A Happy Christmas Eve at the Little Bayou House

  Mary Ruth, the older of the grandlittles, carefully planned for Santa's visit.  She insisted that her daddy help her make reindeer food and that her mommy choose cookies for Santa's snack. PawPaw helped the little girl pour milk in a tall Santa mug.   Once all was prepared, she settled onto her daddy's lap for a reading of "The Night Before Christmas".  As soon as the story ended, hugs were given and she scooted upstairs to bed.  It is Christmas Eve and she knows that Santa Claus is on his way!

 Now the stockings hung from the mantelpiece have been filled beyond bulging and the gifts are piled high beneath the tree.  The Little Bayou House has been one busy place today and, yet, somehow, Old Santa found a way of sneaking in to do his work.  The cookies and milk have been devoured while the reindeer food has been nibbled.  Yep, it is obvious that two little ones will have a wonderful Christmas...and all the older folks will revel in the squeals and giggles that will be the result of Santa's visit.  

  It is wondrous to watch family traditions being passed down to another generation.  With all of the new trappings of the holidays, it is sort of nice to see that a bit of "Old Fashioned" Christmas lives on.  Tonight, Santa came.  He did his best to make sure that all is happy and bright. Tomorrow, the kiddies will delight in their gifts and the adults will delight in seeing new traditions and old being meld into one.  Merry Christmas, Folks!

What Changes...Stays the Same

  Santa Claus has changed a good bit throughout the years.  Whether you look back on the lore of St. Nicklaus, Kris Kringle or Father Christmas, the story behind the character is all the same.  A kindly old gentleman (who had wealth untold) secretly gave gifts to those deserving.  Later this changed to giving gifts to children.  That part stayed pretty much the same through the centuries but his appearance changed with time.  Depending upon who was describing the jolly old geezer, he was anywhere from tall and thin to short and roly-poly.  His dress went from robes to a nice, red fur trimmed outfit that is most recognizable today.  His mode of travel changed from going on foot, riding a horse or in a sleigh with magical reindeer.  

A picture of Santa Claus that adorns a child's art box from long ago.

  It is not these changes that occurred to me today, however.  It is the changes that have happened in my life. Santa Claus used to be the magical man who slid down our chimney to bring a toy or two.  Later as a new parent, Santa took on a different roll. He (we) was the giver who longed to see the joy in a child's eyes.  As time passed, children grew into adults and Santa became tired.  The excitement had passed and Santa Claus moved on to other neighborhoods.  Christmas just was not the same.  This year, the joy will be seen in grandchildren's eyes.  The jolly old elf will make his rounds again filling the stockings and leaving gifts under our tree. 

   As a child, I believed....truly believed he was real only because of one special neighbor who overnight became the "man in red".  As a small child during lean times, I had been forewarned that Santa Claus may not have made enough toys for every boy and girl and that our toys may be given to less fortunate children.  I went to bed just knowing that somehow Santa would come at least to fill the stockings.  Instead, I awoke to find the jolliest man bearing gifts.  It mattered not that it was our neighbor, Mr. Sidney.  It mattered not that he wore a red flannel shirt and wore a Stetson hat.  It mattered not that the gifts were toted in a sack that once held oats for cattle.  He was Santa that Christmas morning.  I believed...still do.  Things change but somewhere, somehow, someone out there is Santa...even if only for a day.  Those who give without expecting anything in return, those who share no matter how meager their own portion, those who bring happiness even without a gift...those are the folks who are Santa.  That part has not changed.  

"Tis Nothing New

  I took a few moments today to stick up some of the Christmas decorations.  Yep, I am slacking!  The Little Bayou House should have been bedecked long ago but somehow that just did not happen. Today, however, I made progress even though the tree is still not in its rightful place all adorned with lights and ornaments.  Some day soon, I hope. What did occur to me was that, as I tied a big bow to the garland on the stair rail, is that nothing is new.  A few weeks ago, Darling Daughter and I visited one of our local stores and we were both amazed at how burlap has become all the rage.  Burlap and canvas...well, who would have thought?!  I admit that I did buy several rolls of printed burlap ribbon.  After all, it is ribbon!  Who can resist buying Christmas ribbon?  
  
  While digging around in the decoration boxes, I came to two conclusions.  One..that I own far too many doodads that scream holidays and, two..most of my decorations are at least thirty years old! Some are far older as it seems that I inherit every aunts', parents' and grandparents' decorations.  I cannot part with them.  That just seems like sacrilege!  What would my kinsfolk think if I just tossed their prizes to the wayside??

  It was in that box that I came across several short strands of garland that I bought when my oldest was just a wee babe some thirty-plus (and we won't go there!) years ago.  The stringing for the garland was jute, burlap Santas and fabric scrap Christmas Trees were dotted at six inch intervals.  I loved this garland and used it in the kitchen for years!  But I was a bit bemused as the current rage for burlap seemed to be nothing more than a repeat of Christmases past.  Long, long ago, it was not uncommon to use what was on hand whether it be for everyday items or happy decorations.  I can remember wearing dresses that Mom sewed out of flour sacks and having curtains made from the same pattern. (It was pretty neat to be able to blend in with the draperies!)  I made dolls from corn husks and pine needles and used jute string, burlap and canvas for everything!  It was cheap!  As matter of fact, all of those things were free for the taking.  On the farm, those items were always on hand.

