My Christmas Wish

Judging by the music in the malls and the decorations that line the streets I would say that Christmas is near. OK, that really isn’t a good way to judge the time of year because the decorations have been up and the Christmas music has been playing since sometime early in September. However, the temperature and, more importantly, the calendar, tell me that Christmas is near. Maybe I ought to start my shopping this week. Awe, what is the rush, I still have five days.

Honestly, I haven’t even really had time to think about Christmas or even enjoy the season. It seems like every year the hustle and bustle of the season gets to be more and more, drowning out what are the best and simplest joys of the season. We all have commitments and obligations that spring up this time of the year and distract us from the real meaning of Christmas.

My wish for you in the next few days is to put aside the rush of the season and take a few moments to relax and reflect on what Christmas really means. One of my favorite things to do this holiday season is to plug the lights in on the Christmas tree, turn off the lights and the TV and sit in the quiet. It gives me a chance to clear my mind and focus on what really matters.

Maybe it is a side effect of getting older, but the highlights of Christmas are far different now than they used to be. Christmas is a time of renewal and anticipation, it’s not about presents, lights and noise. Christmas is the joy of Christ’s birth and the promise of a new life. I often think about the shepherds (I guess they are the group from the nativity that I identify with the best) and wonder what that experience was like for them. The faith and courage it took to seek out the stable is beyond my comprehension.

Christmas is also a time we spend with family and friends. This year more than any other I am looking forward to Christmas being a time with family. I suppose Ike being in college and coming home for the break might have something to do with that and I suspect as the years go on it will be even more of a highlight. I hope that you will not allow the preparations for those family events and homecomings get in the way of enjoying time together.

Another thing I have noticed is the greetings as Christmas gets closer and closer. People seem to be happier this time of the year and more often than not we wish each other a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as we part ways. Did you ever wonder why we are more likely to wish people well this time of the year as opposed to other times? I think we might all be better off if we greeted and departed with the same attitude year-round that we do at Christmas time.

I want to share my Christmas wishes for each of you. They are simple but if we each find time for them I think it will lead for a much better and more meaningful Christmas.

My wish for each of you with these last few days of Christmas is to find that time to unplug, find that quiet place and reflect for just a moment. It might be in your easy chair in front of the tree, maybe with Christmas music, a hot cup of coffee and a cookie (that is the method I recommend) but take just a few moments and let the season soak in.

When you are with family and friends allow yourself to be there and enjoy the time together. Don’t let your mind get cluttered with the things you need to do, the obligations you may have or any other distraction. You can let your mind stew over those things later, but for right now focus on the people around you. For a little while let your worries and stress go.

Finally, I hope you find time to spend focused on what Christmas is truly about. I know Christmas Eve services and the services during Advent are some of the most meaningful for me. My favorite part of Christmas is a darkened church, lighted only with candles as Silent Night is sung. That is when I truly feel the Christmas spirit.

I hope that during these final days of Christmas you find time to unburden from the daily grind of life, and take time to remember why we celebrate Christmas. My wish for you is to be able to spend time with the people most important in your life and truly focus on that time together. Most of all I wish each and every one of you a Merry and Blessed Christmas.

Dad's Christmas List

The Christmas Season has officially started on my calendar. I know everyone was waiting with much anticipation for my signal to start the Christmas Season. Now I will acknowledge Christmas decorations, go Christmas shopping and listen to Christmas music. I guess one might say, “Tis the Season.”

This is also the time of the year when my family asks for a Christmas list. I must admit that making that Christmas list is not nearly as much fun as it was forty years ago, Then the formulation of such a list required many hours of study using advertisements and catalogs. Yes, forty years ago, was back in the dark ages back before the internet. Kids have it so easy these days.

In any case, it is much harder to come up with a wish list at my age because, let’s face it, if I need something I usually go out and buy it when I need it. Couple that with the fact that I am old and boring and really don’t require much to make me happy. I have settled into being “Dad” and making it both easy and hard to buy Christmas presents for me. So, I thought I would help with a handy guide to buying gifts for the ag dad.

