This year when we closed shop on December 18th, we underestimated the volume of last minute shoppers and apologize to everyone who tried to order a print for Christmas. Many are giving gift certificates at Christmas for a print with a tour/visit to my studio beginning December 28th, we look forward to meeting these collectors.
We cherish our family time together in Girdwood, my daughter and her family are here every weekend including holidays and it is a short hour and a half drive for my son (Ron) and his wife. Girdwood makes a strange bedfellow for Bob and I, neither of us downhill ski. But, we’ve learned that if we want to see our grandchildren we need to go where they go, and soon they will be grown and gone.
It seems strange, though, to not be in our home with our ancient collection of memories accumulated over many Christmas’s through the years. In the Girdwood condo we have a tiny fake tree that came fully decorated, at home stored in boxes are the hand-made ornaments I crafted when my children were babies and our budget was tiny. There are ornaments given to us as gifts each with a special memory, and as our parents passed away we saved our favorite ornaments from their personal collections. Here we can’t fuss and play with the antique Lionel train given to my husband when he was just a boy, the worn out bellows for the horn hardly functions and the train creeps along, straining to move forward, but we don’t care. Forty eight years of holidays and memories, the Christmas spent in a Newport Beach condo when our son was in grad school at UCI, the holiday we took the kids to Hawaii and tied ornaments to the ceiling fan, and the times we spent with friends when the family couldn’t get together because of schedules and distance. Several years ago we volunteered and helped serve a free Christmas dinner to over 750 people in our community, there are so many ways to celebrate this special time of year, we each need to look deep inside ourselves and find ways to share, give our love, and our help.
I pray all of you find the spirit of the season no matter where you are or what your situation.
Merry Christmas to everyone and God’s Blessings in the New Year.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist
Hi Gail,
Under your December 10 comments you asked how did we celebrate Christmas in Australia. I wrote a detailed reply as another Comment, but I notice it still hasn’t appeared. I wonder if you missed its arrival or whether it disappeared in cyberspace?
I hope you had a lovely Christmas.
Noella xx
Hi Noella,
It looks like your comment went into cyberspace. I’d love to see it.
Happy New Year,
Gail
Uh oh! I will write again…but tomorrow. It is nearly 1.00 am here after 40°C (104°F) today, and must try and get some sleep!