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* whew !!!

IN THIS ISSUE

• Zvonko Springer concludes the story of his Christmas memories
• Dick Monaghan describes the trials of remodelling their kitchen
• We have letters from Dilys Buchan and Zvonko Springer
• Rafiki sends a Christmas forecast
• Barbara Wear and Tom Williamson recommend Christmas card sites
• Still wondering what to buy the man in your life? Here are some suggestions

Zvonko Springer remembers 75 years of

CHRISTMASES PAST

1944 - a wartime Christmas

I spent the Christmas holidays with my family in our house in Krezmina Street. There was hardly any traffic on the town´s streets except for pedestrians going to church or to visit friends and relatives nearby. Christmas Eve and the following few days passed in a a gloomy mood, with depressing thoughts about our destiny in the near future. There were no presents under an improvised tree, but Mother prepared meals as well as she could under the circumstances. Childhood´s elation and expectations of the Christmas season were definitely gone.

Late 1940s

Under the Communist regime that governed Yugoslavia after the war, Christmas days were to be normal working days and secret policemen controlled church attendence. Food rationing was still in force; there was no fish from our former fisheries (nationalized now); and Mother´s output of sweets was significantly reduced. The Christmas mood had changed entirely and nothing remained of those dreams and expectations that were an essential part of the festivities.

At Christmas of 1949 I went home to tell them the good news about my newly acquired "lady of my heart", Ljiljana. The festive spirits were still depressing, including meals of low caloric value due to continuing strict rationing. I traveled to Osijek to spend Christmas the next year with higher hopes for the future but my heart and thoughts were elsewhere. This was the last time I went home for Christmas, feeling that I had outgrown those sentiments.

From 1951 to 1960

We married at the end of June 1951, and we lived in one room without water or cooking facilities. We spent Christmas´ days with Ljiljana´s family but there was little festivity as political restrictions and repression still existed. Rationing was still in force - food, shoes, clothing. In May of 1954 our daughter, Vesna, was born. In 1955 and we celebrated Christmas in our small room where there was just enough space for a very small tree.

As the years passed I became aware that my "black political past" would never get me a promotion, so I applied for the position of senior lecturer at the Khartoum Technical Institute (KTI) in the Sudan. I got a new passport with a one-year valid visa and left Zagreb early in November of 1961.

From 1961 to 1963

For our first Christmas in the Sudan, Ljiljana bought an artificial tree. We attended the festivities held by the small European community and sang carols, mostly in English. I recorded Christmas music from LPs that we borrowed from the American library and some of these we still have today: Bing Crosby´s "White Christmas", Rosemary Clooney´s "Jingle Bells", and "Silent Night" sung by Mahalia Jackson. My parents sent us the text of Croatian carols so we could sing them freely.

The Yugoslav Embassy tried hard to keep control of all citizens working in the Sudan and we decided to burn our bridges and not return to Yugoslavia. We had two options, either to immigrate to Australia or accept an invitation to visit the cement works at Mombasa, with prospects for a new job there. We decided to try the Mombasa option and flew to Nairobi two days before the 1964 New Year. We spent the next two days on a memorable safari at Amboseli NP. After the dinner we sat before the camp´s open fireplace, singing carols, accompanied by music from an old gramophone. Two days later we flew to Mombasa and a new life.

From 1964 to 1966

During our years in Bamburi on the northern coast of Mombasa, we procured a new artificial Christmas tree that was bigger than the one we had in Khartoum. Festivities in Mombasa consisted of going to Holy Mass and attending many parties at friends´ pleasant homes. The management arranged a Christmas party and presents were distribution to children of all the factory´s workers. It was a great scene, with many happy African children unwrapping their parcels that the director´s spouse presented personally to each child.

My parents arrived by ship shortly before 1966 Christmas for their first visit to Africa. Christmas Eve fell on a Friday and when I returned from the factory as usual we went for a walk on the beach. The tree was decorated, cooking and cakes finished, wrapped presents stored safely - all waiting for full darkness after 6:30. We sang Christmas carols while walking on the white sand. Later Father sang his whole repertoire of Croatian carols that we recorded on a tape that we still have today.

From 1967 to 2000

In 1967 we were transferred to Salzburg. It was a real climatic shock for us arrivals from the tropics, straight into a winter season in western Austria.

The first Christmas in Salzburg we had a real pine tree and decorated it in our traditional way. We sang carols and listened to Father´s voice on the tape. There was no hope for me to recreate my childhood dreams for my child; somewhere inside me there was a high barrier that I couldn´t get over, despite our present freedom of spirit and happiness.

We built our present home on Oak Hill in 1973, and celebrated our first Christmas in our own house under a tall pine tree.

We received Austrian citizenship, thus getting rid of the red passports of the hatred Yugoslavia regime. I was traveling often, so in total it amounted to almost half a year´s time. However, I was always home for Christmas.

