The Possum Saga Continues...

Earlier in the month,
I wrote of a young possum
that frustrated my cookie-making efforts.
We did not part on good terms.
It is now December 23,
Christmas Eve Eve,
and you may be interested to know
that the possum and I are becoming friends.
I have named her Li'l Poss,
though truthfully I don't know if it is a girl.
She hasn't shown me her belly--
but then, I suppose
I haven't shown her mine, either.
Here is the original story
and the follow-up.

Early December:
Last night I was talking with our son Paul
and granddaughter Anna via FaceTime.
It was morning in Taiwan
and Anna was home with a stomach bug.
I told her that I was about to make Christmas Crack
for the Historical Society's Christmas Open House.
"Follow the recipe this time,"
Paul suggested with a wry smile.
My kitchen exploits are rarely consistent.
I smugly informed him of the chart that I had made
with different temperatures
and times
and ingredient variations.
This time, nothing would go wrong.

I measured accurately,
stirred the butter and brown sugar
for exactly three minutes,
distributed and smoothed the dark chocolate chips,
then put Christmas sprinkles on top.
The final step was to put it in the freezer for twenty minutes,
but the back porch also was freezing
and more energy efficient.
I sat down by the Christmas tree,
feeling quite pleased.
Fifteen minutes later
I heard a crash.
A possum had enjoyed the lovely chocolate coating,
then knocked the pan off the table.
We scowled and growled at each other,
then he waddled off.

Tonight I made another batch.

Possum

Recipe for Possum's Favorite Christmas Crackers may be found at the end of the blog

Later in December,
I mixed a batch of chocolate chip cookies
to take to the church's nativity play
and put the dough on the back porch
in the antique icebox
where possums cannot reach--
lesson learned--
to chill for an hour.
Soon after, Den started outside to fix the fire
and said, "Possum's back."

Sure enough, there she sat,
huddled and blinking,
nose twitching.
Seeing her made me laugh about our previous experience
so I turned a bit soft-hearted
and gave her a tiny bowl of cookie dough.
She didn't seem afraid,
so I decided to give her a party.
I got her a friend, Moose,
an ornament for sparkle,
Baby Jesus to remember the incarnation,
and brought out Grandma Maud's Christmas placemat.
Li'l Poss even let me put a tiny Santa hat on her
to go with her fur coat.

L'il Poss's Christmas party

After she ate the dough,
I gave her a lesson in manners
using an old slate that Anna had written on years ago.

Cooke dough consumed, smile on face. I think she's smiling...

I thought we were done,
but a few nights later
I heard loud rummaging sounds
and saw that she had chewed the lid off the cider jug
and was frustrated that she couldn't get a drink.

Cider

I poured a bit in her bowl
and we had another party,
complete with Christmas candle.
I reallyreallyreallyreally wanted to pick her up,
but I didn't.

Christmas party #2

 Soon we may celebrate New Year's Eve.

May you have strange and wonderful adventures in the new year
and may you make many new friends,
some of whom are not of your species.
Carpe Anno!

Sue and Denny
 

Recipe for Possum's Favorite Christmas Crackers:

1 sleeve saltine crackers
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups dark chocolate chips (or milk chocolate chips, your choice)

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Line edged cookie sheet with aluminum foil.
3. Place saltine crackers in single layer on foil.
4. Heat butter and brown sugar in saucepan,
    stirring constantly until bubbly.
    Continue cooking and stirring for three minutes.
5. Pour over saltines.
    Bake at 400° for six minutes.
6. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips evenly across the top.
7. Let sit for 5 minutes,
    then spread the melty chips evenly
    and sprinkle with your choice of toppings:
    Christmas sprinkles,
    chopped almonds,
    ground coffee beans,
    sea salt, etc.
    Use your imagination.
8. Put in the freezer for 20 minutes.
    The back porch is not recommended if there is wildlife around.
9. Remove from freezer and crack* into pieces.

*Thus its original name, Christmas Crack.
Or maybe because it is made of CRACKers.
Or perhaps because it can be addicting...
the possum did come back the next night.

