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One of the things about farming in Iowa is that it's very seasonal. We work like crazy from March through about Thanksgiving and then the ground freezes and the plants die. Many of the animals go to butcher in October and November and chores, while still a daily presence, decreases to a few necessary minutes each morning and night. The work takes a sudden shift from what feels like around the clock outdoor physical activity of growing/nourishing/harvesting and reactivity of customer interactions to largely indoor/office work. Catching up on the books, researching that new idea, making crop plans and ordering seed for next year, making decisions about if and how to grow the business. Hard mental work that gets pushed aside during the spring/summer/fall but that is soo necessary to running a business. At the same time, the physical demands lessen and the days get darker and colder and even though I know how exactly worthwhile it is to go outside despite the cold and snow, it gets MUCH harder to cross that thresh hold and step outside.
And then there's the holidays... whew boy, those holidays can certainly bring stress. I've thought a lot about the holidays this year. THE matriarchs, aka - the grandmas that held everyone together, on all sides of both families have passed away in the last few years and we've been floundering a bit as long held holiday plans and traditions shift and morph into something new.
I've also come to realize that the holidays and the traditions and magic that we associate with them are so important to keeping spirits up during the cold, dark winter days. We have been blessed with a few nice days this past week but it gets dark so early that it’s hard to take advantage of the nice weather after school and work. And so, we focus on the season before us and bask in the lighted trees and the hot chocolate and the music that we all know so well.
Besides lifting spirits in the moment, traditions also tie us to each other and seat themselves deep in our memories. I will never forget making Christmas candy with my brother, mom, grandma and great grandma. This is one tradition that has largely fallen to the wayside over the years but I will never forget the coziness of 3 women and 2 children all working together in great grandma’s tiny apartment kitchen. And nothing was more fun than getting to help great grandma pull the peanut brittle after mom dumped it from the hot pan onto the cool cookie sheet. Trust me, you haven’t had truly good peanut brittle until you have had peanut brittle that has been pulled!
One of my favorite Christmas memories is driving through the luminaries in Anita, IA with mom & grandma. And after the luminaries, we would always drive up and down every street in town soaking in allll the Christmas lights. I find myself drawn back every year - even though my kids don't seem to think it's nearly as captivating as I do.
To be fair, my kids are just now old enough to really take in the wonders of Christmas so maybe this year will be different. It's interesting, sifting through two families worth of traditions, keeping some, discarding others and ultimately creating our own traditions that will hopefully populate our kids' winter memories for a lifetime.
One thing we have landed on is a tradition of giving - just doing a little something to help us focus a little more on others and a little less on ourselves as we pass the time from Thanksgiving to Christmas.
Last year was a food pantry advent calendar, this year we are making blankets to donate to Lydia House via the Elk Horn Public Library. Making fleece tie blankets with a 4 & 6 year old has been a true adventure. Maybe after this I can teach them to tie their shoes. Ha. I should probably hide the scissors though as they now feel they have license to use them a little more freely than I might have intended.
Other traditions that have stood the test of time are visiting a tree farm to pick out a live tree. I mean honestly, is there anything better than getting all bundled up and walking through a patch of carefully shaped pine trees on a brisk day while debating the attributes of each tree? Is this one ‘full’ enough *thinking emoji*? How about this one? It’s just a skotch taller than Dad, it should fit in the dining room right? Could we be more efficient and like measure things out? Well sure, but where’s the fun in that?! And honestly the best part of the whole thing is the cup of hot chocolate or apple cider to warm up with afterwards! This tradition is getting harder to hold onto as tree farms are fewer and farther between. The disappearance of Christmas tree farms feels like an analogy for the disappearance of all trees in Iowa *eye roll or sad emoji* - but I’ll write about our disappearing trees another day.
I’m working on my brother to help create a new tradition for the farm - BKF Xmas card! It won’t happen this year but maybe next year ;) My brother is the genius behind the camera – he takes all of the truly quality photos you see from the farm.
How about you? What are your favorite Holiday traditions? What brings magic to your house in the cold winter months?
And then there's the holidays... whew boy, those holidays can certainly bring stress. I've thought a lot about the holidays this year. THE matriarchs, aka - the grandmas that held everyone together, on all sides of both families have passed away in the last few years and we've been floundering a bit as long held holiday plans and traditions shift and morph into something new.
I've also come to realize that the holidays and the traditions and magic that we associate with them are so important to keeping spirits up during the cold, dark winter days. We have been blessed with a few nice days this past week but it gets dark so early that it’s hard to take advantage of the nice weather after school and work. And so, we focus on the season before us and bask in the lighted trees and the hot chocolate and the music that we all know so well.
Besides lifting spirits in the moment, traditions also tie us to each other and seat themselves deep in our memories. I will never forget making Christmas candy with my brother, mom, grandma and great grandma. This is one tradition that has largely fallen to the wayside over the years but I will never forget the coziness of 3 women and 2 children all working together in great grandma’s tiny apartment kitchen. And nothing was more fun than getting to help great grandma pull the peanut brittle after mom dumped it from the hot pan onto the cool cookie sheet. Trust me, you haven’t had truly good peanut brittle until you have had peanut brittle that has been pulled!
One of my favorite Christmas memories is driving through the luminaries in Anita, IA with mom & grandma. And after the luminaries, we would always drive up and down every street in town soaking in allll the Christmas lights. I find myself drawn back every year - even though my kids don't seem to think it's nearly as captivating as I do.
To be fair, my kids are just now old enough to really take in the wonders of Christmas so maybe this year will be different. It's interesting, sifting through two families worth of traditions, keeping some, discarding others and ultimately creating our own traditions that will hopefully populate our kids' winter memories for a lifetime.
One thing we have landed on is a tradition of giving - just doing a little something to help us focus a little more on others and a little less on ourselves as we pass the time from Thanksgiving to Christmas.
Last year was a food pantry advent calendar, this year we are making blankets to donate to Lydia House via the Elk Horn Public Library. Making fleece tie blankets with a 4 & 6 year old has been a true adventure. Maybe after this I can teach them to tie their shoes. Ha. I should probably hide the scissors though as they now feel they have license to use them a little more freely than I might have intended.
Other traditions that have stood the test of time are visiting a tree farm to pick out a live tree. I mean honestly, is there anything better than getting all bundled up and walking through a patch of carefully shaped pine trees on a brisk day while debating the attributes of each tree? Is this one ‘full’ enough *thinking emoji*? How about this one? It’s just a skotch taller than Dad, it should fit in the dining room right? Could we be more efficient and like measure things out? Well sure, but where’s the fun in that?! And honestly the best part of the whole thing is the cup of hot chocolate or apple cider to warm up with afterwards! This tradition is getting harder to hold onto as tree farms are fewer and farther between. The disappearance of Christmas tree farms feels like an analogy for the disappearance of all trees in Iowa *eye roll or sad emoji* - but I’ll write about our disappearing trees another day.
I’m working on my brother to help create a new tradition for the farm - BKF Xmas card! It won’t happen this year but maybe next year ;) My brother is the genius behind the camera – he takes all of the truly quality photos you see from the farm.
How about you? What are your favorite Holiday traditions? What brings magic to your house in the cold winter months?
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