This is how it is, once, a
half-lifetime
ago. The house comes alive at five
when kids too excited
to sleep noisily poke holes
in
paper gift wrap, emit muffled
giggles,
finally come to pull us
(yawning)
out of bed. Later they begin to
doubt,
hang out in the dark to prove
Santa a myth, fall asleep on the hearth.
When they’re teens the house
sleeps till ten. We eat
breakfast late
then have a go at the gifts.
When they’re in college,
Christmas
is a surprise package. One year an assortment
of boys’ cars—Porsches, hot
rods,
clunkers—clutter the driveway.
Terry
drops in with Swedish potato
sausage
pungent with onions he
pulverized
with an old-fashioned meat grinder.
Or the kids are all studying in France
or upstate. So, maybe a movie for
Dad and me at three. Schedules so
erratic
one year I decide not to put up our
one
unshakable tradition, a tree
that pushes its star to the
top
of our fourteen-foot
vaulted
ceiling. That was enough to roust
my son out of his dorm, hit
crosstown
traffic with a huge blue fir roped
to the top of his Volkswagen.
Measuring
the size of it with an upward wave
of his hand. A bargain he says. Nobody
wants to decorate this much tree
on Christmas
Eve. He relishes
the joke as he pulls fragile garlands
and heirloom ornaments from their
boxes
knowing that will sure enough roust
me out of my lounger to supervise.
That was then. These days we may
celebrate
a couple of days before the twenty-fifth, or after,
on bastard dates left over from when
others
have laid their claim on our progeny.
A new spurt of Christmas energy may arrive
in the great grandchildren
generation
when we’ll be awarded honorary
status,
but this spate of Christmases—call it the slow
decade—a new gift as
miraculous
as a fat guy coming down the
chimney.
The whole day. To think. To
Write.
Uninterrupted.
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .
