in a good amount of play time before settling down inside. James spent the two days nestled in Jeff’s socks in the closet, but otherwise was unscathed. He was definitely cautious for a few hours after the Carver’s made their exist, never sure that Benny was truly gone. We had another great visit under our belts, rounding out the holidays with memories from both sides of the family.
January is coming fast and with it a return to reality. Mary and Lizzie are both playing volleyball, but in different cities. Mary is on the 14U Fernie team and Lizzie is one again playing on the 16U Cranbrook team. We have a shoulder season of basketball to navigate and the season start up for both volleyball teams with tournaments and practices littering the schedule. Jeff has taken on the acting manager role for Teck after his boss left for greener pastures. We’re not sure what that means on our day to day, but most definitely a little more time at his desk. Margaret is taking her driver’s exam on January 6th and we are looking forward to seeing her be able to stretch her wings a bit. She will also likely look for a part time job in the new year so she can enjoy a bit more pocket money and pay for some gas!
Hopefully we’ll have an evening or two by the fire to watch the snow fall in between!
