“Good. Keep him!” Margaret yelled back.
Leona laughed vigorously when she heard the tone of her mother’s voice; and she laughed even harder when she heard Arlene’s response.
“Okay, Mama. I’ll keep an eye on him for a little while longer; then it’s Leona’s turn to suffer. I swear, Wally must’ah been put on this Earth just to aggravate me. I wonder what I did to make God so mad?”
Little did Arlene know how right she was; but she would surely find out in the years to come.
After Leona finally stopped laughing, she asked her mother a question.
“Mama, is Lillian up yet?”
“You’ve gotta be kiddin’, Leona. Chances are, the nor’easter will be long over before she’s up.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Dumb question.”
Leona looked out the kitchen window and saw that the Nor’easter was still going strong.
“What’s the temperature now, Mama?”
Margaret leaned over the kitchen sink and peered out the window at a thermometer Murdock had attached to the window frame that fall.
“It says minus fifteen,” she replied. “But the wind must be close to thirty, so I’m guessin’ it feels more like minus 50 or 60 out there.”
“Brrrrrr. I think I’ll stay right here by this stove all day,” Leona said, causing her mother to smile.
When Leona heard how cold it was outside she was particularly thankful for the heat given off by the kitchen stove on this frigid day, as she and the others were on most wintry days. But heat was not the only thing that lured the children to the cast-iron stove each morning. The smell of their daily breakfast simmering on the Wood&Bishop while being prepared by their mother was often infinitely more alluring than the heat, depending, of course, on the severity of the weather outside. Sometimes Margaret would have bread baking in the oven, and the smell that emanated from its door was almost enough in itself to fill the children’s stomachs; almost, but not quite, because no one could resist the taste of Margaret’s freshly baked homemade bread. Indeed, Murdock and the children knew firsthand that anything coming off that stove, whether it be in the early morning or at any other time of the day, was Margaret’s masterpiece, and that it was something to be savored when it finally entered their mouths.
The Haleys were not alone in their appreciation of her unique talent; everyone in Glenburn knew that Margaret Haley was an especially good cook. And the reason they knew it was because she always volunteered to cook baked beans, New England clam chowder, or whatever else was needed for the free meals that the town served on special occasions to those who were most needy. And, of course, she always complimented those dishes with her most delicious desserts. The talented woman from West Glenburn always made more than enough, and the volunteers who served the meals were glad that she did. Indeed, they were more than happy to take small portions of the leftovers home for their own enjoyment, and Margaret’s food was always the most tasty and, thus, most prized.
Even though Murdock often said that Margaret’s leftovers were more tasty than most people’s freshly baked food, the Haleys were fortunate in that they seldom had to test that thesis. Margaret’s meals were always voraciously devoured, to the last morsel; so much so that vultures would have likely starved if their sole source of nutrition was leftovers from a Haley meal; and this day would be no different, especially with the Nor’easter raging outside, whetting everyone’s appetite and enhancing the need to feed the coffers of their bodies in order for them to stay warm, or more likely, to warm the souls of their bodies, something that Margaret’s meals invariably did whenever they were consumed. Regardless, her life-ensuring meals were greatly appreciated on that snowy day and the following snowy night.
When darkness finally came on the 18th and the storm was still going strong, and showing no signs of letting up, Leona moved hurriedly to get ready for bed. First she lit her pinkish-white kerosene lamp that sat on the nightstand next to her bed. The beautiful light-oak nightstand that her father gave to her last Christmas had a single drawer that the little girl used to store her Holy Bible, her seldom used diary, and some personal items. The bottom of the nightstand was open and served as a bookstand for Leona’s many books, mostly received as birthday or Christmas gifts. The books that she kept there were Heidi, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Robinson Crusoe, The Last of the Mohicans, Moby Dick, The Call of the Wild, The Sea Wolf, White Fang, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, and a large assortment of other books; including some containing fairy tales and bedtime stories that Margaret had once read to her. Margaret knew that it wouldn’t be long before her 8-year-old would be reading stories from those books to little Wally. Leona had finished reading Treasure Island during the day, and now, at 9pm, she intended to start reading Kidnapped, but decided that she was much too tired; so she quickly changed into her pretty, pink nightgown.
As she climbed into bed and laid her head on the soft, cushy pillow, Leona’s thoughts turned to an animated conversation that took place at the Haley kitchen table that night. Margaret was talking about the neighbors, and Murdock was talking about the Red Sox: “Hot stove talk,” he called it. Although Leona’s mother made her laugh when she told a humorous story about a woman who forced her husband to sleep in their cold barn for two straight nights, it was her father’s stories about the Red Sox that were most enjoyable that stormy night. He was ecstatic that “the Sox” had won the World Series for the third time in the last four years, and it made Leona feel good to see him so happy. Lying in her bed right then, Leona had no care in the world. She had wonderful parents who created a safe, loving environment for their family; she had a warm, cozy bedroom of her very own, full of beautiful furniture that her father had made with his own hands; and she had her mother’s good cooking and her parent’s wonderful stories to look forward to every day.
