Christmas Circa 1974

My mother and father occupied opposite ends of the gift giving spectrum. My mother was literally Santa without the hat. Christmas was her year round occupation, starting with day-after-Christmas sales and ending with Christmas Eve bazaars.  She squirreled away presents in every closet of the house.

“Hey Mom, have you seen my …”
“Don’t go in there.”
“But I’m just looking for …”
“Don’t open that door!”

She not only showered our nuclear family with gifts, she sent care packages around the country to her extended family. She left our mailman a gift. She left gifts in every mailbox on our street. (And we lived in the country. Our street was a two mile stretch of road!) She sent Christmas goodies into work with Dad. She came into school with cookies for our classrooms. She gave our teachers presents. She brought the front office staff presents. She gave the principal a present. She gave a little something to the clerk at Thriftway, where she got her film developed. She brought in goodies to the office of her doctor, her dentist, orthodontist, ophthalmologist, otolaryngologist, pulmonologist, podiatrist, internist, dermatologist, psychologist. Once, she gave her psychiatrist’s mother’s brother’s nephew’s neighbor’s daughter a Christmas gift. (No!  I’m kidding.) But you see the problem, don’t you? When you have a list that large, where do you stop? You’re probably thinking right now, “Hey, how come I didn’t make her list?”

Continue reading →

by

The last day of summer is not when fall rains begin. No, it is that other day, that break in the rain after two weeks, that precious day of weaker rays, after the sun has skipped to its winter track and nights have turned cold.

When those first rains come, they are unbelievable and you can’t appreciate the sunshine that is interrupted because it seemed unstoppable. But after the rain, then you know the inescapable truth: that all good things must come to an end. (I used to hate it whenever my mother said that.) Change is afoot. Those endless, playful, carefree days of summer are done. A thunderbolt of realization travels to my core; it is the one moment out of the whole year when that unbidden thought slips in before I can stop it, “I may die.”

After the rains, that one clear day is a gift, an inestimable jewel, an unfathomable prize, a reprieve! Suddenly you find the time and energy to set all cares aside and play for one whole day. Okay, maybe you are tidying up the yard or putting the garden to bed. But you are damn sure going to open all the windows and spend the day outside!

by

You were sitting on the seawall watching the sunset,
While wavelets slapped at jumbled boulders below.
What ruins are these? Does anyone living remember?
You wondered at their luminous shapes wavering in the water.

Earlier you could see all the way to Bregenz – half the picture was alpine peaks!
But then these clouds moved in and no one would believe all that could be seen from here.

Continue reading →

by