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<\/a><\/p>\nAs far as I’m concerned, the only consolation about the upcoming winter solstice is the Hanging of the Greens at our church each year.\u00a0 It’s an evening candlelight service held the Sunday after Thanksgiving where we decorate the church.\u00a0 And we sing traditional Christmas carols.\u00a0 And I am reminded that in embracing the dark nights and freezing temperatures, we are also welcoming Christmas.\u00a0 Not the Christmas that the stores are welcoming—by playing Christmas music after Halloween and flooding our mailboxes with gift catalogs and opening for shoppers in the middle of the night for sales.\u00a0 But the real one.<\/p>\n
This year I had to bake for the fellowship after the service on my own.\u00a0 My trained monkeys<\/span> kids spent Thanksgiving with their Grandaddy and Grammie down east.\u00a0 I realized this was poor planning on my part when I started baking and discovered half of the fun of holiday baking around here is that there are usually eight extra hands to help out.\u00a0 So there I was, the Saturday before the Hanging of the Greens.\u00a0 Having to sort out the brown M&Ms for snowmen by myself.\u00a0 Eh.<\/p>\n Making reindeer noses on my own.\u00a0 Sigh.<\/p>\n Opening and unwrapping all the decorative candies for the cupcake Christmas tree.\u00a0 Jeez.<\/p>\n Cutting 24 tiny carrot noses out of fruit roll-ups. Ugh.<\/p>\n Mashing up the Oreos and cream cheese and rolling the mess into balls with my hands.\u00a0 Which, of course, was a signal for the phone to ring.\u00a0 Boo.<\/p>\n Having to eat the leftover cupcake batter in the bowl all alone.\u00a0 I’m OK with that one.<\/p>\n Even the yellow cake batter.\u00a0 Because, really, someone had to do it.<\/p>\n Oh, I had some company.\u00a0 But it wasn’t the kind of company that jumps in and helps out.<\/p>\n By the time the cupcakes were done….<\/p>\n ….I was exhausted.\u00a0 A sympathetic friend had to treat me to lunch at one of our favorite restaurants.<\/a><\/p>\n And then let me spend a few hours sitting in her indoor swim spa, with the water heat turned up, sipping wine, and watching episodes of The Mentalist on DVD.<\/p>\n You might have noticed that I have excellent taste in friends.<\/p>\n After driving home as relaxed and limp as a wet noodle, I figured that I was ready for the church service, the fellowship, the return of my monkeys<\/span> kids, and a grudging acceptance of the dark and the cold of the upcoming winter.<\/p>\n Too bad I woke up to the first freeze of the water lines.\u00a0 Oh, the new underground water pipes held up fine.\u00a0 Although Simon stood by willing to keep his fresh water supply intact even if he had to warm the pipe with his own wool.<\/p>\n But I had to break up the ice in the buckets and troughs and force the slushy mess out the drain.<\/p>\n So I didn’t have time to finish the Oreo truffles before picking up the kids from their grandparents.\u00a0 And the kids stated they had too much homework to do to dip Oreo truffles when they arrived at home.\u00a0 Homework given over Thanksgiving break.\u00a0 What a downer.<\/p>\n Good thing that along with my children, Grammie had sent home an entire cooler of Thanksgiving leftovers.\u00a0 An entire cooler!\u00a0 Since I didn’t have to make dinner, I had time to dip Oreo truffles.\u00a0 That Grammie is definitely an upper!\u00a0 Thank you, Grammie!<\/p>\n Of course as soon as I put the chocolate in the microwave to melt, the power went out.\u00a0 Inexplicable power outrage.\u00a0 Downer.<\/p>\n Wood stove to keep the house warm.\u00a0 And to melt the chocolate.\u00a0 Upper!<\/p>\n Despite all the difficulties, we finally left for the church service with our completed truffles.<\/p>\n Due to a well pump without power, we hadn’t showered.\u00a0 But I did manage to get the younger boys, who were singing in the choir, into their dress clothes.\u00a0 The boys had been against joining the children’s choir.\u00a0 Until they started practice and began to enjoy it.\u00a0 But when I broke out the clothes I wanted them to wear for their performance, they remembered why they hadn’t liked the whole idea.\u00a0 And I had to tackle them and wrestle them into their outfits.\u00a0 Since the camera runs on batteries and not electricity, I was able to get a great snapshot of them dressed up.\u00a0 Dressed up enough that you can’t see all the dirty.<\/p>\n We’re not going to discuss what kind of threatening and bribery went on to get that picture.\u00a0 It kind of ruins it.<\/p>\n The church service was as good as usual.\u00a0 I sat in the pew, surrounded by my family, the evergreen boughs in the church and all the candles, and sighed.\u00a0 Fine already.\u00a0 Bring on the winter.\u00a0 ‘Cause in the midst of all that darkness and the cold, will finally arrive the Light of the World.\u00a0 Say what you want about organized religion, but church is good like that.\u00a0 Pews are great for a change in perspective.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n