Christmas Past
rolling pin Santa
Or it will be by
the time I finish this blog. The dreaded Christmas day is past and all of the
pomp and circumstance surrounding it is done, littered on the floor like the
wrapping surrounding the presents. For me
it is a moment of solitude and quiet time surrounding me. It’s knowing that I can’t go up the road and stop at
my favorite haunts like the Save-A-Lot store or maybe Mc Donalds and grab a
sandwich. Whether or not they were open was inconsequential to me and in
reality hope they were not and their workers had a chance to be home with their
loved ones. I imagine the gas stations are open but then again I had no need
for gas and instead stayed home and kept to myself and my thoughts. The internet
was working and I thumbed through it wishing everyone I could remember a merry Christmas.
A few friends
wrote personal e-mails to me wishing me a merry Christmas and spending some
time chatting about this or that in their lives allowing me a chance to catch
up on their lives. Some unexpected people stopped in with quick hello’s that
surprised me. All in all it was a good day to touch base with friends in my
life. Some I had talked to just a few days before when I had my birthday and
they wished me a happy 60th birthday as I head into my 6th
decade of my life turning a new page in a lot of regards. I guess I am kind of
numb to the whole thing of life in some ways.
babe w/ a stick
Christmas has
always been a big letdown for me and in some ways I can’t say this one was any
better or worse than Christmas pasts. It is what you make it , and in my own
little way I tried to make it good taking care of those and giving to some
strangers. I didn’t have much to give but in a little way I hoped I was able to
help someone else have a better Christmas and to me that was what it was all
about. Still without any kind of social interaction it was numb as usual. I could
have gone down the hill and spent it with Mom and Sherry, but instead stayed to
myself as I was prepared to do. I tried to lay a plan as to where I was headed
in the next year thinking resolutions. But in some ways I have already made my
plans.
So instead I took
advantage of the good weather and continued some brush hogging work over the
hill listening to my stupid dog bark and bark and paw the ground and do her
stupid rituals that make me wonder if she is retarded. At one point while the brush
hog was running, meathead decide she was going to save her stick from the
whirling blades of death as I turned around to see her trying to pull a stick
out from under the brush hog while it was running. I yelled at her but soon she
was back at it. So I stopped the brush hog and picked it up of the ground with the
hydraulics and allowed her to wrench the tree out, as I now saw it as it was
about 10 feet long and about 2 and half inches in diameter she readjusted her
tree in her mouth and proudly headed up over the hill as if she was showing off
a fresh kill. She dropped it in the open field and looked at me. At this point
of dealing with stupid girl I just decided I had enough for the day and besides
I had picked up a log to carve and needed to head for the house as it was
getting dark.
As I went Babe would
pick up her stick trying to balance it with her mouth and get it up off the
ground so she could keep up with me. She would get ahead and then drop it, and
then pick it up again. She never ceases to amaze with her energy and how much
she wastes on stupid things like barking at me. Even with headphones on and
music turned up she still was annoying. Humorous and made me smile but still
annoying. She won’t listen to me when I tell her to quit or do this or that. Instead
she has a mind of her own. Somehow she knows though when she has pushed me too
far and will usually cease her crap. But it wasn’t today or yesterday and is
rare when she does. I guess I created the monster. Still she was there beside
me and shows more what a real friend is. Someone who don’t take your crap,
tells you like it is and makes you smile, but most of all she is always by my
side. She is sleeping now after a big bowl of chicken and noodles over her dog
food, and she is a tired and full gal. I really would be at a loss without her.
It was her that
made my Christmas even though she gave
me nothing but a hard time and left her tree in the open field so that next
spring if I don’t go back and make her move it, I will hit it with the haybine
and probably bust a knife and make me mad. But I will probably go back before
then. Still she made me smile on an otherwise dreary day. Better than any other
friend could. I am sure one of these days i will find time to look at Christmas
in more favorable terms but still today was one Christmas I will remember for a
while, if not for its simplicity, then for its unexpected treasures from an
unexpected source that has been close to home for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment