Christmas Letters and Other Things

Grandfather Frost and Snegorichka

When I was a kid back in the '50s, everyone sent Christmas cards to everyone, even neighbours who lived half a mile away. They were displayed on racks and hung from strings and wires. I think a first-class letter was 5 cents and a Christmas card, unsealed, was 3 or 4 cents. For several years, I went door to door on horseback selling Christmas cards to our neighbours. Lyle Harris told me Santa Claus was dead because he shot him by mistake but he bought cards anyhow.

Letters went in some of the cards to distant people we didn't see too often and my mother spent many a Sunday afternoon writing them. When Ella and I got married in 74, we stopped sending cards to anyone that didn't get a letter and eventually stopped sending cards to almost everyone, just letters. When there were too many to write individually we started photocopying a handwritten letter. Once we got a computer, it was much easier. I have many of those letters but wish I had all of them, one for each year.

We used to get many Christmas letters too, some by mail and eventually many by email. With Facebook, even that has died away as everyone knows everything about everyone as it happens. But I still send an annual letter to a few people and still get a few, all of which are saved and filed. I have about 40 years of family history in thumbnail format. A few years are missing from the '80s and a couple in recent years, for reasons that most can understand.

We will have a family dinner on Dec 25th "Catholic Christmas" and on New Year's Day. Since Tanya's background is Russian, we do not celebrate Orthodox Christmas January 7th in the same way that Western Ukrainians and Canadians of Ukrainian descent do. Someday I would like to participate in that.

Yesterday and today were Christmas baking days, though you might not recognize it as such. Tanya made pelmeni (ravioli to the uninitiated) until her hands got tired just because she wanted to. then we made 8 dozen oatmeal cookies, one batch with chocolate chips for Dasha and one batch with raisins for me. Today we made two loaves of banana bread and a big pan of 'Mexican' cornbread. The family all like these and so it is a treat for them.

I have not enough nerve yet to tackle shortbread or Christmas cake but someday. I have a thermometer for deep-fat frying but not yet the nerve to try making doughnuts. My mom was afraid of deep-fat frying and it rubbed off.

Our 5-month-old foundling German Shepherd, Lucky, is huge and full of mischief. We cant put him with the other two dogs as his coat is not thick enough to keep him warm, though these days he needn't worry as it is +10C in the day time with five days rain forecast. He is too big and plays too rough for our little female. He wants to wrestle and play fight. So we keep him in the back porch at night and on nice days he runs out in our yard all day. I get up with him at night as we are on roughly the same schedule. Last night he went from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m., a record for both of us.

He is getting the idea and today when Tanya went to take him outside to do his business, he was standing by the door and whined to go out. Progress. When he has done his business and if his feet are dry, we let him run in the house for a bit two or three times a day so he doesn't get too lonesome. Today he was wandering around the bedroom and living room while we were working in the kitchen. All of a sudden he took off as fast as he could go for the back porch. Tanya was suspicious and followed him. He has stolen the TV remote and was hiding it under his blanket.

Tomorrow is our 13th anniversary. Tanya was looking at our wedding certificate the other day.  I think she was checking to see if there was an expiry date.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays to all and all the best in the New Year.

(I found this on Facebook and now I can't find who posted it to give credit or beg forgiveness for stealing it.)