Tools are always a great idea. Tool supplies seem to dwindle as the months go along with spikes in disappearances coming during planting and harvest. Often wrenches are missing from sets, usually the 9/16 and ½ inch wrenches but if you need an 11/32 I can almost promise it will be gone too. Buying the whole set often just leads to the surplus of 11/32 wrenches and sockets (of course, until one is needed). One novel idea is just to go to the various tractors and trucks and simply collect the misplaced tools, wrap them up and save some money.

Shirts are always the go-to present for any dad but especially the ag dad. It doesn’t mean we will wear the shirt. Often, they languish in our closet as we wear the same shirts day after day because they are our favorite. That is until we are either publicly shamed into wearing other shirts or our favorite, thread-bare shirts just disappear and we are forced to start wearing and breaking in new shirts.

Coffee mugs and travel mugs are nice gift ideas but I also suspect you could use the same tactic as I mentioned in the tool section and simply retrieve the mugs left in our trucks and tractors. This method will require much cleaning and often a strong stomach. Gloves are also another much needed and very appreciated gift and you can also recycle those found in the pickup, however, good luck finding a matching set, one without a hole and a right had glove of any kind.

Hats are tricky. While they may be appreciated by ag dad, they probably will be viewed with a great deal of disdain by ag mom and may suffer the same fate as the gift shirt and spend years of gathering dust while the favorite hat is worn into oblivion. Socks are a great gift because none of us have too many socks, this is in stark contrast from the wish list of the six-year-old me. I guess it is just lowered expectations and greater appreciation for the little things in life like not having holes in your socks.

On our farm, gifts often reflect the passing of various tools such as axes, hammers, fencing pliers, etc.… throughout the year. Sometimes the tool is broken and this is the best way to replace it. Most often, the tool has gone missing and in many cases, the person giving the gift is most responsible for the disappearance. On a side note, many times I get the idea that my Dad’s gift to me is often a message to quit borrowing that tool. I probably need to be much more strategic in what I “borrow” during the year.

If your ag dad tells you all he wants for Christmas is world peace, a million dollars or everyone to just be happy it is a stall tactic. It is not that he doesn’t really want those things because they would be great. However, it is more likely that he really cannot think of anything and it is the buying him time.  Before he gives up and gives you his old stand-by answer, a new shirt.

As I get older most, if not all, of my satisfaction from Christmas is derived from watching others receive their gifts. That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate and like the gifts I get, but my perspective has changed. The bottom line, at least for myself, is that we ag dads are basically very simple guys and we really like what you give us, it is really the thought that counts and the clean pickup.

Mom's Nativity

I am a sentimental sap; I admit it, especially this time of the year. I find it amazing the things that trigger those sentimental moments, and the trip down memory lane that follows. Such was the case last week when my friend Mary posted a picture of a nativity set that my mother had made for her.

My mother was an artist, and a really good one (proving that artistic ability is not genetic). She made clay sculptures, often people would send her pictures of special memories, pets and people and she would custom make a sculpture based off of the picture. I have heard from many people over the years about how they cherish those sculptures, but what Mom was most known for was her nativity sets.

She gave nativity sets out for graduation and wedding presents and often I enter the home of friends and those very sets greet me. Mom gave Jennifer and me one when we got married. It is a white glazed set just like the original set that goes up in Dad’s living room each year. Mom even included Jennifer’s dog Cisco in our set, because who better to guard Baby Jesus than the best dog ever. My nativity set is one of my most cherished possessions.

Mary posted the picture of her set on Facebook and that picture and the comments by others sent me down memory lane. Mom has been gone for over ten years now so any excuse to pause for a moment and remember her is very much welcome and is a great blessing. I miss Mom everyday but Christmas is one of those times I realize just how much.

Mom made Christmas special. She didn’t make it special by lavishing us with lots of presents or rushing from this event to the next. No, she made Christmas special by reminding us of what was important and making sure we kept our priorities in the right place. Sure there were special things about the season but they never overshadowed the reason for Christmas.

