So many
folks must have used the weekend to put up Christmas trees and
holiday lights, and I am grateful as I am enjoying all I see. I was
in the mall yesterday to pick up my new glasses and enjoyed the
decorations there as well as on homes to and from town. Today I had
a brief dental appointment in Carbondale, and the dentist's reception
area was so beautiful that I almost wished they had been delayed in
seeing me. Recently redecorated, the room's blue and silver color
scheme was magical with a silver tree and blue and silver
ornamentation added all around. A few scattered brown natural pine
cones was the perfect touch on the tree.
Before
the dental appointment, Gerald and I recycled a trunk load of cans,
plastic, newspapers, glass, catalogs, and cardboard. (I have been
recycling magazines to other readers.) Then Gerald treated me to the
Chinese restaurant for lunch before my appointment. With its
presentation of rows and rows of food, I find the variety amazing as
well as delicious. So much food that can only be described as pretty
is a visual delight. We enjoyed seeing a young college-age couple
opposite our booth laughing at each other and using chopsticks.
Another family with two young children finished, and the little girl
saw us watching her and consciously smiled and carried on a bit to
charm us. Two retirement-age couples were in the booth next to us
and were obviously enjoying their visit as well as their food. Many
in the restaurant were dressed in work clothing and on their lunch
hour. The guests and the staff were multi-cultural and as varied as
the food. I had to rejoice again that we live in a nation with such
abundance for so many of us ordinary people.
I
remember growing up that a restaurant meal was seldom enjoyed by
working class families. Even when we traveled, we often stopped at a
grocery store and bought bread and bologna for the day's lunch. It
was good, and it was fun. Occasionally someone might take me to
lunch, such as when my best friend Lynn and I sold poppies on the
streets in Anna because her grandparents were active in veterans'
affairs. The Dillows always treated Lynn and me to lunch at the Anna
Cafe, where side dishes were served in little bowls I thought were so
cool. Menus were foreign enough to some of us that we would order,
“The same.” Now many families can afford to eat out so often
that mothers wanting more control over nutrition have to limit that.
I know
there are many hungry in our nation, but with school breakfasts and
lunches, soup kitchens, senior meals on wheels, and weekend sacks of
food given for many needy families, we do not have a great problem of
starvation, and I am grateful. (Anything we can do either by
friendship or government to help families function better will help
eliminate child hunger. Jobs are important, but often it is
addictions and untreated depression more than lack of money that
keeps children from being fed properly.)
After an
errand and the dentist appointment, we headed down the highway south
to visit Gerald's brother Keith and wife Barbara at their farm. The
highway had just finished being reconstructed, and again I knew how
fortunate we were to live with such magnificent roads. And when we
left the highway and went onto country roads, there was no fear of
the car getting stuck in the mud,which happened on rural roads in my
childhood.
At the
farm, three beautiful kittens came to greet us as we approached the
door; and as always, Hash (Keith's constant companion) welcomed us
with a bark when we went inside. Their granddaughter Amanda was
there helping Barbara, and their great granddaughter Cammie (not sure
how they spell that) greeted us with an adorable smile. Four fingers
held up on her little hand made me realize how long it had been since
I had seen her as a baby once at a family gathering. We visited and
enjoyed looking at the pretty Christmas tree Amanda had helped Barb
put in the living room window. As we left after our goodbyes, I got
to talk to the kittens again.
After a
couple errand stops in Marion and a brief visit at Katherine's, we
headed home through the country. Sometimes Gerald takes the highway,
but he was willing to go that way to satisfy my request that we take
the time to go off the old Creal Springs Road and head up Cherry
Valley Road to see the annual light display out in the middle of that
rural area. Last year I kept seeing it at a distant and thinking I
would have time to run up Cherry Valley, and suddenly the season was
over and I had failed to get a close-up view. Their display has
always been spectacular, and it is easily seen from a distance, but
one needs to go and stop there and gawk as long as possible. You
will only see part of it even then. It can only be described as
fantastic. I really think everything is mostly new this year; but
since I did not visit last year, maybe that was when so much more was
added. There is a sign I had not seen in past years saying the hours
were from 5 till 10 each evening except Saturday and Sunday then the
lights go off at 11. The sign told me the family name: Yost. I
have always wanted to meet these generous people and hear the story
of how this enormous family project was started and what keeps them
going. How young are they to be able to put up all these lights and
other decorations? Where do they store all this between Christmases?
The family certainly ended our day with pleasure, and once again I
was grateful.
Going to
the dentist during the beginning of the Christmas season
made for a fun day. There are no Christmas decorations up at
Woodsong yet, although this morning I did carry in the pumpkin/squash
autumn display from beside our front door. Now I will need to cook
those decorations and start getting down Christmas boxes.
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