Tag: holidays

Joyous Anticipation

~ John ~ 2 Comments

The household is all in bed now…. the Christmas tree is lit…. the smell of pine wafts through the house….the lingering smell of gingerbread cookies hangs in the air ….my faithful dog waits at the foot of my bed hoping that i will fall asleep so he can hop in with me ….the hour is late ….i lay there restless, trying to hear any sound that would suggest the arrival of Santa Claus — The floor is cold, the single coal fired heater is way out in the kitchen….I have to have extra blankets on the bed — the warmth of the dog helps too —

I have left cookies out for Santa Claus —they are gone in the morning– I am excited about that until I learned it was my Dad who ate them and not Santa — i can hear the winter wind moaning around the outside of the house …. there is snow on the ground outdoors ….the whole town seems like the proverbial “Silent Night,” — not a soul stirring, not even a mouse ….except in my room with my dog and me ….I can’t wait for morning to come ….what is under the other tree in the living room …..what is under that tree for me …. my entire body tingles with the anticipation ….will the Collins bunch show up at dinner time like always, looking for that free meal?—will my friend Jimmy Putnam come over to show me what he got for Christmas and to break at least one of my new toys? — will my Mom insist that I eat breakfast before opening my presents? —

There I lay in that bed, my childish imagination running wild …..never realizing that we were dirt poor and whatever there is under that tree cost my Dad a lot of sacrifice and hard labor — He dug graves at the cemetery for a lousy $35 dollars every two weeks —I got one pair of shoes that had to last for a year —My aunt Ella always sends me a pair of socks for Christmas …My Grandma always gets me a pair of socks for Christmas ….The kids at our Second Grade School Christmas party gave me a handkerchief —Maybe I will get a sled this year —

My dad made me a sled (of sorts) out of wood but when he was demonstrating how it worked on the snow covered cemetery hill, the runners broke and he ended up with a face full of snow and cursing like a sailor and telling me, “I will get you a real sled for Christmas.” —

My dog didn’t seem to care all that much about Christmas …every day was Christmas for him ….. as long as he got a lot of petting and sweet talk and some good dog food, he thought he was living like a king —-which he was — dog food was expensive….he ate a lot of table scraps…I ate a lot of table scraps too …they were called “Left Overs.” — but life was good … we had a roof over our head — the roof leaked sometimes — but leaky roofs are what galvanized aluminum gallon buckets and No.10 galvanized wash tubs are for —

Daddy finally was able to scrounge a few asphalt shingles to patch the roof with ….He found them discarded in the dump at the cemetery — I eventually doze off to sleep remembering the strains of the son I heard at Sunday School, “Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem.” —- Did I mention that my teacher, Nellie Vice, got me a pair of socks for Christmas?

~ John ~ 2 Comments

HAPPENINGS FOR ANOTHER DAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2025
Another day and another dollar —-actually forget “Dollar” because compared to what it was as late as 2024, it is now only worth 97.1 cents of what it was then…….Inflation is a wonderful thing isn’t it? The more things cost to buy, the better the economy is … when people spend more, then sellers of stuff make more money ….and if that isn’t a great economy I don’t know what is. So what about the “Purchaser?” — The purchaser doesn’t count, has never counted and will never be counted except as someone to exploit, especially by the sellers of merchandise and services, so if you are looking for a break at your favorite retailer, forget it— all those so called “Coupon” savings you think you are saving money on are more than likely (In my most astute opinion) nothing but fractions of artificially-inflated price tags on store shelves to make you think you have saved something when, in most cases, in fact, you have paid even more than you once did before. — Merchandisers are clever at their hypnotic craft……. Yet, they are the “Backbone” of the American Economy, right? (If you think that is correct then just let the consuming masses go on a national boycott of something and you will soon see who the backbone of the economy really is.

Thanksgiving has come and gone yet once again and it was happy for Jimmy and I —-big dinner…..Americans love their big dinners for Thanksgiving, don’t they? Of course I overcooked the turkey but it did not get all dried out and tough so that was some kind of miracle….. yams, dressing (stuffing), banana pudding, gravy, potatoes, carrots, cranberry sauce made with whole cranberries— all the stuff that goes with such dinners and more…..more because Jim is a prodigious cook having spent years cooking at various commercial buffet style restaurants as well as at a big Kentucky university …….My focus on giving thanks this year was, of course, thanks that I have survived my cdif infection for as long as I have and as good as has been granted to me —- feeling much better —- do not know if it is my imagination or not, but I think I am feeling a lot better now….Of course the troubling thoughts do come and go, thoughts such as “Am I really ever going to get over all this so that I can live normally again? (This thing can take months and months to properly resolve after all.) But I am doing the best I can with what has been given to me and my attitude is more positive now than it has been for weeks and weeks.

so my big concern right now is the hope, wish and prayer that anyone and everyone who is reading here right now is blessed in all things beyond their wildest imaginations…..