I love how new snow blankets the earth and makes the world quiet.
See the moon and Venus?

Two weeks ago I was up at
Rush (Univ. Med. Cntr) for my allergy shots.  I was standing in Au
Bon Pain getting a cup of coffee when I heard someone say, “Mrs.
Meyer????”  I turned around and saw a young lady, someone I had
had in high school science a few years back.  I had no idea she
was in nursing up at Rush and was surprised that she recognized
me.  We chatted.

Today I was up at Rush getting allergy shots again.  As I was
walking toward the atrium to kill time until Pete was ready to leave, I
passed a group of young men who looked to be medical students.  I
sat down on a bench and soon the group caught up with me.  One of
them kept staring at me and I wondered what I had done wrong.  A
few seconds later he came over to me and said, “Mrs. Meyer???”  I
looked and looked at him but couldn’t place him from any of my former
science classes.  “Yes?” I said.  “Are you the Mrs. Meyer
that has a son Joel?”  “I sure am!”  He smiled and I still
couldn’t place him.  He told me his name and I recognized it
immediately as one of Joel’s college friends.  I was totally
shocked that he recognized me from the one or two times he’d seen me
down there.  We had a little chat and he went on his way.

I am so amazed at this running into people from the past in unlikely
places.  I’m even more amazed at that they remembered me and spoke
up.  Wonder who I’ll run into in two weeks…

Thanksgiving was wonderful
and we certainly have LOTS to be thankful for.  Now we’ve rounded
the corner into the Christmas season.  Pete and Becca did a
beautiful job putting the tree up this morning (I had to go to a baby
shower so missed out on the fun).  Those are stars and angels
hanging from the ceiling by the tree.

My one concession to “Kitch” is my big plastic Santa Snoopy with the
light in him.  He’s sitting on the front step again.  He
reminds me of Joel’s freshman year at college.  I was trying to
think of something special to celebrate his coming home for Christmas
break that year when I found Snoopy at the hardware store.  Snoopy
was waiting by the back door to greet him when he got home.  Gosh
- how many years ago was that??? 

The stockings are already hung by the chimney with care.  We don’t
wait until Christmas Eve for that.  They look real cheery there:

For the first time in 25 years we don’t have the kids’ Advent houses
filled with candy or treats.  It’s the end of an era.  Sad,
that.

4:58 am and I’m climbing back
into our oh-so-comfy-bed, snuggling under the covers next to
Pete.  I nudged him and said, “Kohl’s is opening in two
minutes.  D’ya wanna get up and run over there?”  (snicker,
snicker)  He snorted and snuggled deeper.  30 seconds later a
car went racing by on the road.  He: “There goes someone
now.”  We sighed and settled in for a few more hours sleep.

I don’t know – I find it hard to get excited about rushing off to buy
things at stores that won’t even name the name of Christ by using
“Merry Christmas”.  Many stores forbid their employees to even say
it.  Wednesday our mail was thick with fliers from every
imaginable store, wanting to raise their visibility one last time
before the frenzy starts.  Nearly every one was bright red and
green but not a single one used the word Christmas (and I was looking
for it).  Can’t do anything about the stores but I decided that
our beautiful Nativity would be the centerpiece of all our decorations
this year. 

I get to play “Grandma” in the children’s Christmas musical at church
this year.  What fun.  Love those K-3rd graders.  They
all play little stars and I’m the Grandma Star who announces which one
gets to be the Christmas Star at Bethlehem.  They have such sweet
songs to sing. 

We are officially listening to Christmas music for the first time today
and we watched White Christmas last night (er, until I fell asleep that
is).  Mariah Carey’s CD is one of my favorites.  “Jesus Born
on this Day” is my most favorite song. 

I can’t think of an English
word that captures the meaning of the good old German word
“Pech”.  I guess we’d say it is “bad luck” or “misfortune” but
somehow that doesn’t really catch the meaning.  After I tell you
about my day in the kitchen you’ll understand exactly what “Pech”
is… 

The family (or major parts of it) will be here for dinner tomorrow,
Thanksgiving Day.  I usually do as many things as I can ahead of
time, including roasting the turkey.  Sliced and steeped in its
own juices, it saves so much last-minute hassle and tastes great. 
So today I spent almost the entire day in the kitchen. 

The first thing that went awry was the turkey roasting bag.  It
sprang a leak, leaving baked-on turkey juice and grease all over the
bottom of my newly cleaned (NOT a self-cleaning, mind you) oven. 
So I let the oven cool down, got down on my hands and knees and
scrubbed it out again. 

I always make the gravy ahead of time using turkey broth made from the
neck and giblets.  Unfortunately, the celery leaves I put in to
flavor the broth turned it green.  I thought it wouldn’t be so
noticeable but after I’d made the whole pot of gravy it was still
decidedly green.  I’m sure the dogs will enjoy it on their
kibble. 

So start over on the gravy.  I pressure-cooked the turkey carcass
and made more broth.  To separate the broth from the fat you can
make a simple separatory funnel using a zipper-bag:  pour it in,
let the fat rise to the top, snip a corner and get the broth off the
bottom.  Simple, right?  Except this time the zipper-bag
split at the seam and I ended up with broth all over the kitchen
counter, down the cupboards and on the floor.   Wash the
counter, cupboards and kitchen floor.

While checking something in the frig an errant Tupperware rolled right
on to the top center of the just-jelling-cranberry-jello salad, leaving
an unsightly and unmistakeable mess on the top.   Too tired to
repair it – think it will just have to be covered with Cool-Whip. 

