Thursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas Eve at Dragonfly Cottage

Mark and Maleena and I are in Colville, Washington, visiting my parents (Ken and Nancy Jenkins) for Christmas. We arrived yesterday afternoon; we are staying at a little cottage nearby called "Dragonfly Cottage." It is a wonderful place to stay. Here's Mark on the porch after bringing in some more firewood.

The cottage is close to Rocky Lake, which is mostly frozen over. We saw a family ice skating on it this morning. Too bad we couldn't join them! But we didn't bring any skates...and even if we did, we don't know how to use them. Watching the skaters made me wish I could learn.

The interior of the cabin is made with fine details. Look at the specially-made space-saving stairs that lead up to Maleena's loft:

The last time I remember being this peaceful at Christmas was in 1973, the year before I married my first husband. My dad was a harbor manager at a small harbor on California's central coast. My parents and I went to a lighthouse near the harbor so the lighthouse keeper could spend Christmas away from the job. We stayed there at the lighthouse overnight, with just a handful of gifts to open in the morning. There wasn't much to do except enjoy one another and the beautiful place. Kind of like this year (except now in 2009 I'm "wired" to the internet to stay in touch with loved ones and friends).

3 comments:

JuliaKoponick said...

Merry Christmas!

The kids have already been up a couple of times. Maddy at 1 am and 2:30 am and the twins now at 3:30 am. I sent them back to bed, but I am not sure how long that will last.

I am glad you are having your peaceful holiday! The pictures look wonderful.

It was 28 degrees here when I got home from the Christmas Eve Service with Patricia, a little before 1 am. It was actually very peaceful driving home, once I got out of Portland. I had to be careful once I got to Oregon City, because the fog was frozen, and the streets were a little icy. There were two wrecks on the bypass. I just kept a sedate pace and made it home without any incident.

I am sure we will talk to you at a more sane and humane hour. Love all of you lots!!

Katie Lewis said...

Merry Christmas! Love you!

P.S. The big O is pretty nuts about that lion/lamb/thing toy you sent. She is holding on to it right now.

Dorothy said...

What a lovely setting for Christmas! I am almost envious...except I am enjoying very much my visit with the kids this season. :)