  The Little Bayou House is decorated with pine limbs, cones and burlap ribbon.  Homemade ornaments are stashed in bowls and boxes as they await their place on the tree.  Wooden toys, hand-sewn calico gingerbread men dangle from threads in the kitchen windows and paper snowflakes swing happily from a garland of jute string.  Yep, there is nothing new about the decorations.  Nostalgia is good during the holidays.  It takes us all home.

 

Weird and wonderful (?) finds!

  There is a young man that grew up around here that is my "go to" man when I want to know something about fish or fishing or, for that matter, fishing gear.  He knows it all!  Taylor is one of those rare young men that is always eager to help even if it calls for helping a old Bayou Lady.  Now that he has moved to other parts, he tells me to "send pictures of any weird catches" and, so, I do!  I do believe that today's catch might even be a little too weird for him.

  Mark went out fishing early this morning but for some strange reason never got a bite.  He was cruising along the shoreline searching for "runs" of big reds or trout when he came across the most unusual catch of the year.  It seems that not once did he find a redfish or trout but instead saw something stuck in the marsh.  Curiosity got the best of him and that strange item pulled all of his attention away from fishing.  He tugged, pulled and otherwise hoisted his find from beneath the marsh roots.  This thing was STUCK!  

  Finally, he succeeded!  Whump!  A Santa Claus was plopped into the boat!  Yep, he "caught" a Santa Claus!  This was a three foot tall Santa yard decoration.  At one time, the thing obviously had a light attached and a much better paint job but even without all of that, its identity was very apparent.  He headed home and hoisted the thing up onto the pier. When he called me down to examine his "catch", I had to start giggling. Only my husband would tote something like this home for me to photograph!  He is amazing!  Ms. Ez, the Bayou Dog, was not so thrilled with the newcomer on the pier.  She never barks at strangers yet this Santa was enough to send her into a frenzy!  Between her barking and my giggling, Mark never got to fully explain how he came about giving a boat ride to Ole Santa.  It took a while before he could finish his story!  

  Yep, this is probably the weirdest catch that I have ever seen pulled from the Bay but, then again, no one really knows what is under that water or, in this case, in the marsh.  Mark and I figure that this thing has been stuck out there since Hurricane Katrina.  How strange that no one has ever seen it before!  Santa Fish, anyone?

Vapor Trail or Santa Track?

The other night I was taking out the dog for her nightly run when I noticed how lovely the night sky appeared. There was a nearly full moon that was casting a warm glow on the slightly overcast sky. As I stood there looking, a broad whitish line began to appear. My mind went back to my childhood and the story Dad told me about these vapor trails. "That is Santa's sleigh making a trail in the sky", he told me. "You had better be good! He is on his way!" I knew then that all vapor trails were definitely Santa's track! After all, Dad told me this so it had to be true! As I stood there pondering this dubious fact, another thought crossed my mind. I had never in my entire life seen a vapor trail at night. Now this could be only because I am mostly inside at night instead of standing in the middle of the yard staring at the sky, but needless to say, this fascinated me. I mused.."Is this a rarity?" Perhaps the contrails in the daytime are just airplanes spewing out the hot exhaust gases from their engines. Perhaps Dad was mistaken in his identification of this phenomenon. Perhaps he was just trying to make a curious, little girl behave for a little while by whatever means he could. BUT! What about the contrails in the night???? AND! What about those nighttime contrails that are in December??? Scientific deductions must be made!



After much delving into this occurrence, I have come to the conclusion that Dad was so right..this is Santa's sleigh! Think about it...if NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) spends time tracking Santa Claus, then he must be real! If he is real, then it stands to reason that his flying sleigh is real, also! If his flying sleigh is real, he surely has to do test runs to make sure it is in perfect order for the BIG NIGHT! If he is to have test runs, he surely would do those in the evening hours as to not be detected! Aha! That is it! The December 8th vapor trail during the evening hours had to be a test run of the said sleigh! True, the Roly Poly Dude in Red may not have been on board (the elves might be operating the trial run) but surely this was his sleigh. I felt relieved to know that science proved Dad's theory!



Now that the whole situation is settled, we can all sleep well tonight. Santa Claus has a properly operating sleigh and some intelligent elves on the job to assure all will go well on December 24th. Christmas Eve will come and go, the presents will be delivered on time, kiddies will awake to all sorts of wonders, parents will breathe a sigh of relief and my dog will make her usual nighttime run down the hill. Me? I will be watching the sky! For I know what those trails mean! ......."Oh, you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why! Santa Claus is coming to town!".... (J.Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie)

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.