Random Holiday Thoughts

Today is Friday, December 10, 2010. The sun is shining but there is frost on the ground and it is about 22 degrees here in Nauvoo, Illinois. That is not as cold as it was the other day - 11 degrees and that day the sun was not shining.
I can't believe I did not post anything in November. I have written a blog - inside my head - almost every day. But somehow I did not get it put on this blog spot. Oh, my!!
Many things happened in November. The first thing was that we left Nauvoo for two weeks while the Temple was closed for maintainance Theoritically, it was to go home and get our winter clothes. Since we don't have "winter" clothes in California, it just gave us a chance to go home to visit family for a few days. Before we went to California we stopped in Denver for a reunion with my husband's brothers and the wives. We had a wonderful time together. We always do. We missed the two brothers and the one wife who have died since our last big get together. Who knows, from time to time, how the family dynamics will change? Only the Lord knows, I think. After those few days, we traveled on to Citrus Heights.
Home was good. Here in our apartment in Nauvoo, our bedroom is larger than our little bedroom at home. We joked some about that. Of course, I love my kitchen and miss the pantry and cupboard space but I can adapt for a year. And if I think about the places we lived in Pakistan and India and Greece, this little place in Nauvoo is just fine.
It was wonderful to see the family. We didn't get to visit with all of our children and grandchildren but our youngest daughter came with her two cute boys and the others that live close to us got together on Sunday. The members of the Ward seemed glad to see us and said they will miss us during the coming year. (Nice thoughts expressed.)
We were back to Nauvoo in time to prepare for Thanksgiving. The Temple opened on November 16 with our new winter schedule. Monday is our preparation day - we shop for groceries, wash our clothes, clean our apartment, and whatever else we need to do. There was shopping, of course, for Thanksgiving food. All the missionaries met together to have Thanksgiving dinner. Each of us had assignments. Mine was to bring four pies. I like to make pie. In fact, we volunteered for what we wanted to bring. I made pumpkin pie and cherry pie to take to the big dinner held at the Stake Center. And I made a cherry pie and a mincemeat pie for us to have a home. I was lucky to find Borden's Nonesuch Mincemeat at the Wal-Mart in Keokuk. The plain kind, not the one with brandy. Yeah!! I was so excited. Anyway, Thanksgiving Day reminded us of all the things we are grateful for. There would be pages and pages if I wrote them all down.
Now we are into December, anticipating this special time of the year when so many people remember the birth of Jesus Christ and all the He has done for the world and the teachings He has given to all the people of the world. Hearts are turned with more thoughts toward others and helping others. Isn't it wonderful? There are Christmas carols in the air and decorations on all the streets. Here in Nauvoo there is Christmas Walk on the first Saturday. All the businesses in town have decorated trees outside their buildings. Certain trees have angel tags with special requests on them. It's called the bright angel program and gives townspeople and missionaries the opportunity to help someone in need. On that day the Clydsdale horses pull the wagons filled with guests to some of the Old Nauvoo sites and back and forth up and down the city streets. Well, I guess you can say city - Nauvoo has population of 11oo people. That includes all the people in town and out on the farms.
The missionary numbers are about 250 for the winter months. In the summer that number will increase because Nauvoo has lots of tourists in the summer, especially at Pageant time in July.
The leaves have all fallen from the trees and it makes the Mississippi River seem very close to us. We can see all the houses on the next block and even the brick yard. We have an eagle's nest down in one of the trees by the river and the Red Brick Store. And there are hundreds of geese that settle out on the ice in the river. Such a strange site on the cold, cold ice. Once in a while we see a deer or two and someone said yesterday they saw a coyote out on the green.
The women's monuments are easy to see now that the trees are bare. I want to go take some pictures of them but I haven't done it yet. Morning time fills up and then when we are finished with our Temple assignment it is dark as midnight - even though it is only 8:30 PM. It gets dark, really dark, about 5:30.
We manage to keep busy and we are never bored, that's for sure. Each day we have one or two very special experiences, sometime more than one or two, but always something special about each day.
This is why I need to write more often. It makes a long blog when I write so seldom. My plan is to do better - to actually blog, not just in my head. I think that is all for today.