“When the days begin to lengthen,
The cold begins to strengthen”
The old saying holds true, does it not, for the temperatures are dropping, close to zero in some places already.
But the date was my father’s birthday and the entire family came together, bringing themselves, and food, to take advantage of a reason to get out of the house once more. So our house was full of uncles and aunts and cousins, except the teenagers, who came, then they got together and went skating at the lighted public rink in nearby Brown Deer.
Uncle Oscar and Uncle Robert settled down in the corner of the sun room with their chess game. The aunts busied themselves admiring various crochets scarves and shawls and then making coffee, the uncles usually ended up with a game of sheepheads at the kitchen table, and the youngsters were scattered all around playing games, talking, or getting into some kind of, (usually innocent), mischief.
No, my Father wasn’t inundated with presents. This was just an occasion in the winter for getting together, because the winter with its deeper cold and snow was setting in, and most people were home bound unless they had an emergency.
The happy evening ended with lunch, including sandwiches, cakes, cookies, and teenagers just home with their rosy cheeks and happy chatter. Then, as people were leaving, often it had started to snow a bit and the softly falling snow lent almost a dream-like quality the frosty night air.
But, before disbanding, the entire group sang a hymn, usually harmonizing, and ending with the reading of some Scripture by my Father. Then their feeling was, “Now let the winter begin”. God bless this house.
GPD 12./28/11
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