—2—
A few days after the Nor’easter ended, the ground was still covered with more than three feet of snow. But, as if God wanted the Haleys’ first Christmas in Glenburn to be special, light snow fell from the heavens on the night of the 23rd, dumping another two inches of powder on top of the existing blanket of snow. When Leona awoke on the morning of the 24th she looked toward her window to see the sun reflecting brightly off its frost-covered glass; and outside she saw the new sugar-white blanket of snow, also brilliantly lit by the Sun’s rays. And then she looked up to see the cottony-white snow lying softly on the evergreens and also on the bare branches of the now leafless oak, maple, and apple trees, turning the once drab trees of winter into beautiful white monuments. The prettiest of Christmas cards could not compare to what Leona was looking at, and she doubted that a more perfect winter scene could be possible, as she had a few times before and would many, many times to come. Indeed, the sights she now beheld told the little girl that her first Christmas in Glenburn was meant to be special, and for that she was thankful. When asked to give thanks at the supper table that night, she knew just what to say.
“Thank you, Lord, for blessing me and my family with my mother’s wonderful supper, and for the pretty white snow you gave us for Christmas.”
For as long as Leona could remember, the Haleys gave thanks at the supper table. Margaret and Murdock most often gave thanks that they had been blessed with such a loving and healthy family. Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Independence Day, more commonly known as the Fourth of July, were all special holidays in the Haley household, because everyone was reminded of how fortunate they were to be so blessed. And they were also reminded of how important it was to be living in a country where they could worship the God of their choosing and live together as a family in relative freedom and tranquility.
Leona appreciated that as much as anyone, and she looked forward to this Christmas with more anticipation than ever, mainly because Wally was finally old enough to really experience the joy and excitement of a youn
g child’s Christmas.
Chapter 36
Christmas in Glenburn
As one might expect, Christmas was the number one holiday for the Haley children. Indeed, they were like all children when it came to Christmas. In addition to the anticipation of opening their presents, they loved to search the woods for the perfect tree with their father, and they loved to decorate the tree with their mother, as Murdock sat serenely in his “comfy rocker” and watched.
Being a family of modest means, the Haleys could not afford to buy decorations for the tree, so they made ornaments out of Christmas ribbons and out of shiny red, blue and silver foil bought specifically for that purpose. Margaret taught her kids how to fold the brightly colored foil into balls using one of the children’s two-inch marbles as a mold. And she taught them how to create star-shaped ornaments using the foil wrapped around cardboard cutouts. The multicolored ribbons were twisted into a garland and strung around the tree, as were strings of popcorn that had been dunked in bright green, red, blue, or yellow dye.
Although they were not as fancy as the expensive decorations sold in department stores, they looked just as pretty hanging on the Haleys’ tree. The ornaments made of red, blue, and silver foil were especially beautiful because they reflected the light given off by the many candles and kerosene lamps that were strategically placed in the living room each Christmas. Those reflective ornaments exhibited the appearance of twinkling stars as the ever present air currents in the poorly insulated old house caused them to slowly rotate on the dyed-green threads from which they dangled.
The ornament that sat at the top of the tree was, as always, a lovely angel that Margaret painstakingly made the year after Leona was born. Murdock meticulously carved the angel’s head for his wife on a six-inch by three-quarter-inch dowel made of balsam wood. And she, just as meticulously, colored its delicate face with a paint set she bought for Lillian, so that it looked as angelic as any she had seen. Next, Murdock carefully attached angelic wings, which he had also carved from balsam wood, to the dowel.
After painting the wings white, the creative housewife sewed an angel’s robe out of scraps of pure white silk that she had purchased in Bangor, using bright-red ribbon as trim for the robe that encircled the bottom part of the wooded dowel. Margaret was so proud of her masterpiece that she kept it in a glass display case: one Murdock had made just for that purpose. The only time the angel was removed from the display was for the four weeks each year that it sat atop the Haley Christmas tree. Margaret’s angel was always the first ornament to be placed on the tree and the last one off when Christmas had passed.
The magic of Christmas was always highlighted by the children’s anticipation of watching their mother remove her beautiful angel from the display and then seeing their father climb his stepladder to set it at the peak of the tree, where it watched over and seemingly protected the Haley household. In this regard the Haleys’ Christmas was made special and unique from those of other families, but in general they celebrated Christmas much like everyone else.
With encouragement from their parents, the children wrote letters to Santa, not to ask for presents for themselves, but instead to ask Santa to bring presents to poorer children and to the children who spent Christmas in orphanages. This was the parents’ way of instilling the true meaning of Christmas in their children. And it no doubt worked, because the children quickly realized that asking Santa to give to others felt so much better than asking the Jolly Old Man to bring them presents.
And although the Haleys knew they were the “next thing to being poor,” they always took the time and used their meager resources to make dozens of presents to give to the unwanted children in the local orphanage, so each would be assured of getting more than one present for Christmas. Margaret would make children and doll clothing, while her husband would carve girls and boys toys from wood he had left over from other projects. Their own children gladly helped their parents in whatever way their young abilities allowed them to.
