Can't Keep up in December
I opened my eyes to Puck stuffing a wad of tossed magazines beside my pillow.
“Here, Mom. Your early Christmas present.”
I groggily adjusted my vision in the early light.
“Oh no, Puck… Did you…?”
Yes. He had. See, about a month ago, I had finally realized that recycling the mail might be a good idea. So I began tucking all the ads, coupons, magazines, etc., into a double-grocery bag which I hung on the basement door. It had become pretty fat and I considered tying it off to send to the paper recycling box. One day too late, apparently. He means well. I know he does. He thought he’d lend a hand and sort out the “good stuff”, hence our “early Christmas presents”. I thanked him for the thoughtful gesture and decided to address the project of reassuming the original form another time. Meanwhile, Puck tossed the contents into a large cardboard box in the basement and sat down to oatmeal and banana.
And The Bear packed himself off to work with a pair of braunschweiger sandwiches and a chiropractic appointment in the late morning. A king-size bed doesn’t cure all ills.
I was a little tempted to test the safety factor of our neighborhood lately. Nothing had happened. No police cars, no break-ins, no wild parties. But still… I had a thought cooking… Wrap some gifts – or better yet, rocks – in some boxes, like Christmas gifts. A few bows to make them seem authentic. Leave them on the front porch Christmas Eve. See if they’re there Christmas morning… I probably wouldn’t do it, but it was still intriguing.
It was time to resurrect the old Jerusalem Shewermas recipe from days gone by. After Puck got scrubbed up clean, we listened to the fries sizzle in the oven. I’m pretty sure that one ingredient was tacked on only to accommodate the American and British tourists. Hot crispy golden fries. With a little mayonnaise on the side.
Sometimes, I can’t leave the room for two minutes. When I walked back into the kitchen, Puck was busy stuffing the smoke detector with… raisins. Sometimes….
We closed another fast and packed day with a reading from the annotated children’s version of the Gospels…
“Does that angel have bare feet?”
“That’s how the artist drew the angel, I guess.”
“But they’re naked, right?”
“Well, I think they wear robes…”
“But under that they’re naked, right?”
“Well, I guess. But I don’t really know what they look like…”
“Maybe they’re kind of creepy.”
“I don’t think so…”
The Bear got down to more business after sharing another plate of fries. Christmas break is no break. Not in the wonderful everlasting world of seminary.