The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
12-16-2013 column
If we just ignore the weather and lack of temperatures these past weeks, will we feel warmer? Maybe if we just close our eyes and click the heels of our insulated boots together we will be transported to a warmer time. I don’t see us slipping away on a warm holiday vacation anytime soon, so another approach is needed to warm up. Instead of focusing on the prevention of frost bit eXtremities I need to focus on warming up from the inside out. I need to focus on the Season of “X”.
As I eXamine my eXpecations of the holiday season, I discover it all centers around “X”. Just like an old secret map where “X” marks the spot of untold hidden treasures..”X” marks the holiday season. How many “X”’s will it take to warm my heart? Here we go:
I am eXcited at the thought of our household eXpanding to a full house over semester break. The kids will be home as soon as their final eXams and papers are submitted. Though eXhausted from long nights of studying, the ride home will surely be eXhilerating as they anticipate being home for the holidays. Finding a garage full of homemade treats in various buckets is an added incentive to be home.
Austin and Mark started this year’s holiday eXperience by selecting our Christmas tree. After careful eXamination, they dragged a tree up from “the back 40” of the neighbor’s tree farm shed. There were so many cut trees packed into the shed with only 10 to go before Christmas that it didn’t seem right to trudge around the fields looking for the “perfect tree”. Besides, it was still below zero and they didn’t want to eXceed their daily limit of eXposure to the elements. Singing “O Christmas Tree” these two lumberjacks announced their arrival home as they lugged a frozen tree into the house to gently thaw its branches back into a natural position. The smell of fresh cut pine eXtends throughout the house.
The smell of pine mingles with the other scents of the holiday season. There is Aunt Sheila’s Swirl bread baking in the oven. Orange peels, cinnamon sticks and whole cloves simmer on a back burner. Christmas music softly fills the background sounds as the holiday season begins to take shape. There are recipes piled on the counter waiting for their turn to come to life. Of course my eXpectations of what I want to make for Christmas far eXceed the reality of time but it sure is eXciting trying!
I’ve already made 15 pounds of Grandma’s Homemade Christmas Fudge. (Yes our good cow born on Christmas day was named for this special treat!) Ten pounds went to church for the holiday fundraiser. The other five has already been consumed between the three of us at home. This might eXplain my recent weight gain. Although I must admit, Mark has eaten more fudge than me! He is putting on eXtra layers of insulation inside and out. If I can get him to help me dunk pretzels and Ritz/peanut butter crackers in almond bark, I may eXcuse his eXcessive consumption of the Christmas gifts I had made for friends.
I know it may sound eXcessive but for me sharing food is a family tradition. It is a way to demonstrate our love for one another. My grandmother started this eXample of family giving. I can still taste her peanut brittle and I don’t like peanuts! Her divinity was a holiday highlight. Of course she always had extra cookies and treats stored in a variety of buckets on the cold back porch. We didn’t have to go far to find a gift of love. These are some of the traditions I try to pass on to my children.
As I search for the “X” that marks the spot of a hidden treasure of the holiday season, I am warmed by the memories of holidays past and the hope of holiday’s future. I know the most eXtravagant gift found in the stores cannot eXceed the perfect gift already given. The most eXquisite gift was the gift of God’s love in the birth of his son Jesus Christ. If you translate Christ into Greek, it starts with the letter “X”..just the eXact mark of the season.
May you eXceed your eXpecations with an eXciting and eXuberant holiday season as you discover your season of “X”.
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As their 4 children pursue dairy careers off the farm, Natalie and Mark are starting a new adventure of milking registered Holsteins just because they like good cows on their Minnesota farm. (Natalie grew up in Stronghurst, the daughter of Becky and the late Larry Dowell.)
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