by Nelda Holder –
Writing a political column these days is not necessarily the most joyful experience imaginable.
Everywhere you look, there are signs of the fraying of what most of us grew up believing to be a system of government in which we, as citizens, played a very important role. But more and more, the outline of that sober structure has been warped by—or more bluntly—has been consciously bent to the will of self-serving politicians whose focus is not the good of the whole. Meanwhile, warring factions worldwide shatter our consciousness and deepen individual tragedies.
And that sobering assessment is where we’ll begin our column next month, in January of 2024. But right now, it is December 2023 … and we’re taking time out for Christmas.
To do that, I’m inviting you to go back a few … well, more like a hefty number of years now. Because I want to take you to my grandparents’ house in rural Wake County, NC.
It is set amidst massive oak trees with a side yard of pecan trees that we visit faithfully in the fall. Its welcoming front porch is lined with rocking chairs and capped off with a porch swing where I’ve spent many happy hours sidled up to the warmth of my grandmother on summer afternoons.
But it’s winter now, and I’m inviting you inside to the Holder holiday buffet, presented by that same august grandmother—who will produce her famous fresh-coconut cake and her tender and tasty biscuits.
The aunts in attendance will add to the table their own specialties and standards, populating it with tasty casseroles and vegetables from their farm kitchens (originally produced in their farm gardens) to surround the turkey platter. And they’ll load the sideboard with cakes to join the coconut—specialties including chocolate and numerous (and competitive) pound cakes—and with the customary and delectable pot of boiled custard that grandchildren love to hover beside.
After the…
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