There cannot be too many more surprises with the weather lately. We have had ice, freezing rain, a bit of snow, a warm day with a 60 degree temperature, and a very loud thunderstorm. Oh yes! A day or two of sunshine and one of heavy wind and rain.

It has been a relief to have the election situation resolved. Someone said “what do we listen to now?” on TV. A break for a few days without greeting cards mailed and the holiday shopping completed.

Scott, the oldest grandson, came to visit Sunday, and between heavy downpours we went to do a couple of errands for Christmas. We did well in the store that wasn’t as busy as expected.

Scott got the pail of ice melt crystals out of the garage and it’s now just outside the door. He fed the birds and took out the recycling bags – all a big help on a rainy day.

Laurie, the Vermont daughter, has a few inches of snow cover, and my Vermont daughter-in-law Joy called to say they too are looking like a white Christmas in Southern Vermont. Having spent a lot of time up there the last 30 years, we know how the mammoth plows make short work of a moderate storm. In a really bad storm plows travel on twos, one big plow pushing a huge mound of snow, followed closely by another that acts as a cleanup machine. It is very efficient.

These next few days are leading quickly to the holiday. There is the final present wrapping, food shopping, meeting and visiting relatives and friends at airports, buses, and train stations. It is hard to control the excitement of children as visions of Santa and Rudolph and decorated trees are foremost in their minds. Somehow it all gets done and the special day arrives. Children lift their voices in choirs in church productions and school parties.

When relatives from the Philadelphia area used to visit at Christmas, it was a special treat for them to go for a ride around the town at night to view the lights and decorations. They said it was much more of a treat in our area than in the city.

One Christmas season when I worked with a reader-editor group at the now defunct Woman’s Home Companion, we went to New York and toured the beautiful Rockefeller Center, watched the sledders on the ice as we had lunch in the restaurant, and watched a beautiful display in Macys windows, to the lively tune “Sleigh Ride,” written by the Woodbury resident Leroy Anderson. Even the train was decorated and we arrived back in Connecticut quite late.

It was necessary that we go out to the barn and water the calves and heifers we were raising.

It was a very cold night and the cobwebs in the barn were frozen into silver webs. The cattle warmed the interior and drank the fresh water and were quiet as we left. What a comparison it made of the holiday season – bright lights all over the city, and the frozen silvery strands of cobwebs and a snow-covered yard in our country residence. Another Christmas memory.

This year everyone seems to be up to date on holiday plans. Ben is home for winter break from the University, Laurie has finished the course on literature that she teaches at the college one night a week, we are planning food for the time when everyone can get together, and we hope for good travel conditions for everyone. Susan and Wendy are both finishing their once a year handmade something – a secret for now.

Much loved music is heard in church services, and we sit with children and grandchildren to watch Frosty the Snowman, and White Christmas. No full moon will shine during Christmas week this year, but there is always a quiet stillness of you step outside on Christmas Eve. I always pretend you can hear the strains of  “Silent Night, Holy Night” in the distance. And we wish everyone Peace and Love, and biding good health.

Ending last week’s column were words by Lawrence J. Peter. Who said, “When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property”?