This large ham was then prepared for baking with cross hatching across the surface onto which was rubbed a thin mixture of brown sugar and mustard. Only then were pineapple rings centered with maraschino cherries placed on top of the ham. Baking took hours but did give one time to prepare the rest of the Christmas feast. I remember a lawyer friend who came to dine with us one Christmas dinner. He returned to the buffet three times for more ham! I remember camping with my son and husband on Mt. Desert Island off the coast of Maine when peanut butter and jelly was the main course—more than once. And the air was cooly-crisp and invigorating. How we sat on huge rocks along the Atlantic ocean, smelling the salty air and listening to the waves roll in. Then Jimmy collected round rocks to take home which I still have in my living room to this day. Sometimes memories are bittersweet, but I thank God that I have them. Memories are like jewels taken out of boxes and revealed to bright light. They begin to sparkle with a light perhaps never seen or understood before. As with all of us, some memories are from long ago, and many, more recent. When I returned to Indiana to live in the early 2000’s, I thought I would never find someone with whom to kayak again, which had been of such importance in Maine. But, God does provide! Two ladies who attended the same church as I, St. John’s Episcopal Church, in Mt. Vernon, were kayakers: Beth Dingman and Cindy Johnson. We kayaked Hovey Lake, the Little Wabash and any other place we could find. On one of my favorite outings, we found a back water on Hovey. It had a narrow river-like opening with higher banks from which roots were webbed outwards from the banks and wild grape vines from trees hung low. We nicknamed it the Amazon and could almost see the monkeys jumping about the trees or see alligator snouts. I remember another kayaking partner from 2014 to 2018 and our adventures on the Wabash, behind the Atheneum on the flood waters, and other wonderful places. We both had tipping accidents. I remember tipping over at an extremely muddy landing at a lake in Lynnville. I was laughing so hard and just knew I was going to end up in that phew-eee stinky mud. But somehow, my friend uprighted the kayak—with me in it! So there you have it. A few memories (out of hundreds) of the past. A good meditation on a lonely Covid 19 isolation day. Get out those old photo albums. Some photos will make you laugh and others cry. But memories are good to hold in one’s heart. Finally, I think one of my favorite memories is of a Christmas with my family when Jimmy, regaled in a cowboy hat, gun and pajamas and our dog, Nubbins, sat under the Christmas tree. May this Christmas bring you joyous memories, peace and safety.
[email protected] ©Ann Rains - December, 2020
4 Comments
DAN BARTON
12/21/2020 05:23:48 pm
What a perfectly beautiful Christmas picture, Ann.
Reply
K Beltran
1/29/2021 09:56:12 am
I remember that face. Such a good human.
Reply
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