Not The Way I Imagined...

  It is Christmas Eve and, once again, the Little Bayou House sits quiet.  This is one of the downfalls of getting old.  Kids have a way of growing up on you and moving far away leaving the house way too empty.  On Christmas Eve, the place should be bustling with family and friends.  Last minute baking, gift wrapping and stocking hanging activities should rule.  Carols being sung, kids dancing with anticipation and happy chattering that once echoed through the halls are now only rattling through the dark nooks and crannies of my brain.  Those are memories...happy memories but just memories.  Those things should be happening here!  They are not.  Instead, I am sitting here reminiscing of Christmases Past when all of those things did occur.  

  The Little Bayou House is decorated somewhat, hundreds of cookies have been baked and a few gifts sit under the tree but even with all of that, the place seems dull.  Growing old is not for the weak....Trust me on that.  When we are young, we have dreams that our family will always be around...that all holidays will be spent together and, yet, the Little Bayou House sits empty.  The only sounds are ticking of the clocks and those ticks seem almost deafening.   I am thankful, however, for the company of the Bayou Princess Cat who has snuggled in beside me for the night. Merry Christmas, Ms. Nycto...Santa won't be visiting us tonight but we will be alright. We will be alright.  Merry Christmas!

Riding the Whirlwind

   It is late evening on a cool, crisp night here on the Bayou.  All is quiet. It is Christmas Eve and I have settled in by the old wood stove to listen to nothing save the crackling of the flames.  This is the new Christmas Eve for me.  With the kids all grown and with families of their own, Old Santa has no stockings to fill at the Little Bayou House.  The tree is decorated as is the whole house but what used to be a huge mound of gifts beneath the tree has dwindled to a few meager packages.  There is no last minute wrapping or secretive stashing of gifts.  So, I settle in to listen to the fire with a sense of satisfaction that my job is done and it is all in my kids' hands now.  Old Santa is a new generation.

  Speaking of Santa, did you know that he comes riding in on many ways?  That sleigh is not the only means of transportation for the Jolly Old Elf.  I am sure that you have seen the many depictions of him on reindeer, white horses, dog sleds, skis, rockets, planes, trains, ships and any other movable object.  Yep, Santa Claus really does have a lot of methods of transportation.  Still, there is one tale of his travels that is quite unheard and, yet, quite unique.  He sometimes rides in on hurricanes!  Hurricane Katrina brought Old Kris Kringle to the Bayou nigh on a decade ago!  

  The day following that devastating storm saw us (like most Coast folks) trying to dig out from beneath a mountain of debris.  Huge mounds nearly ten feet deep were stacked against the house and as far as one could see.  This debris contained everything that fell in the pathway of that demon as it plowed its way to our house.  If you could name it or describe it, we could find it in this mess.  Most of it was destroyed beyond use but other things would take you by surprise...as did Santa. Down in the creek behind the house, I found a small knickknack still intact.  I was amazed to find a porcelain figurine without even a chip or scratch.  This was a Christmas decoration featuring Santa Claus and a group of children.  The figurine was sitting on top of a pile of debris as if someone had gently set it there for me to find.  I needed to find it.  I needed a bit of happiness in the midst of all the turmoil.  I needed a reason to smile.  I needed Santa Claus and five happy little kids.  Santa came in August that year and he came in on a hurricane's tidal surge.  (I guess that gives a new meaning to "riding out the storm"!)

  In the Little Bayou House, most things have a tale behind them.  It makes the place interesting.  I keep these oddities on hand merely because of the memories...some good...a few bad.  This Jolly Old Saint Nick is a good one.  Sure, it was the most terrible of hurricanes that brought the thing to me but it is the bit of happiness that I recall....the bit of light in the darkness...the hope for Christmases to come...the peace in the wake of the storm.  Some times it is the oddest of things that can bring a smile.

  Merry Christmas from the Bayou to each of you, my friends.  May God bless you and bring you many reasons to smile tomorrow morn!  Happy Christmas to all and to all a good-night.

There really is a Santa!

  Call him Santa Claus, Kris Kringle, Saint Nicholas, Jolly Old Elf..I don't care..I love Santa! Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that at this time of year, Santa takes over. Actually, what started as five little porcelain Santa figurines from my childhood has exploded into a full blown collection. That was not actually my intention and not all of my doings..everyone seemed to get in on the act of collecting Santas for me. Now every nook and cranny holds a Santa of some sort. There are the original five that can hold tiny candles.  They were gifts to my mother from someone well before I was born.  I was the lucky one that inherited these tiny figurines.

  They started this whole craze that fills the house starting in late November. Next, came the dated "International" collection. This set has approximately eighty of the happy little fellows. I am quite sure that none are authentic with their dates and nations but they are quite the impressive display in the china cabinet!

Then..who knew Santa went to college?

The snow skis..well, this I can understand!

And Santa has friends! Some in High Places

and some that disappear when the going gets hot!

Santa is musical,

soft and velvety,

and sometimes bewildered!

  Then quite the shocker! Santa is a PIRATE! And we were under the impression that he made all of those toys at his workshop! Yes..I have a large collection of Santas! Many, many more than I could ever show. They are everywhere!

