Winter at Home

I remember winter at home.

Snow swirling softly down,

with large flakes of silvery-white

Dropping wistfully down upon the ground.

At night, while the world was dark,

A dim light shone from the barn,

Darkening shapes of Trixie and Rocket,

Glide like ghosts from an old wives yarn.

I can remember coming home from school

Cold and shivering off the bus.

The welcome light, and mother at the door,

A hug for each one of us.

I remember the cemetery too.

It seemed so still and mysterious then,

Wind whistling in the sturdy pines,

Coyotes whining down the glen.

Aunt Gert's house, silent, down on the flat,

Near the lost home of my early youth,

An old friend for so many years standing still

Strong, yet straight, like honesty and truth.

The vacant church and hall,

Where we gathered for grange meetings

On blustery winter nights, with friends long gone

We share our warmth and greetings.

I'll never go back to those bygone days,

It is doubtful ever if I should;

But my memories are crisp and clear

And Oh! they are so good.

These One Hundred Years

Man first took flight at Kitty Hawk, the year was 1903.

The self-same year Grandpa Hilary came to be.

This family has grown with sweat, joy and tears

And it has prospered lo these hundred years.

Recently a new daddy, David has nothing to fear.

However the Crow reached forty this Familial centennial year.

Not to be outdone, Oopy who arrived in sixty-three,

Has Amelia Rose to grace our family.

This family has grown with sweat, joy and tears

And it has prospered lo these hundred years.

In the frozen north, Mary Ann doth reside,

This December she'll hit sixty and take it in stride.

Fifty years ago, can it really be?

Kate and Wray tied the knot as he marched of in the U.S. Army.

Also fifty years gone by, the graduate I do see,

Winning Gonzaga's Lindberg Loyalty Award, our Bess made history.

Elizabeth Rose and Joseph Wray were born in ninety-three.

They became two more twigs upon the family tree.

Thirty past this December, we were married at Fort Wright.

Today we welcome all our guests; they are quite a sight.

Now we have Kate, Bess, Pete, Den, Patti, Eb and Dose,

And all their kith, kin and progeny.

So on this 100^th birthday year,

We celebrate oh so thankfully.

The family has grown with sweat, joy and tears

And it has prospered lo these hundred years.