Of Seasons Past and Present

by Patrick
(Pa.)

Twas the week before Christmas and a light snow fell softly to the earth. While sitting in a cozy chair at my parents house and enjoying a hot cup of coffee, I gazed through a rather large picture window and pensively surveyed the Friends Meeting Hall across the street. Serene in its appearance, the timeless memorial reminded me of Old Man River in Showboat - 'It don't say nothing but it sure must know something'.

Although Quakers did not officially celebrate Christmas, for over two centuries William Penn's faithful have gathered inside those very chambers for prayer and reflection. A motorist cruising down Maple avenue cannot help but notice an archaic wall surrounding a three hundred year old burial site adjacent to the compound's main edifice.

The building's exterior is made of rough stone, its interior of plaster and various woods. Trees of maple, oak, sycamore, and pine sporadically decorate the front two acres, and a semi-circular macadam lane leads up to its simplistic portico. In years gone by this driveway was nothing more than harden dirt, as was the heavily traveled route which directly connected Philadelphia and Boston - a thoroughfare long ago pioneered by the Lenni Lenape nation as a foot path. I pondered the idea of a sign someday being planted by the roadside announcing:

Founding Fathers of the American Republic Have Frequently Passed This Way

As my imagination began to stir, I wondered what our silent friend across the street observed over the changing years and seasons. Possibly...

... a hot summer day in 1775, a stately figure canters along the dirt road passing nonchalantly by the peaceable Friends' place on a white horse. George Washington is on his way to Boston after being commissioned and named the first commander-in-chief of the entire continental army.

...delegates descending out of the north, hasting to reconvene congress in Philadelphia. Spring is coming to life everywhere and a new nation is likewise nearing its own birth.

...Benjamin Franklin rolling along the course highway in an oversize surrey at the breakneck speed of 20 mph. Autumn leaves are in full color. He impatiently taps his cane, "Hurry up driver. I'm late for an important rendezvous in Trenton!" Possibly, to bide his time, America's sage is meditating on the poetic force still emanating from Richard Henry Lee's resolution to congress. Lee's proposal served as a seminal composition for the recently published Declaration of Independence: Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States... The surrey heads eastward, flying past the Quaker estate.

...Thomas Jefferson and John Adams stepping out of a full size carriage. A light wintry mantle blankets Pennsylvania but the weather is good. Hearing a creaking noise the coach master decides to stop and check the forward hitches. He parks his vehicle just inside the Friend's entry way. Every hour, every minute, is precious for these two revolutionaries, or treasonists as the British would call them, but they take the opportunity to stretch their legs. Jefferson's architectural instincts stir, he becomes mildly interested in the quaint structure which predates the current one built in 1793. Adams, preoccupied with other thoughts, strolls about and glances in the direction where I will someday be sitting, but all he sees are woods. After the hitches are secured, two weary passengers climb back aboard their transport. Streaking west they leave behind the venerable site, artistically decorated with whitened evergreens and maples.


Moving up the calendar and keeping more in tune with the holidays, our aging relic also possibly witnessed...

...one horse open sleighs jingling up and down a nineteenth century cobblestone pavement doing repetitive U turns into its semi-circle drive. European Christmas traditions have now firmly taken root in American culture with the advent of classics like 'A Christmas Carol'. Candle lights flicker and shine through the windows of Victorian style houses, while fir trees are cut and trimmed with balls of holly. In the town commons a nativity scene is joyfully displayed without a trace of objection. Figurines of Mary, Joseph, shepherds, wise men, and animals, grace a straw filled stable. And oh yes, the most important figure is lying peaceful in a manger. A verse from the book of Luke is unashamedly fastened to a cross lintel: Peace on earth...

... further along the time-line, about the year my parent's house was completed in circa 1922, model T Ford trucks race about frantically doing their best to deliver catalog orders from Sears and Roebuck before a December 24th deadline. Snowballs thrown by playful boys from behind the ancient wall hit the trucks with innocent consequence. Strings of lights, now powered by electricity, outline the gables of Langhorne homes. Here and there one can faintly hear evening carolers going from to door to door singing Joy to the World. Kids take to their sleds and barrel down a nearby hill. Frozen ponds are teeming with skaters gliding over the crystal ice. Sometimes they stop and warm themselves by the fire sipping hot cocoa...

As a tender spirit of Christmas embraced Maple avenue's ambiance, I slowly came out of my visionary state and relaxed back into the present. The snow continued to fall in story book fashion.

In the twenty first century cars indifferently zoom pass Middletown's distinguished anachronism. Most people do not give it a second thought, or entertain the slightest notion of America's creme de la creme having traveled the very same highway by which they commute every day to work. Nor do they take time to muse on hidden charms of Noels past. Although, it is easy to understand why. Unceasing and demanding living realities can easily captivate the human mind, consequently making it quite easy to forget any meaningful history connected with a homeowner's surrounding environment.

Yes, a hot cup of coffee, a little imagination, and a rich heritage, all make for a good holiday morning.