Hollis Baker’s Blog

Notice how fast Christmas Holidays get here these days? I was just thinking recently; when I was a kid it seemed to never get here. Christmas, in those days, came about every 3 years. Now it is here every six months. And you know, I am glad. Not for me but for the children, and all the family. It is a time when you can say, “I love you,” and no one thinks you are up to something. It is an opportunity to go shopping and spend a little money on those we love. Or even better, you can make a gift to give someone special on your list. Alice is good at making cookies, pies, cakes and bread for gifts. I am pleased to be on that list.

I remember her sewing special Christmas clothes for our children when they were young. Her greatest success came one year when we were a little short of money. She had this great idea and sent me looking for a burlap bag. I had my doubts, but I did as she had asked. Alice took the bag and made a vest and cowboy chaps for the boys and a Dale Evans dress for our daughter. I got into the sprit of the season and made three stick horses for them to ride. That may have been the best Christmas gifts our kids ever had. They were the envy of the neighborhood. Then came the grandchildren, and now one great-grandchild. I trust Alice will come through with flying colors. It is just a matter of love and a little ingenuity.

Another activity that adds to the sprit of the season is cutting a Christmas tree. Alice, I, and our kids would all pile into the pickup and find a pasture full of cedars. That is not hard to do here in central Texas. We would walk through the forest of fragrant cedars looking for just the right size and shape. That was great fun for the kids. As the children grew I began letting them have a chance to chop one down. We seemed always to end up with a pickup full of trees. Each of them knew some kid that didn’t have an opportunity to get a tree; so they spread cheer by giving them away. A cedar Christmas tree in the house gives it a special smell…..the smell of Christmas. Then cane the thrill of decorating the tree. We had plenty of glass balls to hang from the branches. We had to pull up a chair for the little ones to reach the higher branches. One year they got busy with a secret activity, which they didn’t want us to see. Laughter, giggling and whispered words drifted up the hallway as they worked. Soon they came to the tree with a cardboard star covered with Alice’s kitchen aluminum foil to attach to the very top. We still treasure that star. And you know it still shines brightly from the tiptop of our tree each year.

Christmas eve at church, with candles and carols completed the wonderful feeling of this time of year. It really doesn’t matter what is beneath the tree…it is what is in our hearts.
I know, with this fast approaching Holiday, you will find many Christmas memories to hang from next year’s tree.