Sunday, December 26, 1971

Dec 26, 1971

411 Bonnie Dr, El Cerrito

Dear Family,

It’s a little past 4 PM on this gray and drizzly day after Christmas and as I sit here in the living room starting to write I can see all the marks of the season — soon to be put away till next year, or discarded, or moved to a more appropriate place or use. The Christmas tree stands in the corner, with the top bent a little by the weight of the tree lights and/or decorations — someone was saying that they’d talked to the proprietor of a Christmas tree lot who’d said that he was tired of people who wanted an absolutely symmetrical tree and that he liked a tree with character. By character I was given to understand he meant a tree with a branch too big here, or no branches at all there or some imperfection. I think our tree this year had “character” — it never was exactly straight and now it has a definite curvature.

By the tree is the end table I made a couple of years ago — on it sits a pot with a chrysanthemum plant in it (brought by some luncheon guests that Jean had last Thursday — a lady and he three daughters who used to live on the other side of the block from us here), a Christmas tree decoration that Ruth Peterson (Rev. Gus Knock’s oldest daughter) brought when she came to dinner last Wednesday and last, but not least, the old glass sugar bowl with cover than belonged to grandmother — now being used for a few days to hold some old fashioned hard Christmas candies.

On the mantle stand a row of Christmas cards we’ve received this year and from it hangs four red, decorated Christmas stockings. Yesterday morning they were full (at least those of the girls were), now they are flat & empty again; not there any more is the red stocking belonging to Palma that she’d put up for me since I don’t have one of the decorated ones that are preserved from one year to the next.

As I write I’m munching periodically on some salted peanuts which I think came from Laurel — they were in “my” stocking — and I can hear from downstairs the strains of the hi-fi set with a rather melancholy song now being played. Over its sound tho I can hear the chattering of some birds outside — blackbirds or starlings I guess — that have been with us for several days now. Earlier this afternoon I went outside for awhile and did enough pruning on the rose bushes to fill up the trash can — the garbage man comes tomorrow morning and this was my last chance to fill it before he came. Started in to do this Friday morning, which I had off as a holiday, but just as I started it began to rain with considerable vigor so then I retreated inside until a more propitious time — this afternoon it was misting some but even so it was rather pleasant to be outside getting a little fresh air. Just after lunch Jean’s sister & her husband from Encinitas down south left to return home, they cam on Wednesday and it was an enjoyable visit for the days they were here. They have a long drive ahead of them before they get home this evening. We’re glad we’ve not driving some 500 miles this afternoon & evening.

Monday Jean & the girls went over to San Francisco, not shopping but just to see the stores and decorations — including the City of Paris store with its large Christmas tree, for the last time I understand as it’s being discontinued after the first of the year. Another example of the decline of downtown shopping & the flight to the suburbs. Tuesday they wnt out to the Sun Valley shopping center in Concord, which is where the stores bave been fleeing to. Palma had a friend stay overnite Monday night, she used to live up the street aways & now lives in Marysville in the Sacto valley.

Thursday there was a luncheon at work for the three process engineering depts — chemical, licensing & mechanical — and I went to it having contributed my $1 (and being assured by the steno in charge that I didn’t need to bring any salad or dessert as originally specified). After the luncheon there was a short and not too tuneful singing of Christmas carols, to the accompaniment of two engineers playing recorders (an instrument a little but like a clarinet, except that you use your fingers to cover holes to make the various notes). I spent the rest of the afternoon doing my Christmas shopping (we had the afternoon off from work) and so got it done a day sooner than I have in recent years when I’ve used Christmas Eve afternoon for this purpose.

Friday evening we had supper with just the Ritchies — Jean’s sister — along and then went to the Christmas Eve service at 7 PM. Afterward we just sat & visited until we chased the girls off to bed and Jean & I filled the stockings before following them. We had the opening of gifts Christmas morning — I got a beautiful box, decorated with stamps, from the Prairie View Strands and a large framed watercolor painting from Jean. The latter she’d seen over in the El Cerrito library and is a rural Calif scene from the Livermore valley. By the time we’d finished opening the gifts it was time to get the turkey started and we did that before having lunch. The Rosels came in about the middle of the afternoon and we had supper about 5 o’clock — the turkey was a bigger one than usual & wasn’t quite as well done as we usually cook them, but it was a delicious and every one ate too much I’m sure.

In the afternoon before our guests came Jean & I went for a walk (the weather having cleared a little — we’d had a rainy Friday & Friday night) in the cemetery nearby and left some holly branches at the graves of her folks. It was amazing how many flowers we saw in the cemetery, and the number of small Christmas trees on many graves — remembrances of many happy Christmases of the past no doubt. After supper we visited until late, but we woke this morning feeling somehow fresh & rested anyway.

All for this time

With love, Carl