I finally finished up all my work in the kitchen and about 10 sinksful
of dirty dishes.  Pete and I sat down to relax and watch a
movie.  I had the bright idea to make us each a bowl of ice cream
and remembered some hot fudge sauce hiding in a cupboard, waiting for
just such a special occasion.  I must have misread how long to
microwave it because by the time I looked at it, it had overflowed all
over the inside of the microwave.  It looked exactly like a
chocolate volcano.  I guess after scrubbing the oven and washing
the kitchen floor, cleaning the microwave wasn’t that big a deal. 

Green gravy, messed-up Jello, baked on turkey juice, overflowing broth
and lava-like fudge.  A whole kitchen-full of “Pech”. 

I had forgotten how boyish
boys are.  Noah and Jeremy, 8 and 11, spent Saturday here on the
farm.  It was so much fun having boys around again.  They
were hired to carry wood into the barn after Pete split it and they did
a great job of it.  They also managed to discover ways to have fun
while they were at it.  Their dad came over in the afternoon and
put the new chain saw to work cutting up the pine tree that came down
in the lightning and wind, proving once again that men and tools are a
timeless combination.  The boys piled the boughs and logs in the
trailer then rode merrily on top of it while their dad pulled with the
lawn tractor.  Boughs on the head for antlers, broken sticks for
guns…endless imagination.  They also discovered an ax and a
hachet in the barn and whacked away at random pieces of wood. 
Pete wasn’t comfortable with that one but he left it up to Jeff to
decide on safety!  I fueled the action with cocoa and chocolate
chip cookies, the only things they seemed to want in their tanks. 
That is one of the nice things about being a “grandparent” – you don’t
have to be responsible for the nutritional vagarities of the
children. 

I suppose someone might object to our use of child labor.  In
reality the sunshine, fresh air and exercise were probably the best
things they could have had that day.  Much better than playing
video games.  Plus they now have money in their pockets for
Christmas shopping!  Everyone came out ahead in the deal. 
And I was reminded of what it was like to have two busy guys running
around the farm.  Made me homesick for those days.

Man, did we get winter from
one day to the next!  It’s been blowing for several days and this
morning there was a dusting of snow on the steps when I went out to
feed the cats.  The snow has been blowing horizontally all day and
although there isn’t much accumulation it definitely qualifies as the
first snow of the season. 

Poor ole Ivy was shivering with cold today.  She is filling out
slowly and looking much better but she still doesn’t have the reserves
to keep her warm and her winter coat isn’t very thick yet.  She
didn’t have the nutritional reserves to produce that, either.  So
Becca and I went on a mission of mercy and bought her a coat.  Now
she’s out in the pasture sporting her latest fashion.  I put my
hand under there and she’s toasty warm with that on.  Becca said
the cat likes the blanket, too – he jumped on Ivy’s back as soon as the
blanket was in place.  Definitely must have been around horses
before…

Toby and Gracie are exhilarated by the cold and wind – they absolutely
love it!  They are jumping on each other and playing like kids on
the first day out of school.  I put an old sleeping bag on the
barn floor for old Bear, to pad him from the cold concrete. 
Unfortunately T & G thought it was a new toy for them.  Becca
saved part of it but there are remnants of the stuffing blowing all
over the pasture.  Sigh.  Have to think of something else for
Bear. 

Yesterday I got my beehives all tucked in for winter.  They are
wrapped in black tar paper to keep the wind out.  Didn’t get that
done a minute too soon.  I’m feeding them sugar water so their
reserves of honey will keep them through the winter.  Easier to
feed them in the fall than in the spring. 

There’s a fire in the woodstove tonight and we’ve already been hitting
the cocoa.  Is it too early to put Christmas music on??? 
Maybe we’ll watch “Home Alone” tonight.  At Aaron’s suggestion I
went out and bought that.

It doesn’t get much better
than this.  It’s a cold, blustery November day.  The wind has
blown most of the leaves off the trees and the yard looks
clean-swept.  Becca and I did some shopping and browsing in town
but the thought of home kept calling to us.  Now we’re nestled
here in the living room in front of the woodstove with its cheery
fire.  Cocoa and popcorn (the real kind you make on the stove) to
cheer our insides.   A good book and the thought of a cheesy
tuna casserole about to go into the oven.  Little pockets of
conversation – Becca thinking about watching the Macy’s parade on
Thanksgiving Day and reflecting on what Christmas movies to watch this
year.  Listening together to the heartbeat of our home. 

The horse ran away with me
while I was riding her tonight.   It was quite
exciting.  I didn’t know she had it in her.  Now I
know.  Wheeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

A storm rolled in last night,
bringing with it lots of thunder and lightning.  There was a boom
that rocked the house at one point – we all felt the impact of it, as
if a bomb had gone off right outside.  It was so dark and windy we
couldn’t see much except a big chunk of wood that was lying on the
grass.  This morning the source of the wood became evident to
us.  Lightning had struck a tall pine tree just east of the
house.  The energy had blown off part of the trunk of the tree -
just blown it completely away from the tree.  We’re not talking
tree bark here.  We’re talking a huge strip of the actual trunk of
the tree.  One of the pieces of wood was catapulted about 80 feet
from the tree.  I lifted that chunk of wood today and it was about
20 lbs worth of wood.  Here’s what the tree looks like now:

The amount of power it took to blow that tree apart is
incredible.  And to think that that was just one bolt of lightning
out of the thousands of lightning bolts there are around the world
every hour.  There’s a lot of energy on the loose out there. 
Why then does it surprise me when God performs miracles or answers
prayer?