Long Ago Christmas Day Memories

Sleigh Team Draft Horses

Draft Horse with Alpaca in Maine

While I was looking out over the sun-dappled snowy landscape across the river today, I found myself blessed with a short, happy mental journey back to a seemingly simpler time in my boyhood days on the farm. After Christmas morning milking and other chores were done and a hearty breakfast of the best the farm had to offer, we would all gather around the tree in the sitting room. The tree, in all it's glory, lovingly adorned with mostly homemade decorations, sheltered the few offerings beneath its full lower branches. Perhaps that the gifts were few, but well thought out by the giver, made each one seem that much more precious to us. In my case, the biggest treat was to be found in the red wool sock hung on the fireplace mantle off to the side, a big juicy orange! On a really good year it was often accompanied by a grapefruit. These were both hard to come by in our winter markets and Uncle 'F' would attempt to special order them for his truck garden store in the little city.

After opening the usual array of wool socks, gum rubber boots for school, wool pants, and perhaps a scarf or two and assorted undergarments, I'd be allowed to go visit friends on the nearby farms for a bit. This was always a super way to spend the afternoon. First would come getting one or two of the draft horses fitted to haul either the small sleigh or the logging sled, then off over the 'snow lanes' to the other homes. 'Snow lanes', as we called them, were simply the pasture, logging, and other rude farm pathways that we used year around. In winter a large wooden 'roller' would be drawn over the lanes to pack the snow into a frozen 'roadway' for sleds, toboggans, sleighs, and other winter equipment.

The visits weren't lengthy, and were mostly intended to distribute treats ranging from pies to baskets of apples, to our closest neighbors. While I was out making my rounds, other kids & young adults from the other farms would be doing likewise and including a stop at our place. Often an adult wanting to visit a bit would hitch a ride from one of us to another farm and return with a different traveler later in the day who was headed toward their home.

The nicest thing about this little tradition was that it gave everyone a chance to see how their neighbors and friends were coping with the harsh winter weather and see if anyone was running low on anything. If a need was seen, a return trip, usually by an adult couple, at a later time would give all a reason for another visiting period and an opportunity to exchange needed items with others. This visit was normally done New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, depending on folks' availability.

After the visits were done Christmas Day, the horses tended to, chores done, milking over, firewood restocked in the pantry, and vehicles tucked into the barn, we'd have a nice dinner followed by listening to Uncle 'Rs' big battery powered radio as it related rousing stories of the adventures of various radio heroes or comic families of the day. Then, full of hot chocolate, another rare treat, and sated by the events of the day it was off to bury myself under a pile of very old, very warm quilts. Hope you all had a great day, we did here. Until next time, take care.