Another Christmas is here, and it is natural to ponder this special time of year, with memories of so many family gatherings and traditions.
It especially so when having been so fortunate to spend every Christmas except one right here in Cordova.
In 1967 Sue and I had been married a year, and I was teaching in Hawai’i. We were living on a rather paltry salary of $162 every two weeks. Since our rent was $150 per month, flying home was pretty much out of Santa’s range.
We learned to dine on nearby beaches, grilling marinated day-old teriyaki beef on a small Hibachi grill, with pineapple pirated from the vast fields as dessert.
Needless to say, in the miles of rows of pineapple there wasn’t a Christmas tree in sight, so we went to the nearest Long’s Grocery Store in Waipahu and spotted a Charlie Brown beauty standing in a row right outside the entrance.
When I turned to ask Sue what she the thought of the evergreen I had selected, I felt some tugging on one of its few branches.
Oops. A little elderly Hawaiian lady had grabbed it from the other side. Sue shook her head at us and we cheerfully bade her a Mele Kalikimaka.
We found an equally qualified replacement at a similar price.
Lacking any tree ornaments, Sue suggested little peppermint canes. They came packed in cellophane.
Sue’s brother Johnny was visiting from Linfield College in Oregon, so we merrily enjoyed some ice cold Xmas Cheer in the warm Hawaii weather as we took the canes out of their wrapping and hung them on the tree.
Naturally, it came out looking awesome.
Sue remembered closing the curtains so it would be dark like in Alaska when we woke up in the morning.
We arose the next morning to the refreshing aroma of peppermint. Obviously Santa had come to visit.
All the candy canes had melted, and the linoleum floor was covered with pink sticky goo.
Ho ho ho.
We weren’t back in Cordova for Christmas. But it was one well remembered.
