Just Another Christmas Day, tponetom

[tponetom]

 Just Another Christmas Day,
[[In the Hiawatha National Forest)



The fire was banked a few years ago and the smouldering
ashes lied dormant.
It is not a diminishment of our love.
Rather, it is a reward of the elder age, a comfort if you will.
That being, the knowledge, that for the rest of our lives, we
will always have that “banked love” that we can re-ignite, if
only in our minds.
Those bitterly cold mornings when we would awake with a
quivering giggle that was quickly quenched by a well
rehearsed scene.
Sprint down the stairs and suppress the shudder of a chill
when looking at the indoor thermometer that reads, 48
degrees. Open the Franklin Stove door’s, scrape and scoop
out the blanket of ashes that are denying the reincarnation
of the preserved glowing coals into a maelstrom of flame.
A few small sticks of kindling for an appetizer.
Then the heavier, creamier entree of beech wood, rich in
BTU’s and guaranteed to provide the desired warm comfort
that only an open fire can give.
Using the grace of a few minutes before “ignition” I hurry
to the gas stove and heat the tea kettle of water that I will
then transform into a caffeine brew.
The empty coffee mugs will be placed on the Franklin to
remove their chill.
The two La-Z-Boy chairs, with their foot rests extended,
will be moved closer, to a precise distance from the fire.
Close, but not so close as to ignite the stockings that
enclose the ice bergs that we call,,,feet.
The fire begins to roar and beckons to the faint of heart.
The aroma of the coffee is another inducement. The
clincher is, when I call out, “Get out of that damn bed or I
will come up and get you.”
Then a scurry of motion when I tell her we have a visitor. It
could be a deer or a fox or a sensational ermine, garbed in
its coat of winter white, and elegantly accessorized with a
black tipped tale.
She is galvanized into a blur of movement, determined not
to miss a single performance of the continuous production
of animal olios.
We sit and watch and wait. Our eyeballs flicker from valley
to frozen lake, searching for an obscure movement that
heralds another rising curtain of a completely new
production,,,of life.

[Meddle]

Four firefighters shot, two killed outside Rochester, NY
One police officer killed in Bellaire, TX
One police officer killed outside Milwaukee, WI

And so this is Christmas.

[gazhekwe]

Tom, I remember that frigid morning dance, did it many winters living in the UP. I was sure never as poetic as you, going dipsy dipsy dosey doe trying to get into my mukluks to run to the head. More like @#%&##@ hurry up for Pete's sake!!

[Zacha341]

Powerful song still remains, as I rediscovered it this week... could be applied year long:

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

God rest ye merry, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember, Christ, our Saviour
Was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

In Bethlehem, in Israel,
This blessed Babe was born
And laid within a manger
Upon this blessed morn
The which His Mother Mary
Did nothing take in scorn
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

From God our Heavenly Father
A blessed Angel came;
And unto certain Shepherds
Brought tidings of the same:
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by Name.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

"Fear not then," said the Angel,
"Let nothing you affright,
This day is born a Saviour
Of a pure Virgin bright,
To free all those who trust in Him
From Satan's power and might."
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

The shepherds at those tidings
Rejoiced much in mind,
And left their flocks a-feeding
In tempest, storm and wind:
And went to Bethlehem straightway
The Son of God to find.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

And when they came to Bethlehem
Where our dear Saviour lay,
They found Him in a manger,
Where oxen feed on hay;
His Mother Mary kneeling down,
Unto the Lord did pray.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas
All other doth deface.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

[Gannon]

Tom, I remember that frigid morning dance, did it many winters living in the UP. I was sure never as poetic as you, going dipsy dipsy dosey doe trying to get into my mukluks to run to the head. More like @#%&##@ hurry up for Pete's sake!!

I told my honey that the week we spent in the UP was the best one of the year. I was specifically remembering my determined struggle having to start a fire to boil water for coffee...fighting a strong breeze off the lake in a lull of the rainstorm that nearly blew us away overnight. Then the deer-dash across our hood on the way to Grand Marais, the treeload of turkey vultures and the baby bear with momma coaching him back into the woods on our 'wrong turn loop'...among the myriad other overwhelming memories...in the week after surviving another of Grandma's Marathons somewhat untrained and fiercely unbrained. Icing on the cake was meeting Gaz's younger brother and drinking his perfectly magical self-roasted homebrew.

She couldn't believe I didn't choose any of the ten days we spent last month in Kaua'i. Neither did I...


...but now I realize I would like to split the rest of my years between the two. UP in the summertime, Kaua'i for the winter.

[gazhekwe]

That is the perfect blend, John, UP and Hawaii. Now if only I could drive to Hawaii....

Tom and Peggy have found a pretty good place to land. I found this Christmas Carol to share from their neck of the woods, Jingle Bells in Navajo by some beautiful Dine' children:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AEZ4KUBcwU