Mom lived a simple, orderly life and she celebrated Christmas the same way. Our tree was a simple cedar tree that we, as a family, would go out and cut down from the pasture. Mom and Dad would have a couple of trees picked out from frequent trips to check cows. The decorations were simple and few in number, most were handmade by my sister and I. Most importantly, I got to put the elf on the tree each year, no exceptions.

Christmas cookies were another one of Mom’s traditions. To this day I can still smell the sugar cookies, date rolls, chocolate peanut butter chip and jello cookies baking. A few presents would be under the tree but Andrea and I knew the big present was hidden in the house somewhere and we dared not go look for it. We also knew that we would get one big (in a relative sense) present and some years, based on the farm, would be bigger than others. We learned the importance of being thankful for what we received.

The biggest moment of the Christmas Season was Christmas Eve. The day would be spent preparing to spend Christmas Day with family. Chores had to be done and extra needed to be done in anticipation. We also knew that sometime before noon, Dad would leave for town for his annual Christmas shopping for Mom. We would eat supper before Christmas Eve service and it would usually be oyster casserole (it would have been fried oysters like my great-grandparents but frying oysters was a mystery Mom would never unlock) and then we would go to Christmas Eve service. We always had to wait on Mom in the car when we left. Why she took so much time that one night of the year was a mystery.

To this day Christmas Eve service is the highpoint and the most important part of Christmas to me. I am pretty sure that was what Mom would have said too and that is why I feel that way. No Christmas is complete without singing “Silent Night” in candlelight. We would return from Christmas Eve service to find Santa had come while we were gone. Mom always explained that Santa always came to the dairy farms on Christmas Eve.

Often during Christmas Season I will spend a few moments looking at my nativity set and reflecting on my memories of Mom and Christmas. I worry that as time goes on my memories of my mother will dim, and I work to keep her in the forefront of my thoughts. I cannot thank friends like Mary enough for jogging my reflections and sending me down memory lane. I hope each of you will take a moment to remember cherished memories and celebrate the important things this Christmas Season.

I am Dreaming of a Warm, Dry Christmas

We are into one of my favorite times of the year, the Christmas Season. Often I think I like the anticipation of Christmas the best. Too many times it seems that we can’t wait for Christmas to get here and then in a flash it is gone and we are left waiting another whole year. I want the season to last longer so I can savor each moment, but somehow each year I manage to pack more and more onto my calendar.

This year is no different. I had plans to clear my calendar and spend time in preparation for Christmas. Enjoying the sights and sounds of the season, but just yesterday I looked at my calendar and I have something on every day until the 21^st. To make matters worse, I did it to myself. Well at least I can enjoy Christmas music as I drive to the various events, parties and basketball games.

I enjoy Christmas music about as much as anything during this season. My family will tell you that I enjoy singing along but I am the only one who enjoys my singing along. Eleven months out of the year my radio is firmly tuned to AM but from Thanksgiving to Christmas I leave the dial on the all Christmas music station.

Such was the case yesterday. Tatum and I were driving into town, listening to Christmas music and I was holding myself back from singing along. Somewhere on the road to town “I am Dreaming of a White Christmas” came on. I turned the radio up and we were both enjoying Bing Crosby.

After the song was done, Tatum mentioned that she hoped we had a white Christmas and asked if I agreed. I didn’t hesitate. “No,” I said, “I am hoping for a dry, brown Christmas.” The look she gave me indicated that I had once again lost my bid for Dad of the Year and she viewed me as the Grinch and Scrooge all rolled into one. I might as well go ahead and told her the truth about Santa Claus and that Frosty the Snowman had melted. I knew what she was thinking, “the guy who can’t get enough Christmas doesn’t like white Christmas, how can that happen?”

Maybe my answer was a little jaded, after all we had just come off of an icy Thanksgiving and a white Christmas didn’t  really sound like a good idea. Between the stress of worrying about Dad doing chores by himself while I was out of town and the treacherous drive home, I just wasn’t very crazy about the thought of any more precipitation right now. Especially precipitation of the frozen variety.