Ten Non-traditional Traditions: A Christmas Post

A Christmas Post      

It's December here on Shaffners' Mountain.
The wrapping of the grandgirls' presents was done months ago
and they were shipped to the other side of the world.
We will FaceTime the unwrapping,
thankful for this aspect of technology.
With no wrapping duties,
we thought we'd use the extra time
to share ten non-traditional ways that we celebrate Christmas:


1. Write the year's highlights on an ornament.

Each year,
Den plays John Denver's Christmas album
and gives advice from the couch
while I hang lights and ornaments.
This process can take a long time,
as for years we have judged an ornament's worth
by the ability to write on it with a fine-tipped Sharpie marker.
The year's events are recorded on that year's ornament.
We reread the family highlights on the ornaments
on tree decorating night...
births,
first wiggly teeth,
two-wheelers conquered,
dogs lost,
roles in plays,
college acceptances,
marriages...
The cycle starts again with grandchildren.
The older we get,
the longer it takes
as the ornament number increases.
The print also gets smaller.

1989- Paul loses his first tooth, Luke dresses himself, Den gets chiggers, Pap has a bypass

1995- Luke stars as the Big Bad Wolf, Paul gets his first deer, Sue sings with Red Grammer

2001- Luke babysits ferrets and gets Heeleys, Paul goes to the Dominican Republic alone, Den takes sabbatical to study C.S. Lewis

2. Write a Christmas newsletter, then illustrate it.
Our newsletter is usually started during Thanksgiving break.
We list memories that we are thankful for,
think of unique experiences that each family member has had,
try to present them in a semi-organized way,
then draw small illustrations.
Tech-savvy people would add photographs,
but I feel that
1. I am not tech savvy.
2. people may be impressed with my tiny cartoon drawings, or
3. people will feel much better about their own drawing skills after seeing mine.
It's similar to hearing Pierce Brosnan sing in Mamma Mia!
You appreciate his guts
and feel better about your own voice at the same time.
It's a win-win situation.

An alphabetical recap of our western RV tour

3. Decorate your vehicle for Christmas.
When December begins,
Den decorates our vehicles.
The jeep has a wreath on the grill,
magnetic lights on the sides,
and sports the added bonus
of a souvenir plate
from our trip to North Pole, Alaska.
"Got reindeer?"

Holly jolly jeeping

4. Wear a Christmas hat.
During December,
I wear a black fedora covered with Christmas pins
gathered year round from thrift stores.
Many people give sideways glances,
but the ones that make a comment
get their choice of a pin
and a blessing, like
"May your new year be blessed with health
and safety
and adventure
and peace
and may you be aware of the presence of God."
Warning:
Wearing so much metal on a hat
can get you moved
to the potential trouble maker line
at the United Nations.

Which pin would you pick?

5. Host a wreath-making party.
For the last two years,
we have provided assorted fresh greens and ribbons
and invited friends to bring wreath forms and wire
to assemble their own wreaths.
Needle-proof gloves are highly recommended.

Watch Sue's wreath making video here.

Wreath-making-- a great way to spend the first Sunday in December

6. Visit your local children's library.
Just like Christmas is not just for kids,
neither are children's books.
Visit your local library
and read children's books to your grownup self.
May we recommend
Peter Spier's Christmas! by Peter Spier,
The Biggest, Best Snowman by Margery Cuyler,
and especially How Little Porcupine Played Christmas by Joseph Slate.
Its phrase "You are the light of my life"
has become a part of the family.
The pseudo-children's book
Father Christmas: The Truth by Gregoire Solotareff
is also a slightly bizarre delight.
For Sue, anyway.

ostrich: in Africa, where it is far too hot for reindeer, Father Christmas has to ride an ostrich. He always feels rather nervous about it. So does the ostrich.

plate: all the elves are envious of Father Christmas's plate. Theirs are much smaller.

7. Go to a children's program...
even if you don't know any of the kids.
Not feeling the season yet?
Go to a children's Christmas presentation,
the local theater's kid production of Elf
or How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Our elementary school program this year had wonderful harmonies
and recognizable band numbers
and a funny song about ugly Christmas sweaters
and a break-dancing Rudolph.
You don't have to be a relative to attend school performances,
you just sign in for security purposes.
Friends come to see my first graders put on A Christmas Carol every year;
"Bah! Humbug!"
and "God bless us, every one!"
coming from small smiles with missing teeth
are especially memorable.
One of my favorite characters was a belligerent Ghost of Christmas Past--
"Ebenezer! Think about what you done!"
And almost any church's nativity play has energetic shepherds
and wise men
and angels
to tell the story of the incarnation
when God became human,
became a child with burps
and tears
and coughs.
Take your tissues.

Tiny Tim with tiny cane. God bless us, every one!

