Was it because Christmas is just around the corner or was a spirit of hilarity in the air? Whatever it was, merriment prevailed around the hundred-year old table at yesterday’s critique. Jane brought a rum cake and, let me tell you, it was so delicious that we all asked for the recipe. With the temperatures hovering in the thirties, coffee was popular too. It was especially good with the cake.
Jane hadn’t had any late-night inspirations but she did have some nostalgic memories of Christmas at her house when she was a child. Jane’s mother started baking and making candy a week before Christmas. Delicious aromas drifted through every room making everyone’s mouth water.
A traditional outing to find the perfect, real Christmas tree always resulted in a lot of fun. Jane’s family used the same icicles year after year, carefully taking them from tree branches when Christmas was over and storing them so they did not become tangled and were good for the next year.
Jane and her family are from Mena, the same place my dad hailed from. They had the custom of telling each other, “Christmas Eve Gift.” Dad would call me every Christmas morning and the first thing he would say was, “Christmas gift.” It is an old custom, passed down from generation to generation and still heard in some homes today, including Jane’s.
Jane also had a New Year’s custom. Her mother would break that hairy coconut which had been sitting on the table, pour off the milk, and use it for delicious coconut cake.
We all have memories of Christmases past and I think they grow dearer as the years pass.
Peg remembered that they had a Santa Claus bulb to put on their tree every Christmas. That was the most important bulb in the string of lights and it was used for many years. Those bulbs now would be considered antiques and quite costly.
And, a praise item: her iPad is fixed. All the books she ordered in the past came flying home through the cyber sphere and she is set to read again. Presently she is reading Dead, Bath, and Beyond by Lorraine Bartlett and Laurie Cass. Peg is also a fan of audio books. She listens as she drives, which I think is an excellent way to break the monotony of being in the car. Her current audio is Die Like an Eagle by Donna Andrews.
Carolyn, who gave each of us a calendar of paintings she has done of Outhouses of NWA, read several of her poems, The Haircut, The Doughnut and Experiences. The Doughnut was based on the true story of buying a box of doughnuts, taking it home, and realizing one doughnut had a large size bite out of it. They took the box back to the store and the box was quickly replaced.
Carolyn also gave each of us a hand-painted Christmas card. They are delightful. My card reminds me of Kenny Rogers, white beard and all!
I read a chapter of By the Fright of the Silvery Moon. I have written several chapters since our last meeting but this one sort of filled them in on some of Ned’s experiences they hadn’t yet heard. 
By the way, I am a fan of audio books too. The Cemetery Club, Grave Shift, and Best Left Buried are all audio books as well as ebooks and paperbacks. The newest Darcy and Flora, Grave Heritage will soon be an audio book.
So ended our last critique for 2016. We’ve been doing this for more than three years, through the heat of summer, the cold of winter, wind storms, rain, and snow. The fire still crackled merrily in the fireplace, the Christmas tree shone with lights and ornaments but our company left, leaving Nemo and me to bask in its warmth. The Critters left to go back to their respective abodes, calling Merry Christmas as they hurried to their cars. Next year, hopefully, we’ll begin all over again.
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