The heat is blasting trying to ward off the cold. It is 31°. The car windows are covered with frosty looking snowflakes. The grass crunches underfoot. It is indeed a winter wonderland.

My tree has already filled the house with the sweet aroma of pine; however, it is still undecorated. I hauled so many boxes up and down yesterday I ran out of steam. Today I have a concert so I will decorate later. The lights are ready to be strung.

I caught Nala in the act of stealing a shepherd, one with a sheep across his shoulders. I yelled for her to stop, and she ignored me as usual. I followed her outside calling her a bad dog and asking her to drop it. Nala hates being called a bad dog especially when she is guilty of something. She stops, wags her tail and her body, the way only a boxer does, and drops her pelf. The shepherd was saved! The nativity is now under wraps.

When I was a kid, every day was agony, another day to wait until Christmas. Time stretched out seemingly forever. In school we sang Christmas carols and practiced for the play of the big day, the birth. We practiced the Bible verses about the trip to Bethlehem, the announcement from the angels, the surprise of the shepherds and the birth in the stable. We had to memorize our lines. They were exact from the Bible. They weren’t easy. I was an angel. I told the shepherds.

When I was a kid, I never doubted the existence of Santa Claus. Maybe if I had stopped to think, I’d have caught on to the ploy. Naughty or nice list? Santa sees you when you are sleeping and when you’re awake? What parent wouldn’t use the threat of Santa? We were good out of fear.

My mother told me I knew all the words to ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas when I was little. I got the meaning of the story. I just didn’t know what all the words meant. I remember being perplexed when the man opened his window threw up the sash. Why did he eat it in the first place?