Where I sit, it’s eight days until Christmas, seven to Christmas Eve. The time is now not so long.
Last night, we shopped the mall late. The merchants were closing their doors. And still they came. We came. To push and purchase, grab with glee, hurry home, and wrap and wait for the day and its eve. There is a bustle and scurry to the season. It is, I think, quite normal, and not a bad thing. But it can be distracting. There seems little time to sit quietly in a comfortable chair and watch and listen to the sights and sounds around us.
The old farmer, Frankie, did just that. In “The Christmas Song,” the Christmas story from two years ago, Frankie saw and heard a new Christmas. In the quiet, he founds doors opening, pens falling and songs playing, happenings that shouldn’t have and hadn’t for some time — if ever. The strange occurrences of Frankie’s story are imbedded in the memory of the old farmer and in the tale. They linger in the falling snow and sparkling lights of a country Christmas.
Next Monday, the 22nd, three days before Christmas, a new Christmas story will be posted on the homepage. Until that time, let’s revisit the last two Christmases for the web site — this is the third Uncle Joe Christmas. And let’s start with Frankie’s story from Christmas 2012. You can always find Frankie under Other Stories, but tomorrow morning I’ll post “The Christmas Song” on the homepage. In a day or two, I’ll follow with the Christmas story from 2013. Of course, next Monday you’ll get the newest of the three, the 2014 Christmas story.
It is a special season: Time to enjoy the waning of this year, to look forward to the newly numbered approaching months, and to remember the times passed from our midst. Old friends and dear family live in our memories and in our hearts. In their ways, as Frankie learned, they wish us well now and through our future days.
Good reading, and keep a watch for more.
Grandpa Jim