All-Sports Widow

The Sports Widow’s Holiday Reflections

December 29, 2008 4:16 PM | 0 Comments

There are these moments in life that my mind captures like photographs or mini-movies, and they will be forever sealed in my memories. Here are a few from this holiday season:

• Night Sledding
One evening, I accompanied Austin and his friend Morgan to the slopes. The duo sledded down everything that had an incline with death-defying confidence, making me wish I had some meds on hand. It’s hard being a mother sometimes. Eventually, they reached their destination, an icy hill, located across from a landmark in West Seattle -- the Totem Pole and Belvedere City Viewpoint on Admiral Way. My sole purposes for accompanying them were: bodyguard and coat rack. If the boys sustained any injuries, I was prepared to call 911, and I got to hold various pieces of winter clothing the boys wanted to shed when they became overheated – hats, the left glove, no, the right glove, a jacket.. The stars were bright and the lights of the city twinkled behind me as I listened to the chatter of two rambunctious 11-year-old boys who have known each other since pre-school.

• Salmon Trio -- Three Days of Salmon
On Christmas Day, my sports fan husband Bryan barbecued salmon, prepared with a tasty rub. What to do with the leftovers the next day? Like his father, Austin (my 11-year-old sports fan) is very adept in the kitchen. On Friday night, Austin helped me chop, sautee and assemble our best salmon cakes ever. (We adapted a recipe for Crab Cakes from The Joy of Cooking, rolling the cakes in saltines, which Austin delicately placed in a big Ziplock bag and then jumped on to reduce them to crumbs.) Then, on Saturday morning, Austin and his sous-chef, his 9-year-old sister Caroline, prepared breakfast in bed for us. In a stroke of culinary brilliance, Austin made scrambled eggs. He then lightly reheated the leftover salmon cakes on the skillet and placed them on top of the scramble. It was wonderful. A little Hollandaise sauce, and Food Network, here we come… Austin recently announced that if his plans to be a wildlife photographer/show host and professional basketball/baseball player don't work out, he plans to open a restaurant featuring international fare.

• Winning Gifts
Austin's main gift was a camera to encourage his interest in wildlife photography but, at 11, he still needs some boy toys. It was worth it trudging hours through the snow to pick up some last-minute inspirations, including a remote-control jeep for Austin from Radio Shack, which was the hit of his Christmas, and stocking stuffers from a little shop nearby called Atomic Boys. Caroline, our 9-year-old artist-in-residence enjoyed her Italian easel, complete with acrylics and oil paints. Due to the snow, this package narrowly arrived in time for Christmas. And, 14-year-old Kit, our music lover, went to the 25th anniversary of The Nutcracker, performed by the Pacific Northwest Ballet. This version of The Nutcracker includes the fanciful set designs of Maurice Sendak of Where The Wild Things Are fame.

• Santa Nearly Unmasked or De-bearded
I have to confess I was a sloppy Santa this year. I didn’t cover my tracks very well. We made Christmas cookies for the merry fellow, including Gingerbread people with marshmallows on their feet and hands to depict mittens. We left a plate for him and some eggnog, but I couldn’t ingest all of the cookies, so I hid some away, high up in the pantry. Drat. Caroline discovered them, and was instantly suspicious. There were other problems - confusions surrounding which gifts came from Santa and which ones came from us. Strange stocking stuffers, including a package of pink razors in my stocking for padding.

• A Snow-capped Piece de Resistence
For my mother-in-law’s 78th birthday, I baked her favorite dessert – Coconut Cake. It’s fussy, but well worth the effort and festive. As always, I use my Mississippi relative’s recipe for this fluffy confection. In a humorous moment, my mother-in-law appeared with a shock of yellow in the front of her hair. I thought she was summoning her 80's Punk Rock memories, but she apparently had transferred pollen from her hand to her hair and couldn't get it out.

Happy Holidays!

The Sports Widow
(aka Nan Hall)