I woke up Christmas morning to whisperings. I could see the glow of Christmas lights coming from the living room. I finally got up at 6:40. I had been up late last night mopping the floor and cleaning the counters.
I put on a long skirt over my black long johns and turned the oven on to warm up the doughnuts. Asaph was sent back to bed for bugging Mia. Elsie Ammiel was snuggled in Havilah's arms under her softest blanket. "Be ready to milk in 15 minutes girls", I said.
We hadn't known that our goat was pregnant when we bought her. Yesterday she gave birth but, we found the goat kid dead. The girls got very little milk from her this morning. We would have to figure out later how to get her milk production up.
Soon everyone was sitting around the table eating hot, glazed doughnuts. I looked at the bright, salmon pink sunrise hovering over the icy blue snow. I saw a large black bird fly silently across the sky. I wondered if anyone else was seeing that bird right now. Probably not. The serenity of this scene was a secret between the bird, it's maker and me.
I called, "get your partner's and brush your teeth. Bring your 'Thankful Cards', and a pencil to the living room."
Everyone ran off to not be the last team to the couch.
Elsie needed her diaper changed. She was trying to crawl on the table to see if there was anything more interesting than the doughnut she had in one hand and the cracker she gripped in the other.
These were the best doughnuts ever. A new Goodenough tradition had begun.
(Thank you for spending Christmas with us by reading this story. Please check back in a day or two for part 2. Love, jeni )
No comments:
Post a Comment