Years passed too fast and Vesna finished her studies and married her colleague Leo in 1977. They moved into their own flat, so the two us remained alone in our house and had to get used to celebrating Christmases on our own. Leo and Vesna visited us always, as did other friends we had found here. Then the first grandchild, Christoph, was born in 1981 and 10 years later, Maria Klara was born.

In 1987 I ended my long and successful engineer´s career. A trial course in computer science was established at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Salzburg University, in which I enrolled and stayed for a full 12 years as the guest-student at the "COSY" Institute, which is still my host of e-mailbox and web sites.

The conclusion of my recollection on Christmases of the past 75 years

My father´s favorite song, "Youth never returns" is absolutely true. Christmas festivities have changed significantly in the past 75 years everywhere and with everybody. The two of us continue to live alone in our house on Oak Hill. All our parents passed away, and many other relatives and friends with them. Both of us are getting lonely, particularly during Christmas times that we still celebrate, decorating a small pine tree, and fixing a few candles that are rarely ignited. Now we spend Christmas Eves at our children´s home, attended by both grandchildren.

Childhood´s expectations and longings fade away on entering adulthood. The magic of Christmas is mostly hidden in our hearts until we evoke it in the company of a dear loving person only. On that occasion we sing our carols and listen to my father´s voice on the tape and admire the few candles alight in our small Christmas tree. On Epiphany day, Ljiljana removes the decorations and stores them for the next Christmas. So the festivity is over for this year and let us hope that we can recreate it next year.

Dick Monaghan ( richardm6835@attbi.com) wonders

HOW MUCH, AND WHEN?

I regret to report that Miss Kate has not been at her interpersonal best while her kitchen is being remodeled.

Between cost overruns, colors that don´t look the same on the wall as they did on the little sample, and the "Waiting for Godot" games that contractors play, a certain edge has crept into her demeanor.

Miss Kate, bless her, has a lamentable tendency to believe what she is told. Unaware of Sam Goldwyn´s famous "oral agreements aren´t worth the paper they´re written on," she neglected to get a written estimate from one 84-year-old contractor, who later decided that there wasn´t much difference between $450 and $600. I´m convinced he simply couldn´t remember what he´d said. They circled round each other, snapping and growling until a compromise was reached. Others of his calling had even more trouble telling the difference between Monday this week and some other Monday, or whether "between 8 a.m. and 10" actually meant 4:30 p.m.

Then there was the matter of knobs for the drawers and the cabinet doors.

Someone who apparently enjoyed a vast fortune of which we were unaware steered us to a "high-end" hardware store that considered its pedigree at least on a par with Tiffany´s. Faucets ran $485; stainless sinks $800; and glass shelves for the bathroom were $200. I saw a door-knocker I thought rather nice and asked the lady how much it cost. She looked at me as though I had asked for her spare change and said, "Two thousand dollars." I looked at her as though she had just said she was Marie Antoinette. "The only door-knocker I ever saw that was worth that kind of money was the one in the Alistair Sims version of ´A Christmas Carol,´ where Scrooge´s lion-head knocker changes into the face of Jacob Marley," I said. To my surprise, she remembered the movie.

They had knobs made of every kind of material - wood, metal, stone, porcelain - but Miss Kate left with nothing, eventually finding what she wanted at real-world prices in a giant Seattle drugstore.

The work is done now, and the contents of the kitchen have been returned from their temporary sojourn in the living room. The kitchen clock, which makes steam-engine sounds on the hour, is back in place and I am gradually memorizing the locations of the stuff I want. We have electrical outlets above the counters, there is a hot-water dispenser on the sink, so we can make instant anything - tea, cereal, soup - with just the touch of a lever.

As for the rest of the house, I´d be just as happy to go on living in decaying splendor.

CORRESPONDENCE

Dilys Buchan ( joco@isn.net) replies to my request for

Cold Remedies

I´m amazed that no one has produced what had to be a stand-by remedy for colds when I was small. Everyone swore by it, and many a time as a small child, I was the victim.

The one thing everyone did when sniffling and complaining about a scratchy throat, was to take an old sock, not necessarily clean, smother it with goose grease and wrap it around the neck.

This was meant to be a sure-fire cure. Unfortunately, we rarely, if ever, had any goose grease, so my mother took the drippings from the roast (which we normally enjoyed spread on bread with lashings of salt!), spread them on one of the long black stockings we wore, and wrapped up my neck. I don´t remember if it cured me. I do remember that I got so hot and smelly, that sooner or later I would announce that I was all better now, and back I´d go to school.

As a variation on what Margaret Manning wrote, our doctor used to say, "It´ll be better in two weeks or a fortnight, whichever come first."

Zvonko Springer ( zzspri@aon.at) writes:

...I´ve discovered a grave error on my part in the story of my early Christmases. I wrote: "One of the specialties served was ´blue´ boiled perch with cooked tomatoes in butter, and a dish of Hungarian-way fried carp on rice and tomatoes."

