Good morning! I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I don’t write quite the same way Andrew Unger of the Daily Bonnet does. I’m not organized, nor do I work ahead. So, I just tell you what’s on my mind. Right now, I’m concluding my reading of past issues of The Mennonite Historian and Heritage Posting. I possess a random collection of these publications, as I simply purchase them for 25 cents each whenever I encounter copies at the Steinbach MCC Thrift Shop.
Andrew reminds me that these are all available online, as are all issues of Preservings (which I no longer purchase, as I now own multiples of all issues except for the extremely rare first ones).
But, I’m trying not to spend so much time looking at screens. I already do so for my full-time job, writing for Homefield Marketing. And my social media interest. And my Amazing Race addiction.
So today I’ve stepped away from the computer. I’m refusing to set foot in our home office. Instead, I’m nestled in my chair with multiple cozy blankets and my delicious Stone City Coffee and my Old Church Bakery stollen (which I purchased; it is stollen, not stolen — for some reason this little stolen/stollen joke satisfies me immensely… perhaps because I’m not getting out much at all these days, as per public health orders). Oh, and I’m also sitting here with my trusty iPad.
So, a few Christmas confessions for you: I’m a very poor amateur historian. I’m still playing catch-up, and may forever be endeavouring to read and learn and absorb information. I’m messy, scrambled, distracted by all the sheer number of breadcrumb trails I could be following. In reading these past randomly-collected issues, I’m seeing all over again just how very late to the party I really am. I’m intimidated by the fact that my readers definitely all know far, FAR more than I do.
But I’m presently enjoying the opportunity to flit in and out of moments long past, caught by contributors’ prose and frozen onto these pages.
I’m grateful for the printed word, particularly on this chilly Christmas morning. And I’m grateful for you. Merry Christmas.