Home Alone for Christmas

My husband and I spent Christmas by ourselves this year. Most of our 46 Christmases together have been whirlwinds of activity, usually with travel to one set of our parents or the other. In more recent years, one or both of our adult children have usually come to visit. But […]

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Christmas Lights

I feel like a curmudgeon this year because our house is one of only two or three on our cul-de-sac that does not have Christmas lights on the front of the house. I like driving through the neighborhood and seeing all the lights, but I don’t want the effort (or […]

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St. Nicholas Day

Today, December 6, is St. Nicholas Day, a feast day honoring St. Nicholas, a 4th-century bishop of Myra (now part of Turkey). St. Nicholas was known for his charitable deeds, particularly toward children. For centuries, St. Nicholas Day was celebrated in many countries in Europe. It was a religious feast, […]

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The Pause Between Years

I usually post about Oregon history during the last week of the month, but this week I am feeling the pause between years. The week between Christmas and New Year’s has always felt to me like time to heave a big sigh and relax, to sit in the moment suspended […]

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Perfect Christmases

When I think of my childhood Christmases, I think of going to my grandparents’ home in Klamath Falls, Oregon. They moved out of that house when I was six or seven, and some of my earliest Christmases were spent at my home rather than traveling to my grandparents’ house. So […]

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A Picture I Wish I Had: My Son’s Solo

Each year, my kids were in Christmas programs at their school. The programs were held in the church of the parish that operated their Catholic school, and religious Christmas carols made up the bulk of the program. The whole school was in the program. Each class, from kindergarten through eighth […]

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