Holiday memories

I am an eastern Oregon gal and my most precious holiday memories are the times spent at my grandparents’ homes in the farming community of Keating, east of Baker City.

In the 1960s, we didn’t have many real toys to play with. What was lacking in material wealth was made up for by using our imagination. Playing “store” with my brother, Jim, in my grandmother’s country store on Hwy. 86, and looking for Easter eggs my uncle hid in a haystack on Easter Sunday, are two of my favorite memories.

It seems the elders in our large extended family were always planning fun things for us to do, and they came up with some great ideas around Christmas time, much of it outdoors.

Imagine a group of aunties, uncles, cousins, and people from neighboring farms, gathered around a bonfire on a cold winter night in December and watching a few adventurous souls on skates, take flight across the frozen river, or sledding down Sparta Hill on a snowy New Year’s Eve, with only the moonlight to light our way.

Those remain my fondest memories. I am smiling now as I remember what fun we had.