Christmas canes

The Chef’s grandfather, Grandaddy, was a man of many and varied talents. He grew the most beautiful roses and a lavish vegetable garden.

He was of the generation of southern men that didn’t do housework, but he vacuumed, cleaned, and cooked.

Grandaddy even cross-stitched!

But one of the things that impressed me most was his ability to work with wood and one of the most special things that he did was to make Christmas canes.

Each year after Christmas after the family Christmas tree was taken down, Grandaddy would take the Christmas tree trunk and make it into a walking cane.

We have canes from many years ago.

Each one is different.

There are different handles and different etchings.

On this cane he recorded some of their many travels.

He would burn different etchings and designs and on each cane he would record what everyone got for Christmas that year.....

...as well as any special family events or announcements that had occurred during that year.

This is the cane from the year that The Chef’s dad got into law school.

The Chef’s nickname was T-3 and this is the cane from the year that The Chef was born.

I love each and every one of those canes. I can only imagine the hours he spent designing and making each one, reflecting on the past year and thinking about his family that he loved so dearly.

Love and miss you, Grandaddy.