Christmas Rush is Over

Fishing Pier on the Maryland side 

Photo: Ileana Johnson

It’s a chilly but sunny day in late December. Christmas rush finally passed and the skirmish to buy a loved one that perfect gift has ended – the constant flurry of delivered and sometimes lost packages, seemingly joyful but hurried crowds, the constant strangling traffic on all roads, fewer and fewer decorations and Merry Christmas wishes in stores, and even less cheer in people’s hearts. But the children were happy, oblivious to reality and drowning in gifts from everyone, scattered toys all over the floor, and discarded empty boxes in the driveway.

Churches provided angel gifts to the local needy children who asked for the latest electronic gadgets but got toys and clothes instead; one lone Salvation Army red bucket was collecting financial donations.

Grocery stores were asking for food and money donations for disadvantaged children, the same children who a few months ago had caught the interest of the all-knowing leftist media, railing against their obesity and excessive meat intake and other harmful foods distributed in schools or by eager-to-please and overwhelmed parents.

The Christmas songs of my youth have been replaced by modern PC versions of happy holidays, rap, and other personal and distorted renditions of songs that are allowed on the radio waves by the PC police.

If one atheist group or person claimed that they were offended by traditions and God, out went the Christmas tree, the ornaments, the Nativity Scene, the reference to Christ, everything was scrapped and sent to the dusty shelves of offensive history ruled by the “diversity” police that scoped hate before it even happened.  

Freestone Point

Photo: Ileana Johnson

Seagulls rookery on the Potomac shore

Photo: Ileana Johnson

It’s peaceful again, so it seems, and I escape to my beloved woods and the river. It’s a serene silence interrupted by nature’s sounds, the gurgling of water, the waves lapping at the shore, the sea gulls squawking, the rustling of the carpet of dead leaves beneath squirrels darting about, and the chirping of hopping birds.

Fishing pier view from the battery

Photo: Ileana Johnson

I don't think this squirrel missed many meals

Photo: Ileana Johnson

I counted eight grey squirrels so far, more than I’ve ever seen in the woods before. One portly Chip or perhaps Dale, was cracking nuts on a branch, a quite plump specimen that did not seem to have missed any meals. Perhaps the fishermen on the pier below had fed them if they were brave enough to make their way down half a mile to the river’s bank.

Fairfax home chimney of 1825

Photo: Ileana Johnson

I pass by the lone chimney, the ruins left from the Fairfax family home built here in 1825. Captain Henry Fairfax purchased the 2,000-acre property from Alfred Lee, the grandson of Henry Lee II. Henry and his third wife Elizabeth lived and raised seven children here from 1825 until their deaths in 1847. They are buried further up the hill in an enclosed cemetery covered in a thick carpet of dry leaves. In 1849 the $16,253 property, with twenty-four slaves, was left to his children, Martha and John Walter.

Potomac River shore on the Virginia side

Photo: Ileana Johnson

John inherited the portion of the plantation that is now Leesylvania State Park. John Walter Fairfax joined the Confederate Army and General James Longstreet’s staff. John Walter returned to live in Leesylvania after his wife’s death where he rebuilt his father’s residence and lived there until his death in 1908. I find it curious that his home burned shortly after his death. If only the still-standing brick chimney, weathered by time, could talk!

Civil war cannon facing the river

Photo: Ileana Johnson

Up the bluff at Freestone Point, with a spectacular view now partly obscured by scraggly bushes and a few dormant trees, there is a civil war cannon preserved from the original Gun Battery. This northernmost battery was a decoy along a six-mile front. The more effective batteries were located down river at Possum Point, Cockpit Point, and Evansport.

What's left of the battery at Freestone Point

Photo: Ileana Johnson

Confederate General Robert E. Lee issued orders on August 22, 1861 to blockade the Potomac River’s sailing channel. The Confederates effectively closed commercial traffic on the Potomac by December 1861 and maintained the blockade until March 9, 1862.

From the diary of Sgt. Wilmot Walter Curry, we know that the Freestone Point battery contained two rifled six-pounders and an eleven-foot-long thirty-pounder cannon known as “Long Tom,” captured at Manassas plains. Sgt. Curry described one such battle on September 25, 1861 when “the Lincolnite men of war,” floating on the Potomac, engaged the battery eleven times before the Confederates answered with their own guns. Fortunately, there were no casualties on either side.

Bluff over Potomac where the battery was located

Photo: Ileana Johnson

The view from the battery bluff today overlooks a fishing pier, quite busy on most days – one third of it is in Virginia and two-thirds in Maryland. How exactly does one measure the distance of ownership over the flowing river?

Why Do We Give Gifts on Saint Nicholas Day and on Christmas?

Thomas Nast Santa Claus, Wikipedia photo

The Christmas tradition of gift-giving is tied by many to the Wise Men who gave Jesus Frankincense, Gold, and Myrrh. Frankincense was a perfume used in Jewish rituals of worship. Gold was the symbol of Kings, and myrrh was a perfume used on dead bodies.

