Nature Songs ~~~~
CHRISTMAS GREETING
DECEMBER, 2001
"Silence more musical than any song."
~~Christina Rosetti
"Christmas isn’t a season.
It’s a feeling.”
~~Edna Ferber
December 1, 2001 - Finger or not, I was not going to miss my night out at the Civic Center. Last night was the Russian Ballet group doing their rendition of the Nutcracker I would not wear my white outfit I had considered wearing. It was a bit dressy for one sporting a sore finger. I wore my plum outfit with the sweater that very loose and added a scarf around my neck to take away from the finger. In fact, I could put my finger under the scarf at times. Allie was the designated driver for the evening.
The program was super. It was a bit shorter than I would have imagined it to be. The costuming was superb. About as many dancers from Lenoir were in the program as there was in the traveling cast. The dance classes here filled in sections of the stage and story with local dancers who did an exceptional work of art. Some of the tiny ones were show stealers. One grandmother was there in her wheelchair and holding two bunches of flowers for the end of the program. I’m so happy that I chose to go. Now, the Christmas season has officially begun.
Today was not meant to be a day of leisure or rest as all turned out. Tbird had called me from her cellular phone yesterday as she was heading home. The reception was poor from the area she was in and it was hard to make out what each of us were saying. She was to call me later on and discuss her need for me to help out today. I never heard back from her. Instead Hubby called this morning.
As it turned out, he was in his truck with the children. Giggles’ stitches came out of her forehead this morning and now he was on his way to drop off DynoKid at church for his practice in the play. Seems, Tbird told him I was to pick DynoKid up and take him to his basketball game at school. And she told DynoKid I would bring him back home with me. Meanwhile Dad was on to Morganton to take NascarKid to his indoor soccer practice. ... That was the fine print that Tbird never quite got to yesterday. She had asked me if I was free ... she also said that she would talk with Hubby and get back to me ...
I wasn’t all too sure about my driving over the mountain with my right hand a little on the handicap side of life. That road is a true mountainous road with sharp curves and many curves going both up and down. My hand lets me know when it is down, so I attempted to have it on the top of the wheel when I did have to use it. Most of the time I was driving one-handed. Traffic was light and I was pretty much on the road by myself for much of the trip to the school and back.
I took a book and the newspapers along with me. My intention was to sit in the car and wait for DynoKid’s game. He had other ideas. He wanted me to see him play just as much as any other grandchild would want you there to watch. I sent him on in to practice and sat in the car until the present game was ending before going in to look over the situation about where I might sit.
The gym is an older building with steep cement steps to sit on. Sometime along the way steps have been worked on and an extra step added on each level to make climbing up and down easier. A metal rod was added to hold on to as an aid going up and down. Wooden seats are also added along the cement which has been a great help for me. I found an empty spot along the top row where I was standing which was over on the last section on the left. All I had to do was go down two steps and sit! At the end of the game I was able to slip up on the back edge of the cement to get enough leverage to get myself up and use the metal pole to help climb up the step.
Through the door and down the hall, I met DynoKid at the concession table where he was waiting to pick up his free drink - a reward for winning the game. He played quite a bit as he delivered the ball down the court each time it was brought back into play by his team. He also scored a basket and made a free throw toss which means he earned three of the 17 points they scored.
There was more to come yet this day. Tbird called to say that she would drop off the other two children to stay with me while she and Dad had a quick supper together. I told her I was tired, but she said they would be no trouble. The boys could watch Giggles. Giggles didn’t want the boys. She wanted me. None of them had supper. I fixed some french-fries while NascarKid called in an order for a pizza.
Mom and Dad came back fairly early inasmuch as Dad was too tired to go to a movie with her. They brought me a box filled to the brim with crab cakes, popcorn shrimp and perch. Along with the baked potato, slaw and hushpuppies, I had plenty for at least three meals. Before they left for home, Giggles got mad at her mother and in her attempt to come across me on the bed she stepped on my broken toe! Ouch! That was not a good move. I got all the fury of her redheaded temper on my poor broken toe.
Somewhere between the ballgame and supper, DynoKid and I stopped at the grocery store and bought some things. We stopped off at Wes’ house to wish BingoKid “Happy Birthday” and give him our presents. Today he became our first official teenager in the family. Instead of a party, he chose to go to a restaurant in Banner Elk where he could play some sort of game. I need to find out more about this place. I was not aware of it....we didn’t stay long enough for me to learn more.
December 2, 2001 - I made it to church this morning. Feeling a bit self-conscious about my finger was not such a big deal after all. I sat closer to the back of the sanctuary since I got there as the bell rang for the service to begin. There was little time for chit-chat from then until I left for the Sunday School Class, since there was a brief business meeting following the morning service. We had lots of music throughout the service with three solos rendered. All-in-all I felt privileged to be there this morning. However, I had to wear my walking shoes. No way would my toe tolerate a regular shoe this morning. I got a few “Uppity-browed” looks, but - hey, I made it to church ...
Thinking that maybe the bulb we needed to replace the burnt-out bulb in Mother’s Christmas tree would be located with the outdoor lights, I ran by Wally World. Sure enough, there were two packs of what I needed left there on the shelf amid boxes and boxes of other sizes. I bought one of the small packages which contained two bulbs and went on to the nursing home to spend a little time with Mother. My hunch was right! The light now works on the tree to the delight of Mother and her staff.
Mother called me later in the afternoon to announce she wanted to go to the church this evening to see DynoKid’s Christmas Program. I paged Wes, and yes, he would meet me at the nursing center to load Mother in my car for the short trip to the church. The program was wonderful. All the kids did a great job with their parts and the songs. The program was centered around the Christmas Project of the Samaritan’s Purse and the Shoebox campaign. DynoKid was one of the main roles and played his role quite well. He has a part of his Mother showing through...
We delivered Mother back to her home away from home. One of her CNA’s was outdoors taking a break and came out to the car to help with getting her back inside to go to bed. She was ready to call it a night - and so was I.
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