Bless earth with Thine Advent, O Saviour Christ!
And the golden gates which in days gone by
Full long stood locked, High Lord of heaven,
Bid Thou swing open and seek us out,
Humbly descending Thyself to earth.
  We have need of Thy mercy.  The dark Death-Shadow,
The Accursed Wolf, has scattered Thy sheep
And widely dispersed them; what Thou, O Lord,
Bought with Thy blood, that doth the Wicked One
Take into bondage, and smiteth sore
Against our desire.  O Saviour Lord,
In our inmost thoughts we eagerly beg:
Hasten to help us, miserable sinners,
That the Prince of torment may plunge to hell;
And Thy handiwork mount up on high,
Creator of men, and come to righteousness,
To the beauteous realms in the land above
From which the Dark Spirit led us astray,
Beguiled and seduced us through grievous sin
So that, shorn of glory, unto all ages
We must suffer affliction, except Thou first
O Living God, Eternal Lord,
Shield of all creatures, shall will to save us
 Out of the clutch of the Foe of mankind.

Advent Lyrics
from An Anthology of Old English Poetry
translated by Charles W. Kennedy

Kathleen, Colyn, and Peeta are staying the week with us because Natalie

is in Georgia for her brother's kidney transplant.  We have been having

a rip-roaring time, and after they are in bed, we get to sharing the

different things they have said and done, and it is pretty amusing.

The kids were apparently given strict instructions about what to say 

and not to say while they are here.  I know this, because Kathleen 

keeps telling people what they are not supposed to say.  The other 

day she went up to Hattie and whispered in her ear, "Mom told us 

not to say the word 'fart' when we are here because Grandma Laurie 

doesn't like it.  We are supposed to say, 'toot,' instead. 

It is true, I have a thing about certain words.  I always had my kids say

"toot" because "fart" sounds so very crude.  My boys, when they want

to tease me, remind me that they were the only kids in Mayberry who

said, "toot".

Yesterday they were in the haybarn with Grandpa Kent.  This is what he

overheard Kathleen reminding her brothers, "Remember, don't say words 

like 'buttcrack' because Grandma Laurie doesn't like it."  Well, "butt"

is a crude word (in my dictionary).  I much prefer "bottom" or "bum"

or "rear end".  Just humor me, okay!

Kent told me this, and we laughed, but the real funny came at dinner time

yesterday.  It was just the kids and me and we were talking about manners.

Kathleen (yes she loves to talk) was getting onto Colyn for not saying,

"Excuse me," when he burped.

Here is what she said.  "Well, I have manners.  Well, I have one manner that

is.  I say, 'Excuse me,' when I burp.  Well, I do have one other manner.   I say,

'Excuse me,' when I (hesitation clearly visible on her face) toot."

Her dad used to be the policeman of his brothers also.  They were on a trip

with Opa & Oma one time when he was about 9.  They were all watching

something on TV and there was kissing.  So Joel ordered, "Cover your eyes,

boys."  And to this day, Oma hoots over the way they all instantly obeyed,

and the three boys all turned their heads and covered their eyes.

The kittykat went pitterpat all through the house;
The kittykat went skitterskat as she chased the mouse;
Pitterpat and skitterskat, skitterskat and pitterpat,
Perhaps I'll call her Kitterkat.

Let's see.  What has been going on Up and Down the Gravel. The company is
all gone.  Things have seemed quite quiet in some ways, but life continues.

Uncle Jim is driving his own car again.  It has been awhile, and there have
been several issues, but hopefully they are resolved, at least for a bit.  Hattie
had a letter in the mailbox today address from G'ma Opal (though I suspect
Uncle Jim had a hand in delivering it...I recognize his handwriting.)  In the
envelope was a homemade card that Hattie had given to G'ma a number of
years ago.  Uncle Jim is thoughtful like that.  It is now safely filed away in
our Special Letter's File.

Mike and Debby are on a whirlwind tour of their various kids houses so that
they can celebrate Christmas with each of them and then be back here to
celebrate it with us.

Papa Bob's sawmill is on the bunk.  He has spent several days working to
repair it.  The last I heard he said something about their being gas in the
oil...or oil in the gas.  Anyway, he may need to take the engine to a shop
at Poplar Bluff.  That reminds me, tonight I learned from him the difference
between a motor and an engine.  A motor is electric, and an engine runs on some
type of fuel.

Tyler is building a hay feeding lean-to on the back of our shed.  The hardest
part of building anything is getting it squared up.  One of The Rattlesnake Boys
was helping us build our woodshed years ago and to square it up he said,
"3+4=5".  That was his hillbilly way of putting the Pythagorean Theorem to
good use.

Kent and I have sometimes spent days trying to get a building square.  I am sure
we almost divorced over squaring up our barn.  Anyway, between the three
of us, Kent, Tyler, and me, we were able to get the new hay-feeding lean-to
close enough to square to work.

Our friend, Doug, gave me a good line this past week.  He said, "Laurie, if
you ever want to get out of doing something, just say, 'I'm so sorry, but my
avacados will be ripe between 8 and 8:15 tomorrow night.'"  It is so funny
because it is so true.  Avacados are not ripe, not ripe, not ripe, ripe ( for about
15 minutes and perfect to work up), and then too ripe, too ripe, too ripe.

One more funny.  During deer season Bill, Stacey, and the kids were here.
Wilbur was looking at the deer mounts on our wall.  We were talking about
them, and he said, "Deer dead?"  "Yes, Wilbur the deer are dead."  "Deer
died on the cross?"  "No, Wilbur, not on the cross!"

Fernnook is more than just this 40 acres that has our home on it.  It is a
community that has been here for generations.  And, if we expand it
just a bit, it can take in a large swath of Hwy K.

There is a family that lives in a hollow a few miles from us.  They
have 3 brothers (grown men) who used to be called, "The Rattlesnake
Boys."  Their nickname explains it all.  You don't want to mess (even
yet) with them.  They have always been plenty friendly with us, but
cross them, and you will live to regret it.  That hollow, at the base
of Spencer Mountain, is filled with all 3 of their families, plus some
of their other relatives.

Heartbreakingly, on Thanksgiving night, three of the kids (all cousins) of
the Rattlesnake Boys were in a car wreck.  Two of the young men were
killed.

Kent has always done the funerals for this family.  Traditionally they
have been done in the family hollow, and the bodies have either been
cremated or buried on their property.  This time though, the 2 funerals
were at the funeral home, with just the graveside service for one of the
boys at their homeplace.

Funerals are one of the places where the interconnectedness of small towns
and their surrounding communities are made obvious.

The Rattlesnake Boys mother's brother's wife is one of the grand-daughters
of John and Lucy Emmons and it is the old Emmon's property that we now
call Fernnook Farm.  She, The Rattlesnake Boys mother's brother's wife
still owns part of the property across the road from us.

It is that kind of connection that makes this feel so much like home.