It could have been because I was still in my knee boots and I could smell the odor of muddy lots and see the grime of slop on my coveralls. I am sure that the reality of feeding cattle and sheep in the snow didn’t help my attitude either. A snow looks really pretty until you have to go out in it and feed hay. Of course wet chore clothes and gloves didn’t help my outlook either.

OK, before I get labeled as a curmudgeon and a fun hater, let me explain. Some of this was definitely tongue in cheek. At times I do enjoy a white Christmas. When it is the kind that could be made into a Norman Rockwell painting of a white Christmas. There is nothing that gets me in the Christmas spirit more than watching snow come down and seeing the new blanket of white on the ground. I love looking out my picture window, sipping hot chocolate and listening to Christmas music. I like it as long as there is no wind, I don’t have to drive in it and it doesn’t get too deep. If we meet those criteria, I am all for a white Christmas.

I am also aware that I am whining a little bit and we all know that Santa doesn’t like whiners. So I guess what I am asking for is a little time to dry up after this last storm and time to prepare for the next one. Then maybe I will be ready to whole heartedly wish for some snow toward the end of December (as long as it lays right, doesn’t last too long and behaves itself while it is here).  After all the chorus of “I am dreaming of a warm, dry Christmas” just isn’t as catchy.

My Christmas Wish

I did it again. Each year I say that I am going to clear my calendar out between Thanksgiving and Christmas and just enjoy the season. I make plans to savor every moment and live life a little slower. Then reality hits and this time for reflection, worship and family becomes one of the most hectic times of the year with a packed calendar. I get caught up in all that is going on and soon I blink and look at the calendar and it is the week of Christmas.

I think Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year. It is the day we remember Jesus’ birth and that alone should make it one of our favorite days. Too often I think we lose sight of that and it is minimized in this time of political correctness. If you view Christmas as just another holiday and a reason to buy presents then that is your right and your perspective. However, to me, the day has a much deeper religious meaning and that is my right to celebrate Christmas.

I enjoy many other things about the Christmas Season. I must admit I really enjoy Christmas music. Yes, this is the only time of the year when you might catch my radio not being tuned to talk radio. I have heard many people Bah Humbug the all Christmas music stations. Not me, as soon as Thanksgiving is over (but not before) my radio dial is tuned to one of those stations and I will be singing along as I feed the cows (that might be why they go off of feed this time of the year).

I also enjoy all of the Christmas decorations and lights. Although I must admit that I do not like putting them up or taking them down. If it were not for my wife, I would be one of those people who would leave the lights up year round. I enjoy driving around and looking at the lights others have put up and one of our family traditions is to drive through the Christmas lights in Lemon Park in Pratt. If you have never been there, it is worth the drive.

Another one of my favorite things this time of the year is to either get up early or stay up after everyone else has gone to bed and admire the Christmas tree. I like to turn the lights on, get a hot cup of coffee and just sit and bask in the glow of the lights. There is something soothing about it. I do miss the smell of a live cedar tree and that would add to the experience, but allergies and the fear of a dried out tree necessitate a fake tree.

Of course there is always the food. You probably never would have guessed by looking at me that I enjoy food (a little more white in my beard and I could be Santa Claus). From the candies and cookies to the great meals hosted by friends and family, I just can’t help myself and often I add pounds to the memories from Christmas past.

However, the one thing that makes Christmas the best is being around friends and family. Each year right before or right after Christmas, I sit in my chair, with the Christmas tree lights on and read all of our Christmas cards at once. I really enjoy hearing from friends and reading about their lives. I know many make fun of Christmas letter, but I truly enjoy them.

Christmas cards and letters are great but they are not as good as seeing friends and family in person. When we gather during the holidays and visit, I often wonder why we do not get together more often. I know it is because we all lead such hectic lives with full calendars and I suppose it is a little sad that we need special occasions to find time to be with friends and family. That being said don’t sweat it and enjoy each moment during this Christmas season spent with those closest to you.