The historical Saint Nikolaos of Myra was a fourth century Greek Bishop of Lycia. He is said to have given secret gifts of coins to those who left their shoes outside, a practice celebrated on his feast day, St. Nicholas Day on December 6 in the West and December 19 in the East. He is the model for Santa Claus. The patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, and students, he is revered by Anglicans, Catholics, Lutherans, Orthodox, and by some Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Reformed churches.

Saint Nicholas comes in Europe on December 6. Children put their boots outside the door, polished and presentable, in hopes that St. Nick will fill them with candy, not switches. In some parts of Germany children are “kidnapped” in a jute sack and given a pretend “spanking” for their bad behavior or poor school performance during the year.

On Christmas Eve, French children leave their boots in front of the fireplace, to be filled with gifts of candy, nuts, and small toys hung in the tree by Pere Noel.

Romanian kids find small gifts under their pillows, candy, chocolate, oranges, flannel pajamas, or a small toy brought by Mos Craciun (Old Man Christmas) or Mos Gerila (Old Man Frost), the communists’ version.

The Italian La Befana tradition dates back to 13^th century. A benevolent old woman with magical powers, she travels on her magical broom to bring gifts on January 5, on Epiphany Eve. The custom of Babbo Natale (Santa Claus) has not been around that long in Italy, only since WWII.

La Befana travels throughout Italy in search of Baby Jesus, bringing gifts to children. The three Wise Men had asked her to go with them to find Baby Jesus but Befana refused at first. She changed her mind and tried to find the Three Wise Men in search of Jesus but was not successful.

La Befana goes down chimneys all over Italy to bring “caramele” (candy) or fruit to good children and “carbone” (coal), onions, and garlic to naughty children. Children leave their stockings and shoes out in hopes to find candy on January 6. To appease La Befana, children leave out notes, food, wine, sausages, and even broccoli.

Russian children receive their gifts under the New Year’s tree from Father Frost (Ded Moroz) accompanied by Snow Maiden (Snegurochka). Father Frost carries a staff, wears valenki (felt boots) and travels in a troika (sleigh pulled by three horses). Christmas is celebrated on January 7 because the Russian Orthodox Church lives by the old Julian calendar which is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar.

Sinterklaas is the Nordic version of the historical Greek bishop and gift-giver of Myra. An 1881 drawing by Thomas Nast solidified the modern image of Santa Claus in our culture, along with Clement Clarke Moore’s poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas.”

Hanukkah or the “Festival of Lights” is celebrated by Jewish people for eight days in remembrance of their military victory and the miracle of the oil supply for the Temple. Family and friends eat holiday treats, give gifts to children, and play the dreidel game. Last year Christmas and Hanukkah overlapped for the fourth time in 100 years.

We give gifts for many other reasons at Christmas time. We are obligated by family customs, job duties, commercialism, consumerism, and societal expectations to overwhelm children with the latest toys, gadgets, and games. A few more traditional parents give books, food, and candy.

Compensation for a job well done is an opportunity for gift-giving, thanking a person for their hard work, for the long hours, dedication and exceptional effort all year long. Some gifts are for bravery in the line of duty or selfless sacrifice in saving another human being.

Exhibition is my least favorite reason to give a gift. It is a well-to do person asserting their wealth by giving away vast amounts of money publicly. Some prefer to remain anonymous but most choose the venue of all-out publicity for their generous gifts.

Compassion is the anonymous way of giving to a person you don’t know and cannot ever thank you for their gift, a person in need who has prayed for a miracle to save them from the abject poverty or the difficult situation in their lives. Gift-giving is always more rewarding in such a charitable circumstance.

Appreciation for someone you know or love who has overcome a professional hurdle after years of difficult effort is a wonderful opportunity for a gift. Reminding someone in your life that they matter and you care about them.

Duty is giving thoughtless gifts to family members, a boss, or colleagues, usually re-gifting  unwanted items received in previous years from relatives and colleagues who also felt a sense of duty to send a present to someone they did not care that much about nor did they put much thought into their generosity.

Love is the gift of togetherness, a symbol of the union of two souls who have found each other after years of searching. It is also the gift to beloved family members.

Tradition is the gift on December 6 when children in Europe put out their boots to receive switches or candy from Saint Nicholas.

The guilt of something from the past, the fundamental belief that wealth and good fortune should be shared at Christmas time is gift-giving driven by the need to share.

Giving a gift in the expectation of receiving one in return, a favor for your gift, a quid pro quo of sorts, is buying benevolence and acceptance into a group.

And then there are those Christians who would like to celebrate Christmas but are too poor and oppressed by their totalitarian governments who forbid them faith-based public displays and celebrations. They are just happy to be alive, to enjoy a good meal with their families, to have food, electricity and heat, and to be able to go to church on Christmas Eve.  Those are priceless gifts.