The Reindeer Keeper

I am a Winter Lover.  The more it snows and blows the better. The beauty of the season has always taken my breath away, from sunrises and sunsets to frosty fields and ice-covered landscapes, as well as snowdrifts up to the hips. However, this winter has found me complaining, just a little. You see, where I live in northern New York, the consistent temperature has lingered way below zero for days and nights. By below zero I'm talking 25 to 35+ below zero. The house moans and groans. The furnace goes nonstop, and I continue to try to stay warm. Homemade soups, coffee (more than usual), hot chocolate, more soups and casseroles with homemade breads, long johns, candles, piles of blankets, and turning the heat up all continue to come to my aid. But most soothing, day and night, have been my sweaters. I've always loved sweaters. Before this winter, comfort was most important in a sweater. Now, after the month of January set record below normal temperatures, warmth has taken over as m...

Over the years relatives would tell me how I used to love the song, "Buttons and Bows." Some would say whenever I heard that song, I would start dancing which probably meant I jumped up and down and all around. I'd also been told my love for the song led to my liking bows in my hair. I guess I had a whole collection of them and liked to change them several times during the day.When I came across this photo I considered it evidence to what I'd been told although looking at those bows I wonder why I had to have them so big! Besides being evidence of my love of bows, this photo also shows me with an aunt who called me 'Button.' She never married but considered her nieces and nephews as her own. She was always there for each and every one of us. She never missed a birthday. She took us to church and shopping. We would sit around the kitchen table and listen to her stories of when she was a little girl, growing up with five sisters and living on the farm. We...

I really enjoy the fall; can't stand the muggy days of summer or drizzly days of spring-but winter, specifically January, tops the list as my favorite time of the year. It might be the contrast-harshness wrapped in breathtaking beauty. It might be the quiet after December's rush. It might be the welcome embrace of home when walking through the door as the snow flies and wind blows. It might be many things but one thing for sure-hot cereal cooking on top of the stove while toast is being toasted and hot chocolate is being stirred is the most soulful-most heartfelt reason for January to be the first of the twelve months on the calendar. My grandmother-my aunt-my mother all cooked hot cereal. They each had their variations. Some used brown sugar-some sprinkled cinnamon in the bubbling mix-some served it with cream instead of milk. My grandmother would add a dab of butter when dishing her cereal into a bowl. She used a simple sauce pan with a top that had a dent in it for cookin...