Here we are on the third Sunday of Advent--December 13th, 2020

 TERRY

I would say Terry is the same.  It was very nice yesterday as friends Del and Jeanne came over for a short visit.  They have a condo in Tarpon Cove and they have a home north of Duluth MN as well.  I am sure it was nice for Terry to have someone to talk to other than me.  It is 5:30 AM as I write and Terry is quiet so I am hoping she is asleep for some time yet.

DECEMBER 11, 1955

As I lie in bed wide awake I want to make sure I do not wake up Dave.  I look towards the window on the east side of our bedroom and even in the dark I can see that the entire single pane of glass is itched in fancy figures of frost almost making the window look like an expensive stained glass window.  A fleeting thought goes through my mind, "What would it be like to have a nice new big house and a lot of money to buy Christmas presents?'  I heard Mom in the kitchen last night and it sounded like she was wrapping some presents.  The top of the kitchen cupboards have been pretty empty but maybe, just maybe, when I get up and go downstairs there will be some surprises there.  Mom had said last week that we should NOT expect much for Christmas but then she added, "Your Dad and I will make sure we have enough to eat!"  That sounded like my Mom.  I turn towards the wall and shut my eyes to think about the day, my life and this antique farm we lived on!

• I thought about yesterday.  We had spent TWO hours at church practicing for the Christmas Program which was only a week away.  Mom said on the way home that we only had one more practice left (I silently said to myself GOOD) and we still had much practice ahead next Saturday as she was not happy with a couple of the songs that we would sing.  Only much later in life did I come to appreciate how much work and love Mom put into the Christmas Program AND how much fun it was for her.  So only one more practice and then the program on the 18th.  I wondered why Mom made me be one of those shepherds again for the third year in a row.  The goofy looking robes we had to wear were beginning to look and smell old!
• After I decided "poor me" and the program my thoughts went to other places.  I wondered WHY Ronald and Janet could not spend more time at home.  They were both away from home.  Janet was a senior in high school and Ronald was in Ellendale going to college.  I though I do not want to go to college BUT I do not want to stay on the farm either!  Janet was in Lidgerwood staying with the Pop family and it just seemed that she should come home more often.  Then I thought if I were her maybe I would not come home too much either.  BUT the thing about them coming home was ALWAYS a visit from them would make Dad smile and be happy.  Even if he was in one of his "silent" moods it would always end if Janet or Ronald came home.  Then I thought for sure they would be home for Christmas. 
• More thoughts came to mind as I failed to fall asleep again.  Dave and I had stayed awake for a long time last night talking about many things.  As this stage of life "girls" were not a topic!  BUT the BIG thing was Wood Lake School.  Dad had gone to a meeting about the school last month and he said it looked like maybe the school would be closed.  My heart sank when I heard that.  We often went to Cayuga for groceries or repair from Kiefer Brothers and I knew what Cayuga School looked like.  It was a big brick building and I had decided I did not want to go to school there.  I knew that when I finished 8th grade maybe I would have to go but then Ronald and Janet went to Lidgerwood so maybe I would go there.  I thought about ALL the kids going to school there and I had NO interest in being part of that.  I was good at Wood Lake as I had a classmate in Dauyane and that was enough!  Then I thought IF we had to go to Cayuga maybe I would have to have a 4th grade spelling book and I had all the spelling words memorized from the book that I had for the last two years!  I put the thought of going to town school out of my mind as I shut my eyes tighter and tried to sleep.
• Then I heard Mom in the kitchen and thought maybe I could get out of bed without waking Dave and head downstair.  One reasons for that thought was the hard lefsa in the stairway that I could always break off a piece as I walked by.  Also IF nobody else was up maybe I could sit and talk to Mom for a while.  She was a lot easier to talk to than Dad.  Maybe she would understand why I did not want to go to school in Cayuga.
• As I opened the door to the kitchen with some hard lefsa in my month Mom gave me "that" look and said I had better not eat all of it as we needed some left for supper on Christmas Eve.  Mom reminded me that there was no church today and if I wanted I could get dressed and get the milking done.  I thought that is not much of a reward for getting up early!  

AND so the day went on.  The milking was done.  The hay rack was pulled out into the barnyard for the cows.  But most of the winter day was spent around the kerosene stove in the living room playing games with Dave.  By early afternoon Mom said she was finished in the kitchen so Dave and I quickly put extra leafs in the kitchen table and played ping pong.  Dad had to interrupt us by telling us the stove needed more kerosene or else it would go out during the night.  I had an awful thought.  I thought that may not be a bad thing as our room upstairs had NO heat and it often was in the single digits temp wise and maybe, just maybe, if we had no heat for a while downstairs Dad would cut a hole in the ceiling and let some warm air up!  As I think about those days it may have been a good thing that I often did NOT voice my opinion!  As Dave and I got older Dave DID often gave Dad his opinion and that sometimes led to the two of them not really getting along all the time.  BUT I add I think Dave did the right thing!

So the winter of 1955 came and went.  The powers to be decided that it was time to close Wood Lake School and so the doors were closed on the last Friday of May in 1956.  The big yellow bus started that fall and continued to come for years and years to come.  I have probably said this before with a different figure but I am guessing over the last 9 years of school and with sports I sat in that big yellow bus somewhere between 55,000 and 60,000 miles.  Now I will add that coming back from football or basketball was not always bad but will not get into details.  To this day I do not want to ride a bus.  Here in Tarpon Cove the tennis pros put together a trip to a professional tennis tournament each year.  It is on the east coast which is about 100 miles.  I will not go on it!

Here I am finished for this Sunday.  It is about 6:30 and the bedroom is quiet so I hope Terry is still sleeping.  It is Sunday and no tennis so I treated myself to a little Bailey in my FP.  I will now sign off but I may extent my writing by sitting and reflecting on life for a while more.

I admit my sugar cookies that I made yesterday are NOT perfect but Terry said they tasted very good!  Not sure If I will decorate them as Terry said she likes them best without frosting.