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I love everything about it. The decorating, the FOOD, the
family and friends, the FOOD… hehe
It makes me all warm and cozy inside.
Don’t get me wrong, I really like Christmas, but for me…
thanksgiving is where its at.
But lately… ive had a hard time getting into the holiday
spirit
Generally, by this time of year Jordan and I would have
gathered pinecones, made a centerpiece, and name cards, read stories about the
First Thanksgiving, and of course made pumpkin spice ANYTHING….
But im just not into it this year
Maybe it’s the move. Being surrounded by people I don’t know,
no family and close friends to help me get into it
Maybe it’s the fact that im not going to be in Wisconsin for
Thanksgiving
I was thinking about it last night, and I realized what it was I was missing...
Backyard football and dismembered deer legs
CIRCA, 1995
We walk into the cozy log cabin. I know were late, we’re
always late. (this hasn't changed much...)But that just means we don’t have to wait to eat… because if I know
Grandma… there is going to be a FEAST waiting. I can smell the venison…
My
glasses fog up and Jena comes running over, out of breath from playing in the
basement with Bobby and Gene.
“ITS ABOUT TIME YOU GUYS GOT HERE!” she exclaims, grabbing
my hand and rushing me into the living room and THERE IT IS….
The Christmas tree. Grandpa hauled it in and Grandma
decorated it and underneath… there are already presents!
Mom and Grandma are “not arguing” about us being late…
There isn’t time to snoop, Aunt cris is smothering me in THE
BEST HUG EVER, and uncle jeff is making fun of me for being a ‘beanpole’ still.
Everyone is there. And by everyone, I mean….
Aunt Cris, uncle mike, Aaron, Allen and my BEST FRIEND IN
THE ENTIRE WORLD, Jena.
My uncle Jeff and his three kids, Brad, Bobby and Kelly.
Later on my aunt sue, and occasionally her daughter Casey (great name, btw)
My uncle randy
Sarah, Mike, Pat, Jessie and Gene (depending on the year,
they probably came with Cris and mike)
Me, Mom and nick
And of course, Grandma and Grandpa
There are generally numerous other cousins, great
uncles/aunts etc… but this… this is the main crowd.
We line up at the table and load our plates until they can’t
take anymore. Venison, turkey, Mashed potatoes, stuffing, chili, green beans, pickles and buckets, pie…. You name it, it’s
THERE.
Grandpa and my little cousin Allen have already loaded their
plates and are making a serious dent in the food.
The kids adjourn to the basement where there is a roaring
fire to eat and play.
But mostly play.
The boys talk guns, my cousin brad just got a new one from
his dad, and Nick wants one.
They talk about the deer they shot that morning, out back in the
woods behind the house.
Jena and I play house, or dress up, and sometimes convince
Bobby and Gene to go along.
If Sarah and Jessie didn’t have anything better to do, they
join in.
Sometimes Nick, Brad and Pat dress up too, just to be dorks.
Jena and I would always try to sneak one of grandmas trashy
romance books, but Sarah and Kelly would never let us.
We finally deem that enough time has gone by, and we all
bundle up to go outside and go sledding. Getting all our layers of clothes on
was always a challenge, with 10 kids all vying for hats, gloves and snow pants…
Sledding? You weird southerners may ask….
Yes. Sledding. Generally there was snow in WI by this time
of year, and sledding was always a tradition.
And we had SO MUCH
FUN.
We could hardly walk because of our snowsuits, and had
frostbite by the time we came in, but still…
The hill by the house wasn’t the biggest, but to me, it was
the BEST.
We would have races.
Who could go the fastest?
Who could go the farthest?
The boys would make the girls pull them up the hills.
Generally a snowball fight would break out, that was
horribly one sided, with the younger kids all on the same team…
Nick and Brad were especially good at ‘face washes’, where
you slammed someone to the ground, and the proceeded to ‘wash’ their face with
the freezing snow.
Id generally go inside and cry to mom about it, who would be
deep in conversation with aunt cris and grandma about who was recently
pregnant, and who's husband had run off with her sister…
Id get a cookie, and a hug from grandma.
Id wander out into the living room where grandpa was watching
football with my uncles. Id climb up on his lap and he would hand me a dozen
cookies. I loved sitting on grandpa’s lap. And my memories of that lap always
include food.
Eventually id get tired of the football on TV and wander
back outside to sled some more.
After a while the big boys would get tired of putting up
with us kids, and they would organize a football game.
If there wasn’t snow, the football game would be the
highlight.
Sometimes the uncles would come out and play, and jena and I
would watch and laugh and laugh as nick and brad tried to tackle uncle Jeff or
uncle Randy.
When the game was over, and the sun had started to set
Grandma would let us plug in the Christmas lights on the front porch (They were
nailed up, and a permanent fixture, but we could only turn them on around the
holidays)
There was a giant timber that went from the corner of the
house to a huge tree in the side yard, and from this tree hung… the fruits of
my uncles/cousins hunting labors from earlier in the day.
Around this point Jena and I would get brave enough to
venture towards the hanging deer carcasses from the boys hunting earlier.
Their throats would be slit, and their entrails would be
already gone, but it was still a grisly sight, when you’re 8 years old….
Jena and I would dare each other to touch them.
Just as we would get close enough to do it…. BAM nick, pat
and brad would start chasing us around with the (already removed) deer ‘forelegs’
(idk if this is really the term, but it’s what it was)
Around and around and around we would run, screaming our
lungs out and laughing until we couldn’t breathe.
Generally around this point a parent would come out and yell
at us all to come inside.
Mom and Cris would try to get us to help clean up, but we
would sneak away to play Legos or watch football.
Soon enough, we decided we did NOT want to be in the room
with all the men watching the packer game and we would wander off to play
dolls, or some other girly pastime.
I remember in earlier years, this was the part where we
would all go in the basement, and Grandpa and Jeff would pick up their guitars
and play the night away while we ate more food, talked, played and the adults
drank.
Uncle randy would try to talk me into just ‘’trying’’ his
drink, which was ‘’just soda!’’ and id giggle and run away.
I never remember how it ended, I just remember waking up in
the car on the way home and being sad it was all over.
But I knew I would see them all again for Christmas, just
one short month away. And then… then id get to see what was under that tree!
Maybe this year… id get a quillow! (it’s a quilt/pillow
grandma made for all of us, and they were AMAZING. I still have mine, it has
violets on it) and help hand out presents!
Id fall back asleep in the car, watching the gently falling
snow, and listening to the sound of Christmas carols on the radio….
That’s my family. My brother and cousins bullying me, the
women gossiping, the kids running around like lunatics…
They may be neurotic.
They may not be the classiest or the most refined people
But they are MINE. And for all this… I am thankful.
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