A Minnesota Christmas

The first days here pass in quiet anticipation. Christmas carols softly playing, a ticking clock, the husky sound of a sleeping baby’s breath, the gentle whir of another load of laundry or dishes being run. Grandparents arrive filling the house with admiration for their first grandchild. As Christmas Day draws near meals are planned, freshly baked goods begin to accumulate on the counter tops and the pile of presents under the tree swells.

Watching from the warmth of the kitchen window, the low winter sun casts long shadows across the barren yard, as naked branches sway in the icy breeze. Surrounding the house as far as the eye can see are rumpled fields of black soil littered with the detritus of this year’s corn harvest. Sporadic clumps of bare trees in the distance indicate nearby neighbors. The chill dry air preserves a light dusting of snow and stands air bubbles still in their escape from a frozen puddle next to the house. High clouds skate across the pale blue sky veiling the sun until the hour before sunset when copper colored light spreads across the landscape. The momentary glow seeps through the windows and fills up the house. Soft pink clouds simmer to a deep raspberry as the horizon continues its turn away from the sun.

My sister and her husband live on a farmstead that has been in his family for decades. A walk around the property may unearth any number of artifacts from previous residents, be it rusty segments of crooked wire, weathered wooden doors, or thick glass bottles frosty with time. Our family has gathered this week to celebrate a baby’s first Christmas in a newly built home, and to add our memories to those contained in these fields and barns.

I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and that many happy memories await you in the coming year!