8. Spend a dollar to dress festively.
When you venture out,
looking festive is recommended.
This can be accomplished
by first making a trip to the dollar store
to buy plastic ornaments to attach to your earrings
or shoes
or coat zipper
and plastic holly to tuck behind your ear.
(Real holly hurts when you wear it. Trust me.)
Use Will Hillenbrand's illustrations
in The Biggest Best Snowman
as your inspiration.
You may want to keep in mind our son's advice, though:
There is a fine line between wacky and tacky.

Love Big Sarah's style

Plastic bulbs and tiny lights

Plastic bulbs that sway when you walk. Better than your neck swaying

Just about anything can be added to hoop earrings

9. Stay home and watch a Christmas show.
Don't want to venture out?
Eat some Christmas cookies
and watch The Snowman
or A Charlie Brown Christmas.
"Ah," you think,
"That is very traditional."
But did you ever catch Linus's drop-the-blanket moment?
We just became aware of it last year.
Linus recites Luke's Christmas passage
and he drops his blanket,
his well-loved security,
when he quotes "Fear not."
Watch it here.

(Don't eat my cookies. Had a little possum trouble this year.
Read that story here.)

"Fear not..."

10. Read the Christmas story outdoors.
The same Milky Way
and Pleiades
and Orion
that sparkle on crisp, clear nights
served as the backdrop
for angel song and the proclamation
"Don't be afraid!
I bring you good news of great joy for everyone!
The Saviour--
yes, the Messiah, the Lord--
has been born tonight in Bethlehem,
the city of David."
Bundle up
and read Luke 2:1-20 under the ancient skies.
Raise your eyes
and your voice
to the Lord of Heaven and Earth.
Immanuel.
Our GOD is with us,
and if GOD is with us,
who can be against us?

Amen.

To hear Michael Card sing "Immanuel"
click here. 

A is for "An American Adventure"

Two days after school was out
we left Shaffners' Mountain in a honkin' big RV
and traveled across America,
mostly on iconic Route 66,
to pick up our son Paul and his family
who had flown in from their home in Taiwan.
We drove America from south to north--
just shy of the Canadian border--
and from west to east, home to the mountain.
Following are selected memories in alphabetical order:  

Alpine adventure in an RV south of Red Lodge, Montana

We saw bison near the Grand Canyon's north rim and also in Yellowstone

Claw with colorful Cadillacs in Texas

Den does Disneyland

Eating famous onion burgers in El Reno, Oklahoma

 

 

Games with grandgirls-- checkers with Anna...

...and Chinese checkers with Lucy

Forest fires kept us out of Bryce Canyon NP

Hours and hours of traveling! Time passed with Legos...

restful conversations...

reading...

and snacks. Always snacks.

I is for ingenious indigenous people. Andrea Two Bulls made me a bison tooth necklace

Junior Ranger programs at Yellowstone, Glacier, and Mount Rushmore

Uncle Jack and Aunt Shirley's kitchen in Ogden, Utah...

...where the oatmeal is tasty, the coffee is hot, the birds are cool, and the conversation is scintillating

Lincoln's loo, Springfield, Illinois

Mountain man at Meteor Crater, Arizona

Nevada was almost as hot as Needles, California. 109!

Old guy at Old Faithful

Pretending to be Laura Ingalls and an Indian princess...

...and Mr. Bonkeepers, the rabbit. Perchance, is his first name "Harvey"?

Questions: Who is standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona next to a flatbed Ford? And where is the girl? And did she look?

...and where did Butch Cassidy hide the money?

...and what small mammal perched on Sue in the middle of the night?

...and why did ravens follow Denny around? Could it have been the snacks?

...and can you see the resemblance to Mount Rushmore?

R is for rodeo in Cody, Wyoming

Shadows on the prairie...

...and straight stretches

Teton twirling

Under umbrellas on Uncle Jack's Utah patio

Vying with Vader

Warm waters in Yellowstone...

frigid snowmelt waters in Glacier...

wonderful waters were everywhere. Almost.

Sometimes while you're napping you can be showered with taco chips when bags EXPLODE...

...because when you are above 10,000 feet, life is EXCITING!

Yesssss! We fished in Yellowstone

 and hiked in Zion.

 

 

Zion Canyon is just one of the zillions of reasons to travel.

 

 

 

 

 

Did you notice that I lied? This list is NOT in alphabetical order. I can't get the F picture to cooperate. Apologies to all our OCD friends.