What a mistake it was to write "tomatoes" when it should have been "potatoes". We couldn´t get tomatoes in winter in those days. Fish meals would never have tasted good without potatoes cooked in butter or fried with a carp.

Ljiljana and I wish you all a most enjoyable festive season and a happy and wonderful New Year: good health, contentment, and peace at all times.

Enjoy your Christmas meals but do not use tomatoes instead of potatoes!

rafiki ( rafiki@gate-way.net) sends this timely

CHRISTMAS DAY FORECAST

Turkeys will thaw in the morning, then warm in the oven to an afternoon high near 190F.

The kitchen will turn hot and humid, and if you bother the cook, be ready for a severe squall or cold shoulder.

During the late afternoon and evening, the cold front of a knife will slice through the turkey, causing an accumulation of one to two inches on plates. Mashed potatoes will drift across one side while cranberry sauce creates slippery spots on the other. Please pass the gravy.

A weight watch and indigestion warning have been issued for the entire area, with increased stuffiness around the beltway.

During the evening, the turkey will diminish and taper off to leftovers, dropping to a low of 34F in the refrigerator.

Looking ahead to Friday and Saturday, high pressure to eat sandwiches will be established. Flurries of leftovers can be expected both days with a 50 percent chance of scattered soup late in the day.

We expect a warming trend where soup develops. By early next week, eating pressure will be low as the only wish left will be the bone!

Love Turkey!

Eat Fish!

HAVING TROUBLE SHOPPING FOR THE MEN IN YOUR LIFE?

Buying gifts for men is not nearly as complicated as it is for women. Follow these rules and you should have no problems.

Rule #1: When in doubt - buy him a cordless drill. It does not matter if he already has one. I have a friend who owns 17 and he has yet to complain. As a man, you can never have too many cordless drills. No one knows why.

Rule #2: If you cannot afford a cordless drill, buy him anything with the word ratchet or socket in it. Men love saying those two words. "Hey, George, can I borrow your ratchet?" "Okay. Bye-the-way, are you through with my 3/8-inch socket yet?" Again, no one knows why.

Rule #3: If you are really, really broke, buy him anything for his car, truck, or better yet, motorcycle. A 99-cent ice scraper, a small bottle of de-icer, or something to hang from his rear view mirror. Men love gifts for their vehicles. No one knows why.

Rule #4: Do not buy men socks. Do not buy men ties. And never buy men bathrobes. I was told that if God had wanted men to wear bathrobes, He wouldn´t have invented Jockey shorts.

Rule #5: You can buy men new remote controls to replace the ones they have worn out. If you have a lot of money buy your man a big-screen TV with the little picture in the corner. Watch him go wild as he flips, and flips, and flips.

Rule #6: Do not buy a man any of those fancy liqueurs. If you do, it will sit in a cupboard for 23 years. Real men drink whiskey or beer.

Rule #7: Do not buy any man industrial-sized canisters of aftershave or deodorant. I´m told men do not stink - they are earthy.

Rule #8: Buy men label makers. Almost as good as cordless drills. Within a couple of weeks there will be labels absolutely everywhere. "Socks. Shorts. Cups. Saucers. Door. Lock. Sink." You get the idea. No one knows why.

Rule #9: Never buy a man anything that says "some assembly required" on the box. It will ruin his Special Day and he will always have parts left over.

Rule #10: Good places to shop for men include Northwest Iron Works, Builders Lumber, Home Depot, John Deere, Valley RV Center, and Discount Tire. (NAPA Auto Parts and Sear´s Clearance Centers are also excellent men´s stores. It doesn´t matter if he doesn´t know what it is. "From NAPA Auto, eh? Must be something I need. Hey! Isn´t this a starter for a ´68 Ford Fairlane? Wow! Thanks.")

Rule #11: Men enjoy danger. That´s why they never cook - but they will barbecue. Get him a monster barbecue with a 100-pound propane tank. Tell him the gas line leaks. "Oh the thrill! The challenge! Who wants a hamburger?"

Rule #12: Tickets to any pro sports event are a smart gift. However, he will not appreciate tickets to "A Retrospective of 19th Century Quilts." Everyone knows why.

Rule #13: Men love chainsaws. Never, ever, buy a man you love a chainsaw. If you don´t know why - please refer to Rule #8 and what happens when he gets a label maker.

Rule #14: It´s hard to beat a really good wheelbarrow or an aluminum extension ladder. Never buy a real man a step ladder. It must be an extension ladder. No one knows why.

Rule #15: Rope. Men love rope. It takes us back to our cowboy origins, or at least the Boy Scouts. Nothing says love like a hundred feet of 3/8" manila rope. No one knows why.

ED. NOTE: Because people have sent so much Christmas material I can´t get it all into one letter, I will be sending out a supplement on Christmas Eve. Look for it when the clock strikes midnight! (...but that´s another story.)

One kind word can warm three winter months.