I diverted from the traditional feast in that I never harvested my own wild turkey. I did look into it. I realized that by the time I procured a shotgun, a Ghillie suit, turkey call, and hunting permit, the turkey would come in at about $ 56 dollars a pound. That is if I got a turkey. So I learned to accept and celebrate Mr. Butterball.
There is meaning in sitting at a table of old folks that you have grown up with and young people who are growing up with you, telling and listening to the old stories of a shared history. I think that is what the holidays are for.
Sharing traditional foods with the people around us while sharing our stories fixes those stories so they can live on in our communities.
Then Christmas rolls around and we get to have another feast and get together.
I liked to go out to our part of the woods or a neighbor’ s Christmas tree farm and find the right tree to cut and bring home. I would trim some of the branches to give it some semblance of symmetry and then set it up in the cabin. We would then decorate it with heirloom baubles and handcrafted decorations made by friends and local crafts people. We would use some of the branches that were cut off the tree to decorate the place. Then it was time to have a party. For me, the party was the thing that that made it possible to get through the deeps of winter to come. We would invite our friends and there would be a cheery fire in the wood stove. There would be cider and all manner of adult beverages and happy socializing.
Then guitars, banjos, fiddles, basses, and jugs would appear. Music would happen. It always seemed that just when midnight rolled around folks would take their leave amid hugs and kisses and wishes for a Merry Christmas. The fire in the stove would die down and the quiet of the woods would descend. There was meaning in all of that.
Well, Brown County is not just a geographical place but it is also a place in the imagination. It is a place where tradition thrives. It is a place where people created and still create meaning in their crafts and gardens, their art and music. And that makes Brown County a perfect place to put meaning in the holidays. •
Sweetwater Gallery Stained Glass • Paperweights Mosaic Mirrors • Pottery Fabric Wallhangings
158 Old School Way in Nashville • 812-988-0449 Open Fri.– Sun. November and December created by hand
E S T 1 9 7 8 local artisans
BROWN COUNTY
Lightspinner Studio
Martha Sechler
Unique Watercolors Mixed Media Gourd Art
4460 Helmsburg Rd. Nashville, IN • 812-703-3129 Open June thru December— Call Ahead
Unplug with a Good Book
Old, New, Used and Rare Books
Journals • Sketchbooks Handmade Greeting Cards Local Postcards
45 S. Jefferson St. • Nashville, IN 812.988.0202 • fallenleafbooks. com
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call 812.988.7058
62 E. Washington · Nashville, IN · BrownCountyCraftGallery. com
Nov./ Dec. 2021 • Our Brown County 35