So no child would go without, Margaret always talked to the head of the orphanage a month before Christmas to find out how many children were there, and what their age and gender were. If by chance another child or two came to the orphanage before Christmas, she and Murdock had extra toys at the ready. If not needed, they were used the following year. As much pride as they took in providing those small gifts, the Haleys were always glad when a few were returned to them, because it meant that at least some of the children had been adopted: the best Christmas present they could receive. No Christmas gift, no matter how expensive or desired, could bring more joy to a child than being wanted by a loving family.
In spite of the Haleys’ non-traditional approach to Christmas, they also observed many of the traditional ways of celebrating it too. Like Lillian and Arlene before her, Leona always left milk and cookies on a table next to the tree for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. And when Christmas morning finally arrived, the Haley children awoke to find the milk and cookies gone. This was their confirmation that Santa had been there; and, after seeing that the cookies were missing, they quickly searched under the tree to see what Santa had brought.
Although most of the gifts were placed under the tree a week or two before, there would always be one present for each on Christmas morning that wasn’t under the tree the night before. Those presents from Santa were easy to spot because they were always out front; and even if they hadn’t been, the children had eyed the glorious tree so often over the previous two weeks that they had, without really trying, memorized the location of each gift and who it was for—and from. So Santa’s gifts stuck out like a sore thumb on Christmas morning.
Margaret and Murdock took great pleasure in seeing their children filled with youthful joy and excitement, because they remembered how they had been just as excited and filled with warmth every Christmas morning when they were kids. And even though the God-loving parents knew that, during the two-hour period on Christmas morning when they were opening presents and savoring their gifts, the children were for now overlooking the true meaning of that holy holiday, it didn’t really matter to them because the joy that was unmistakable on their children’s faces and in their voices was as comforting as the religious significance of that day. Not that the Haleys wanted their children to overlook the true meaning of Christmas, but they were wise enough to know that there was enough time on this special day, as well as enough time during the remainder of the year, to remind their children of the true meaning of their Savior’s birthday. So they allowed their children to be self-indulgent for just a little while on this most holy of days.
Like many people of that time, Margaret and Murdock could not always afford to buy presents, so they had to make many of their children’s gifts. The only really expensive gift the children ever received in the past was given last Christmas: a toboggan that the children had to share. Other than that toboggan, and a few less expensive store bought presents, the Haleys had to resort to their own ingenuity to insure that their children had a special Christmas each year. Murdock would utilize his skills in carpentry to make special gifts: such as, dollhouses, small furniture and cradles for the girls; and wooden wagons, trucks, and other toys for Wally. He spent hours in his workshop making those presents, and the detailed craftsmanship that he put into each one made it a very special gift indeed.
Margaret knew just how special all of her husband’s gifts were, and this year she made a point of telling her children that.
“If the gifts your father crafted for us had been store-bought, they would have no doubt been very expensive indeed, because of the craftsmanship involved.”
As a result, the children always looked forward to receiving their father’s special gifts. But Murdock wasn’t the only crafter in the family: Margaret would knit and sew beautiful clothes and blankets for her children and their dolls, in addition to baking their favorite cookies as presents. Although they did receive a few store-bought presents lik
e other kids, they were just as excited, if not more so, when they opened their special hand-crafted presents each Christmas morning.
Although the children cherished all their presents, the most enjoyable to them, however fleeting the enjoyment, was the large basket of fresh-made molasses cookies that each received from their mother. Margaret always got out of bed early on Christmas morning to make a fresh-baked batch, just so the cookies would still be warm when each of her children unwrapped the gift to find their own wicker basket, full of the soft, tasty morsels. But the children were not alone in the enjoyment of special Christmas presents, because Margaret and Murdock would also make similar gifts for each other. Margaret would sew or knit the most beautiful socks, shirts and sweaters for her husband. In fact, she was adept at making a variety of clothing for Murdock; including, ‘work clothes’ that were useful when he farmed, heavy ‘woods clothes’ for the harsh Maine winter, and ‘elegant clothes’ for church or social events. Murdock in turn made handcrafted furniture for Margaret. Each year for Christmas he would add one or two items to her collection. He would start the new piece of furniture right after Christmas and work tirelessly the whole year crafting it until he felt it was perfect for his wife. And, it was not uncommon for Murdock to be almost done with a part, only to discard it and start over so that it would be perfect.
“Nothing less will do for my Maggie,” he was heard to say.
—1—
When Christmas Eve of 1918 finally arrived, Margaret had a surprise for her children. It was going on 9:00, and everyone was gathered around the Christmas tree. She smiled, handed a shiny red book to Murdock, and spoke.
“All right, children, before you go to bed your Papa has a treat for you; he’s gonna read a very special poem. It’s called The Night Before Christmas. It’s a Christmas poem written by a man named Clement Clarke Moore for his two daughters, nearly a hundred years ago; in 1822, if memory serves me.”
Journey With the Comet Page 32
