The snowflakes were big and soft, gently caressing our faces as we walked from school after the annual Christmas concert, two drummers heading to an after-concert band party at Bobbi Boeker’s house on the road to Center Cambridge. It must have been a time neither of us had cars or licenses to drive them, otherwise we wouldn’t have been walking. Oddly, I remember nothing about the party or what we talked about on the long walk, but can recall the precise route we took through the village, the slippery surface of hard packed snow beneath our feet, the swirl of snowflakes and the Christmas decorations all over town, especially those along Main Street.
By Cambridge winter standards, the night was warm. I was most comfortable in my hooded jacket and ebullient mood produced by many factors, one of them knowing we had a long vacation ahead and lots of good times on the horizon, about as happy as I ever was as a teenager. There are many times I miss living so far from home, the Christmas season definitely one of them.
It’s challenging to find Christmas scenery any better than we had, straight off a Norman Rockwell print but even better in three dimensions and with all the senses stimulated too, the smell of pine, hardwood smoke, apple cider and hot chocolate mixed with laughter and Christmas carols. Powerfully emotive stuff for sure. Continue reading “Cambridge Christmas Memories”