The New Year 2012

Happy 2012!

My in-laws came to visit for Christmas and my two sisters in-law joined us for the New Year.  I was ecstatic that the Jones clan had decided to reunite in Germany.

With the blessing of family, we began our New Year celebration.  We went to the local German Mass and put God in his appropriate place as first.  Then we headed home for a hunter's feast fit for kings.  Neil had been hiding out in the kitchen with his sister Holly creating a culinary surprise.  He had recently shot a deer on his assigned hunting plot.  

The Germans are organized in all facets of life including hunting practices.  Each hunter has to gain the rights to an assigned space whereby to manage the game on his particular plot of land.  

Holly is a skilled restaurateur herself.  We left the experts in the kitchen to do the work.  Smells of wine, onions, garlic, and mushrooms stewing started to immerge from the kitchen. (I was envisioning caramelized onions the whole time.)

Jones Family Christmas 2011

To further set the ambiance we proceeded to light a fire in the fire place and stoke the fire.  

As the festivities began, the children performed for the adults and recited the holiday classic, "The Night Before Christmas", sang the song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and showed off their newly acquired Irish dance moves from Irish dance lessons.  As the jigs reeled our hunger grew.  We let the children open several belated Christmas presents and finally dinner was ready.  

We gathered the table situated close to the fire and everyone's attention was drawn to the mass of egg noodles being heaped on our plates covered with the red-venison-braised meat.  As a side pickled German cabbage added to the eye appeal of the meal.  As I took my first bite of the stew I gasped with an "oh my".  There was nothing gamey about this grass fed cutlet.   I did not want to see the pile of my noodles and stew disappear.  I tried to slow down and savour the bites but it was almost impossible.  

After dinner as "The Night Before Christmas" proclaims, we "tucked the children snug in their beds as visions of sugar plums danced in their heads."  Now it was time for my favorite part of the evening, adult party time.  We decided to play the German board game Zug um Zug, called Ticket to Ride in English.  We planned our routes across Europe and tried to acquire points by fulfilling our routes.  Midnight was approaching quickly.  By then we had given ourselves game names.  Mine was "Black Death", Holly was "The Blue Tide", and Heather was "The Seductress."  To be honest I cannot remember who won because we were having too much fun laughing our way through the game.  Only a German board game would have so many rules and nuances.  Those Germans are obsessed with laws and playing by the rules.

Suddenly midnight was upon us.  We broke out the champagne and the cork went barreling across the room.  Then all six Joneses toasted with our crystal champagne glasses.   As the Facebook count down told us it was midnight we counted down to our toast and each Jones family member announced a wish or a resolution.  We toasted to good health and reuniting again in 2012.  That would have been a perfect evening already except there was more.

The fireworks started to go off.  Loud ones and fancy ones, way up in the sky line similar to the Fourth of July, but better because it was our nearest neighbors lighting off the fire works.  The bursts and sparks were ubiquitous.  We raced outside to catch the spectacle.  Two of the local businesses in town had amassed a particularly attractive display.  We climbed to the top of the hill on our property.  Holly in her excitement was tromping through the mud in her slippers and Grandma did not want to leave the children unattended and was seen perched sitting in the window sill.  

Aunt Heather's Story Time

It is always the unexpected moments that are perfect.  The Blitzkreig continued for a half hour.  The general rule of conduct was the fireworks could go off anywhere as long as no one was hurt.  I really trusted the industrious, rule abiding, organized Germans in this endeavor.  Duane Jones, my Father-in-Law claims the quote of the night, "These austere Germans know how to celebrate New Years."