CHRISTMAS ON BLURRY MOUNTAIN (4 of 4 – final)
After the festivities, Mr Hughes banked the fire and everyone got ready for sleep. Mike took a moment to speak to Sarah. “You have such a giving family. I am privileged to be part of this. At my house is a plastic tree with little electric lights and lots of plastic ornaments. Most of it is meaningless. Here every ornament is hand made and carries a history. I like being here.”
She said simply, “I like you here as well.”
He could hardly go to sleep that night. And in the morning he could smell the special aroma of that pine tree, the slight smokiness of the fire in the wood stove, and breakfast cooking on the stove. He had overslept and they’d let him.
“Good morning, John Michael,” said Mrs Hughes. Mike sheepishly replied, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sleep so long.” Mrs Hughes said, “There was a lot of excitement. Hard to sleep after all that.” She wasn’t grumpy about it at all. At home he would have had to “deal” with it for a few hours. He thought, “These folks are too good to be real…” Then he thought, “No! This is the way things should be.” He put on his work clothes and hurried to the barn to help feed the animals.
That afternoon William gave his oral report. Mike was impressed. He had heard the song a couple times on the radio but never imagined that it was about a real person. Duke Wenceslaus grew up in a Christian home, born in about 907 AD, in Bohemia (modern Czech Republic). As ruler he focused on building churches and supporting the spread of Christian teachings. Wenceslaus was committed to improving the welfare of his subjects. However, he and his brother did not get along. His brother was more favorable toward pagan rites and practices. In 935 it was his own brother who assassinated him and took over as Duke. Because his subjects adored Duke Wenceslaus it was not long before word reached Rome. Emperor Otto I conferred on him the title of king. The Holy Catholic church elevated him to sainthood.
In 1853 John Mason Neale wrote the song “Good King Wenceslas” to honor the man’s faithfulness to Christ and beneficence to his countrymen. The last line of the song includes these words: “Ye who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing.”
William concluded his report thus: “That is why we always watch out for widows, orphans, and people stranded by the snow.”
A round of applause was in order.
Christmas day came, time on the mountain always seemed to pass slowly unless you wanted it to go slow. Everything was the same, yet everything was different. There were still chores to do, but they were done more joyfully. Breakfast tasted better. Sarah and Mrs Hughes baked a pie for later in the day. One of the larger chickens was butchered, cleaned, plucked, and set to bake while potatoes, onions, squash, and stuffing were readied to cook a bit later. The sun shone all morning, then clouds came and it began to snow big flakes.
While waiting for the right time to begin all the cooking the family sat down with spiced apple cider to read the Christmas story, pray, and share things for which they were thankful. Mr Hughes thanked God for a good year along with a helpful guest for the winter. William thanked God for someone to talk with and his prayer included that he might win a few games of chess.
John Michael shared a Christmas poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning he had memorized that went in part:
“We sate (archaic past tense of sit) among the stalls at Bethlehem;
The dumb kine (archaic plural of cow) from their fodder turning them,
Softened their horn’d faces,
To almost human gazes
Toward the newly Born:
The simple shepherds from the star-lit brooks
Brought visionary looks,
As yet in their astonished hearing rung
The strange sweet angel-tongue:…”
They had a little more time after all that so they passed out the gifts. The family was pleasantly surprised by Mike’s skill with wood burning. A few other gifts were shared, then Sarah handed a gift to Mike; a pair of knit mittens for him to use when NOT working in the barn. He had never been so pleased with a gift. The items were not expensive but the happiness was genuine. At home Mike would have received numerous gifts, purchased. Here the gifts given were shared respect and love. Those were worth more than the former. Later, under the Mistletoe he received his first kiss from Sarah.
In the late afternoon the table was set and the family shared an fantastically tasty meal of simple foods made special by the bond they shared. Mike had never tasted chicken so tender or flavorful. The butter was made fresh that morning. Although William did not like squash, he happily ate a small portion, which tasted oddly bitter to him. He didn’t mind. It was a day of gratefulness. It was a day of awe.
So, this was Christmas in the kingdom of Blurry Mountain. King Hughes of the mountain was surrounded by his loyal subjects whose every need had been met, and whose every hope had been fulfilled. All was right with the world.
We wish you and yours a Merry Christmas! If you don’t celebrate Christmas, then we wish you a restful day of joy and peace.
[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere.
ALSO, Don is always open to offer his thoughts on various topics. If you have a specific request, you can let him know in a comment; he reads – and replies to – them all. ~ Sherry]
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