I know the clock is rapidly winding down on this Christmas season and I am sitting next to the tree, cup of coffee in hand as I write this column. My Christmas wish for you is that you take a moment to relax, reflect and remember what is most important to you during this busy time. Remember it isn’t about presents, shopping or anything commercial. Christmas is a time of worship, family and memories. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

My Real Christmas Wish

The Christmas Season is upon us. Yes, the real Christmas Season not the after Labor Day, commercial Christmas Season that many of our large retail stores have turned it into. Personally, I refuse to talk about Christmas or consider anything Christmas until after Thanksgiving. That goes for Christmas shopping also, so no, I do not have any Christmas shopping done yet.

I love the Christmas Season and almost everything about it. I especially find meaning and love what Christmas really stands for. I am not ashamed to say that Christ’s birth is at the forefront and center of everything Christmas means to me. Without a celebration of Christ’s birth and an advent season with a deeper meaning, Christmas would become X-mas. Then it would become just a commercial holiday about material things and that would make it pretty hollow.

I really think my farm upbringing led me to this deeper appreciation of the meaning of Christmas. The Christmas Season was a truly special time in our house growing up. It began shortly after Thanksgiving with the cutting of a real, live cedar tree (OK so it involved the cutting of several cedar trees to find the right one). I can still remember the smell of evergreen all around our house and that along with freshly baked sugar cookies are the smells of Christmas.

Decorating the tree was a family affair. We each had our own ornaments that we put on the tree. My main ornament was an elf. I still revel in just sitting in the glow of the Christmas tree lights later in the evening and early in the morning during the Christmas Season. Often this quiet time, when I am the only one awake is when I do my best reflecting on the very things that give Christmas its meaning.

We also had certain Christmas TV shows we watched every year. Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and the Peanuts Christmas cartoons were annual visitors at our house. I still look forward to watching each of these shows every year. My favorite is Linus telling the Christmas story and it gives me goose bumps to this day. I am not a big fan of sappy movies with one big exception, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, is something we should all see every year.

Then came Christmas Eve, it was the best day of the year. Much of my childhood we milked cows. Christmas to the kids of a dairy farmer is a little different than the Christmas of other kids. Everything centered around milking those cows. I remember getting ready for Christmas Eve services and being told I needed to be ready and out of Dad’s way when he got in. We sat, anxiously awaiting church and what was to come afterward, while Dad got ready.

Then we would pile into the car and leave for Christmas Eve candlelight services. For some reason my Mom always forgot something and had to go back into the house and she took forever. Christmas Eve service is, without a doubt my favorite part of Christmas. Nothing is more meaningful to me than to sing Christmas Carols and end the service with a candlelight singing of “Silent Night”.

We would then pile back into the car and head home. The funny thing about being a dairy farmer’s kid is that Santa comes while you are gone to Christmas Eve service. You see he knows that we could not get up early enough to open presents with Dad in the morning and that he couldn’t sneak past Mom after Dad left to milk and he always knew when Christmas Eve services were. That meant we got to open presents on Christmas Eve.

Up until now you will notice that none of my memories have to do with presents. Growing up the son of farmers taught me to appreciate any and all gifts I was given. We learned to value the idea that our parents loved us enough to give us gifts. If it was a good farm year, maybe the gifts were a little bigger, but they were always something we cherished and appreciated. We never worried about whether someone else got more or better gifts, we were excited about what we were given.

I fear some of that is lost in this day of a more commercialized Christmas. It seems each year the expectations are bigger and the tugs at our time are greater. We do not seem to have the time to appreciate the build up to Christmas or to really value each gift and the thought behind that gift. More importantly, we don’t seem to have time to stop and think about what Christmas is all about.

My wish for you this Christmas Season is to have a Christmas more like the one I had as a child. Take time to enjoy each sight, sound, taste and smell of Christmas. Make sure to have some quiet time to reflect on the real meaning of the Season. Most of all take the time to spend as a family and just appreciate each other and take that time to pass an enjoyment of the simpler things on to your kids. Now pardon me as I plug in the tree and sit down in my easy chair.