by jphilo | Dec 3, 2020 | Mystery Update
Country school Christmas programs were a big deal and still are where country schools still exist. That’s why preparing for the Christmas program plays a major role in See Jane Sing! In fact, the progress of the program is a device I use to drive the story’s sense of urgency. Jane wants to solve mystery before the Christmas program as the morning after the big show she will go to her parents’ home in Iowa for Christmas break.
But enough about that.
The purpose of this post is to focus on the Mr. and Mrs. Santa costumes in the above picture. But first, a word about the amazingly adorable models, Shawn Burghduff and Mary Philippe, who were third graders when they nabbed their starring roles in that year’s program. The picture evokes equal parts joy and sorrow when I see it. Joy to have been their teacher for three years and sorrow over Shawn’s death due to a freak illness when he was not yet thirty. When See Jane Run! is released, it will be dedicated to him.
Give me a minute to stop crying.
Okay, I’m back with some fun facts about the Mr. and Mrs. Santa costumes.
- I made the costumes. Except for Mrs. Claus’s striped apron and Mr. Claus’s black belt. Their parents supplied those.
- When we moved to Iowa, the music teacher borrowed the costumes every year for the third grade Christmas program.
- Before the first borrow, I made a white, ruffled apron and matching mob cap for Mrs. Santa.
- My daughter wanted to be Mrs. Santa Claus for Halloween when she was in second grade. I bought granny glasses, washed and ironed the costume, and boom, it was ready. She was adorable, and my propensity to save costumes was vindicated.
- I still have the costumes. They’re too big for my grandkids, ages 2 and 4, but that doesn’t stop them from playing dress up in them.
- Every time the costumes come out, I think of Shawn and cry happy tears.
Give me another minute to find a tissue.
Okay, I’m back with one last observation related to fictionalized scenes about country school Christmas programs. They take me a long time to write and use a lot of tissues.
Go figure.
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by jphilo | Oct 30, 2014 | Three Thoughts for Thursday
- While walking by the Halloween-costumes-for-pets display, all I can think about are the health care workers in Africa waiting for hazmat suits.
- Can anyone explain the need for both a paper receipt from Staples and an electronic one?
- The sweetest sound in the world: when your grandchild talks to you on the phone for the first time. What sounds sweet to your ears?
by jphilo | Oct 31, 2012 | Recipes
Since today is Halloween, I wanted to feature a treat that won’t play tricks on people who are lactose intolerance or have dairy allergies. With a few modifications, this recipe for Salted Nut Roll Bars from the Shadow Valley Family Camp Cookbook does the trick. (Okay, I promise, no more puns.) All you have to do is swap the butter for margarine or coconut oil and they’re good to go. To cut down on the sweetness, eliminate half or all of the brown sugar in the crust and decrease the amount of marshmallows.
Salted Nut Rolls
Crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon soda
1/2 cup butter, margarine or coconut oil, softened
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all crust ingredients until crumbly. Press into ungreased 9 x 13 pan. Bake 15 minutes. Immediately sprinkle 3 cups of miniature marshmallows over crust and return to oven for about 2 minutes. Marshmallows should puff. Remove from oven and cool.
Topping:
2/3 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup butter, margarine, or coconut oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
12 oz. package peanut butter chips*
2 cups Rice Krispies
2 cups salted peanuts
Heat syrup, shortening, vanilla, and chips in a sauce pan until smooth, stirring constantly. Stir in cereal and peanuts. Spoon over marshmallows and use knife or spatula to spread until marshmallows are evenly covered. Chill and cut into squares before serving.
*The peanut butter chips ingredient list includes whey powder and whey powder concentrate in third and fourth place out of ten items. The small amount doesn’t bother me (in moderation, of course), but it could be a problem for someone with a severe dairy allergy:(
by jphilo | Oct 30, 2012 | Daily Life
Today we’re going to enter the holiday spirit and enjoy a good, old-fashioned Halloween scare here at Down the Gravel Road.
Not a haunted house.
Not a freaky costume.
Not a slasher movie.
No, we’re about to experience something much more terrifying than those mundane horrors. We’re checking out the top then scary things lurking in the dark recesses of my refrigerator.
(Insert Alfred Hitchcock Psycho music and creaky door opening here.)
10. Ziplock bags filled with the hacked remains of forgotten onions and bell peppers in the bottom of the vegetable crisper.
9. An jar half-filled with marmalade gone bitter and resentful after years of neglect.
8. A pickle jar in which one sweet gerkin, treading pickle juice since last Thanksgiving, is about to give up the ghost.
7. A bowl of leftover broccoli emitting an eye-watering foul odor.
6. A shriveled grape, a wrinkled apple, and a discolored orange moldering in the plastic, transparent grave of the the fruit drawer.
5. One mummified hamburger bun, nearly as old as King Tut, preserved in a plastic shroud.
4. A bowl of separated egg whites waiting to botulize any fool stupid enough to ignore the green slime floating on the surface.
3. Bottles of steak sauce, liquid smoke, and soy sauce with shelf lives so long they must be radioactive.
2. A brand new bottle of mustard with a plugged spout waiting to let loose and spray an unsuspecting victim with modern mustard gas when the right pressure is applied.
1. A bazillion ketchup packets, collected by Mom during her clean-out-the-fast-food-freebies days, breeding like crazy until there are enough to launch their evil plot to take over the world.
So, are you shaking in your boots yet? Or do you have scarier stuff in your refrigerator? In that case, join the Halloween fun and leave a comment.
by jphilo | Oct 28, 2010 | Daily Life
No way was I going to buck the wind and walk outside in that kind of weather. Instead, I drove to a nearby mall to get some exercise. Once I adjusted to passing senior citizens doing laps behind walkers or with oxygen tanks in hand, my attention shifted to store window displays.
With Halloween only a few days away, costumes were the theme of the week. In fact, two boo-tiques (not kiosks, but actual stores) were completely devoted to the dress up clothes. The more I passed the stores, the more they blew me away. The guy stuff was bad enough. Lots of super hero and fantasy garb along with traditional spooky stuff: vampires, werewolves, zombies, and some things bordering on sadistic. But women’s costumes outnumbered the men’s three to one. And they were much worse, all trumpeting the same sickening theme.
Sexy sailor girl
Sexy police girl
Sexy waitress
Sexy nurse
Sexy maid
Sexy Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz
Sexy witch
All of the above were accessorized with stiff petticoats designed to push the already short skirts even shorter, fishnet black stockings held in place with black garters, and stiletto heels.
The message to boys is bad enough: Real men should be strong and tough and scary.
But the message to girls is worse: Sexy is all that matters.
Those are messages kids don’t need. What they need is time with Mom or Dad rummaging through old clothes. They need to hear their parents tell stories about old letter sweaters, cowboy hats, fancy formals, and crazy blue jeans. They need to be shown how to make an old suit coat and cane into a hobo costume, or a full skirt and scarves into a gypsy costume. They need to experience the fun of taking old stuff to create something new. They need time to be kids.