  All of this brings me to one point...there really is a Santa Claus! I have seen him. I sat on his knee as a little girl. He brought happiness and gifts..he taught a never forgotten message of generosity, kindness and love. Yes, there is a Santa Claus..as Francis Pharcellus Church told eight year old Virginia O'Hanlon way back in 1897..yes, there is a Santa Claus. The only difference is my Santa was really a person. The particulars of the story are lost to feeble memory since it took place long, long ago. I was young, not much more than a toddler at the time. Times were hard that year for one reason or another. Dad, a farmer, and Mom, a housewife, were short on money and with five kids, Christmas looked a mite bleak. Sure, we had all the trappings of Christmas. There was a fresh-cut cedar tree in the living room strung with paper chain garland, foil ornaments and a few glass balls. The kitchen was filled with the fantastic aroma of home-baked sugar cookies with bright colored sugar sprinkled on top! And always music! Mom would play carols on the old upright piano, going seamlessly from one to the next, singing all the time! But the gifts..there were no gifts. Santa Claus was not coming to our house this Christmas even though we had all tried so hard to be extra special good. Being young, I had no clue..other than being told that Santa would be giving our gifts to other children that had less than us. My older brothers and sister were probably aware of why he would not be leaving masses of presents for us but I, in my happy little childish mind, just knew he would find a way. Many years later, I learned the story behind the story but at that time it was all magical to me. Come Christmas morning..my parents were right..Santa did take our gifts to someone else! There were a few meager gifts under the tree and our stockings held a shiny penny and some oranges that sure looked a lot like the satsumas that we picked from the tree in the yard just a few weeks earlier. That impressed me. Santa had a satuma tree at the North Pole! Wow! But only a few brightly wrapped presents and none for Mom and Dad. Then came a knock at the door. Dad answered and smiled broadly..there in the doorway was SANTA CLAUS!!! Bigger than life it seemed! A huge man bearing a (feed) sack full of gifts for everyone in the house! I was flabbergasted to say the least! There were gifts for everyone..Mom and Dad included! Then I got to sit on his knee while he drank a cup of hot cocoa. It also made me feel quite important to be in the know that Santa did not wear the red suit that everyone thought he did..and that silly hat with the white pompom on the end..myth! St. Nick, for any of you who never actually met him..wears blue jeans and a red flannel shirt. His hat is a knitted cap under a large Stetson! I should know..I met him..he is real!

  The story behind the story is so heartwarming that the tale would never be complete without its telling. It seems that whatever caused the shortage of finances that year was kept secret from most of the extended family. My parents were not ones to ask for assistance, they would make do somehow. But on Christmas Eve, my mother could not contain her tears when a neighbor from a few miles down the road called with holiday greetings. She poured out her story to Wilda and then felt much better after getting the load off of her shoulders. She was able to go on singing the carols, baking the cookies and being the wonderful mother she always was. This neighbor told her husband, Sidney, and they decided then and there that something had to be done. Somehow they managed to pull together gifts at such a late notice. Then on Christmas morning, Mr. Sidney drove to our house to deliver the sack of goodies. I do not believe now that he intentionally wanted me to believe he was Santa Claus, but rather was just doing the "neighborly" thing. In my young mind, though, he was not the man that I saw at our house probably on a weekly basis..he was Santa. I even remember telling Mr. Sidney about Santa's visit the next time he and Mrs. Wilda came to our house. Oh, the beautiful innocence of a child's mind. The lesson this Santa Claus taught to one little girl many, many years ago..to give from the heart without expecting anything in return.

Treasures!

Over Thanksgiving Holidays, my daughter raided my Christmas decorations. This is her first Christmas since getting married and she and her husband had no decorations of their own. They do now! Reluctant to take any she thought might be special to me and afraid that she might take too many, I had to coerce her into filling her box. She did not understand that I thought this was great! I have way too many ornaments and decorations in general. The closet is overflowing with Santas, reindeer, glass balls, garland and trees. I have boxes of bought decorations, boxes of handmade decorations and boxes of hand-me-down decorations. So many so. that it is overwhelming. I do decorate the entire house and sometimes (when time allows) the yard. Darling Daughter was concerned that she might deplete my stash, I suppose. Ha! Fat chance of that ever happening! Over and over again, she voiced her concerns. "Are you sure, Mom?" "I don't want to take something that you are going to use." "Maybe I should not take all of these." Oh, my goodness! This went on until my dear sister called to graciously invite us to her house. Dear Sister informed Darling Daughter of a very apt truism..if she took some of my decorations that would give me the opportunity to buy more! I would have to replenish my stock and this way I would not feel guilty about making the purchase! Truer words were never spoken! I do not go shopping..I rarely leave the Bayou..but.....when the need arises! Today, it was necessary for me to leave here and make the dreaded trip to pay bills. Not a fun thing at all, but at least this time I could peek in at the Christmas goodies! There were so many beautiful, gleaming ornaments! The reds..the greens..the golds! Ever since a dear cousin gave me one special ornament, I have always wanted to do one tree in only those colors! I wanted to "build" a tree around that single Santa! And there were MY ornaments! I knew I should not..after all, since my daughter took a few boxes maybe the remaining decorations would actually fit in the closet now. But these were so bright and pretty! I picked up one and held it..surely that would not hurt. See..no harm done..I placed the ornament back on the rack. "Oh, look!" I could not help but pick up another! And then I noticed the lady next to me was doing the same thing. Yes, she was trying not to buy any either..we both knew how this was going to end. I told her about my red, green and gold tree! She told me that she wanted one with sugarplums and candy canes. We both smiled..and piled our prizes in the shopping carts! I came home with my treasures! Tomorrow, another tree will be put up in my house! This one trimmed out in red, green and gold! Thank you, Daughter!