Under ordinary circumstances I am content to live in the twenty-first century. I like modern conveniences - little things like electricity, central heating and air conditioning, airplanes, wash and wear fabrics, mass market paperbacks and 24-hour supermarkets.

Then the Christmas season arrives and I become nostalgic for simpler times. Every year Christmas becomes more commercial. John Andrew Holmes wrote,

The Christmas season has come to mean the period when the public plays Santa Claus to the merchants.

Once again, we come to the Holiday Season, a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in his own way, by going to the mall of his choice.

We have Christmas card and gift lists a mile long, neighbourhood contests to see who can string the most lights, trees trimmed with hundred dollar ornaments and enough dinners and parties to keep us hung over for the entire season. Then there's the cooking.

We're talking cakes, cookies, candies, pies, sweet breads, torts and tarts – cheese balls, dips, finger sandwiches, fruit salads, meat platters, cheese platters, veggie platters – Christmas breakfast, Christmas dinner. And don't forget the Chex Mix! I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

To counter this and regain a feeling for the way Christmas used to
be celebrated, I invite you to Alabaster House to join me and my staff for an old fashioned Ozark Mountain Christmas. Those of you who don't actually celebrate Christmas but would like to enjoy the cultural experience will be warmly welcomed, as well. The ladies should dress in calico dresses and wool shawls and the gentlemen will look dapper in their tweed trousers with braces, calico shirts, velour vests (waist coats) and flannel-lined wool jackets.

You will be met at the Alabaster House Tube station by a horse-drawn wagon filled with bales of straw to be used for seats. They will be easy to locate due to the jingling of the harness bells around the horse's necks. The wagon contains warm wool blankets for your legs and you will be offered a cup of steaming mulled cider before you embark on the journey to Alabaster House.

As you approach you will notice luminaries made by local tinsmiths lining the drive. Candles in all of the windows create a warm, welcoming glow. The large wreath on the door is a simple one made of freshly cut cedar¹ branches and decorated with bittersweet berries, corn husk angels and a calico bow. Now, open the door and walk into the past.

All of the Christmas decorations are either hand made with odds and ends of materials readily found in the home, the general store or a nearby wood, field or garden. The most common evergreen in the Ozarks is cedar, but you will also find holly, juniper and pine. Evergreen branches have been cut and wired together to form swags and garlands. These are draped around the doorways and banisters leading upstairs to the living quarters. The swags are decorated with brightly coloured berries, dried apple slices and dried everlastings from the summer garden.

All of the tables have quilted table runners or mats in holiday colours and designs and contain simple centerpieces - bowls of fruits and nuts flanked by candles. A Nativity scene has been placed on a table in the corner where it is less likely to be disturbed by running kids and dancing adults. This particular Nativity is hand carved from black walnut. It began with the Holy Family and a stable. Each year a piece was added to the scene until it was complete. There are shepherds and sheep, the Three Kings and their camels, cows and, of course, Mary's donkey. The Nativity, appliquéd Christmas tree skirt and the table runners are prized possessions that will be packed away for use another
year.

The Christmas tree is glorious this year. It is a perfectly shaped cedar, freshly cut yesterday, so it smells wonderful and the needles are still supple and soft to the touch. Most of the decorations are hand made each year. Everyone in the family works on them – especially the kids. There are paper chains, garlands made of popcorn, paper stars and snowflakes, origami birds, hearts made from calico and buttons, angels and dolls made from corn husks and bows made from fabric and ribbon. The decorations seldom follow a scheme since each child has his own notion of what should go on the tree. There are a few decorations that are reused each year – candle cups, wooden or tin ornaments and the star that always tops the tree.

Placing the candle cups on the tree is serious business. They must be located carefully so the flames don't reach the branches above them. Just in case, there are several milk buckets filled with water at the ready. The candles on the tree won't be lit until Christmas Eve.

The fireplace mantle contains stockings for each member of my family and the Alabaster House staff. (It's a very large mantle.) They are knitted from scraps of yarn and have each person's name worked into the band. They are slightly larger than a normal sock you would wear, but are not the huge things commonly seen today made from felt or other holiday materials. The stockings contain small handmade gifts wrapped in tissue paper, as well as candies, nuts and fruit. On either side of the fireplace is a basket containing small gifts without names - one basket for men and one for women. Adult gifts are wrapped in white paper and children's gifts in coloured paper. Each person attending our Christmas
festivities may take a gift as they leave for home.

Besides the smell of the cedar, you will also find the wonderful aromas of cinnamon, cloves, apples and baked breads. Hill people are excellent hunters and fishermen, so holiday meals are generally build around wild game and fish. The menus also reflect their old world roots. Although many nationalities are represented, most of the residents of the Ozarks are of French, English or German ancestry. The Alabaster House menu contains dishes from these three traditions. From the French, who were the first white settlers in Missouri, we have roasted venison, rabbit, and fruit compotes. From the English tradition we have moist fruitcakes, suet puddings and pork pies. And from the German tradition, there are juicy sausages and spice cakes.

Also on the sideboards you will find wild turkey and quail, ham from the smokehouse, freshly baked breads with hand churned butter and all manner of pickles, relishes and chutneys. Vegetable dishes are primarily root vegetables that store well over the winter. And, of course, there are the desserts. Apple pies and pear tarts are particular favorites. There are cookies containing dried fruits, black walnuts, hickory nuts or native pecans and sweetened with applesauce, honey and molasses. There is also egg custard and either pumpkin or sweet potato pie. You will also find eggnog, mulled cider, fruit punch and tea.

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without music. The most common musical instrument in the Ozarks is the fiddle. The musicians I have engaged to entertain you also play banjo, concertina, mouth harp, spoons and hammered dulcimer. Feel free to roll up the rugs and dance. And there is a piano. Lady Chattingly will play while we sing Christmas carols and other holiday favourites.

I hope you will enjoy your visit to Alabaster House this season. And I hope you will take a bit of the Ozarks Christmas spirit with you when you leave. Christmas is a time for family and friends, for generosity, and for opening our hearts to one another. It is a time for remembering and creating new memories. It is a time to dream and to hope. Christmas lifts our spirits. The greatest gifts we can give one another are friendship and love, neither of which come gift wrapped from Harrods or Macy's. Christmas doesn't come from a store. It comes from our hearts.

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