OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS

I AM REMINDED OF TWO RITUALS.
"OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS/
TO GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE WE GO/
THE HORSE KNOWS THE WAY/
TO CARRY THE SLEIGH/
OVER THE WHITE AND DRIFTING SNOW."

YO! I SANG THIS DITTY WITH MY SIBLING AND PARENTS 50 YEARS AGO ON OUR YEARLY THANKSGIVING TRIP. WHOA! IT WAS 50 YEARS BEFORE MY TRIP, HOWEVER, THAT THAT RIDE COULD HAVE OCCURED IN REAL TIME. YET THE CAMARADERIE OF A FAMILY VISIT REMAINS TIMELESS IN A MEMORY.

MY ANTICIPATED VISIT TO A COUSIN AND AN AUNT IN THE COUNTRY WAS A COOLER AND LONGER AFFAIR THAN ONE RE-ENACTED TODAY. THE MID-CENTURY CARS HAD SMALL HEATER CORES; THE TREK TOOK 2 HRS TO COVER 40 MILES WITHOUT THE UNHELPFUL ADDITION OF SLEETY OR BLUSTERY WEATHER. AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, A LAP ROBE WOULD HAVE BEEN DE RIGUEUR. I CAN APPRECIATE THIS THICK, HEAVY, HORSEHAIR OR WOOL CREATION (MAYBE BOTH) BECAUSE I PICKED UP A TAN SPECIMEN AT AN AUCTION YEARS AGO. THIS COVERING AS WELL AS A HOOD AND FURRY, HAND MUFFS - ANOTHER OF MY NOSTALGIC ACQUISITIONS - WERE UNNECESSARY FOR MY FAMILY AS WE TOOLED DOWN A MODERN EXPRESSWAY. HORSE TRAVELERS WOULD HAVE HAD A LONGER JOURNEY THAN WE TOO. THEY WOULD HAVE APPRECIATED THE WARMTH OF AN UP-TO-DATE ELECTRICALLY HEATED HOME, THE TURKEY'S AROMA, THE HOLIDAY EGG NOG AND THE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES UPON ARRIVAL. OUR RELATIVES' NEW HOME ON A STREET IN THE MDDLE OF NOWHERE WAS PROBABLY SET WITHIN THE SAME FARMLANDS THAT ENRICHED THE OWNERS OF A SLEIGH SOMEWHERE SLIDING THROUGH THE WOODS.

IN MY RITUAL, ALBEIT A WEEKLY ONE,

'OVER THE HIGHWAY AND THROUGH THE TOWN/
TO MY FATHER'S HOUSE I GO/
MY CAR IS DRIVEN THE WAY/
TO CARRY MY WEEKLY WEIGHT/
TO BE LIFTED IN CHURCH SO MY SPIRT MAY GLOW.

MY TRIP TO WORSHIP GOD WORKS PRETTY WELL. WHAT A FEAST!