literature

Christmastime Is Here: Memories

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Literature Text

Just watching a short clip on YouTube
From "A Charlie Brown Christmas."

~Snow falling
As day deepens into evening
The air assumes a bluish cast
Several deer pause before bounding joyfully
Into the neighbors woods

~Years ago
Reclining on my old girlfriends couch
In her parent's basement
Listening to this play on the radio
In the dark

~Snuggled up under a deep cotton-tic blanket
At my grandparent's place as a kid
Antique ornaments on the tree
Listening to the furnace click on
Filling the house with warmth and
That soothing familiar sound of home

~Walking into our library in my childhood home
As a young boy
Looking up at the immense blue spruce
Fresh cut from my grandfather's property
Now strung with garlands and silvery icicles
Interspersed with countless ornaments
And lights

It is evening and the light fixtures are off
Only our Christmas tree illuminates the room
Reflecting off the old, polished wood floors
Which seem to glow from within
I sit cross-legged looking at the nativity scene
Displayed beneath the tree
While in the nearby alcove under the staircase
Voices of the masters croon
Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin
And many others

I sit there
Loving that dark green scent of fresh cut pine
The pointy needles trembling occasionally
As an errant waft of air moves through the house

Bedtime is approaching
Dad is making the rounds
Blowing out the candles
Grey tendrils of smoke
Rise into the air
Like the breath of angels
This scent will forever be imprinted in my heart and mind
Of the holiday gatherings we hosted
Friends and family laughing, conversing
The comfortable click of silverware against plates
Amid that happy energy which abides in all good dinner parties

Being so young (elementary school) I'm not aware of the portent
Of their conversations in the adult sense
Nevertheless, it is though I am wonderfully adrift
Buoyed up on the bubbling music of loved ones
As they reminisce, engaging one another with toasts
And hors d'oeuvres

But now the candles are dark

And I hear this song playing
"Christmastime Is Here" by Vince Guaraldi

It is now, as I pause once more before going to bed
To stop and gaze in wonder at our massive tree
That I feel that ancient Christmas magic welling up
Around me

It is now, this moment, that the impossible IS real
You seem to sense the ghosts of Christmas Past
Gliding to and fro
Alighting for a second then moving on
They are silent
But the message is loud and clear...

That moment in my life is being sealed into my young mind
To forever after symbolize
All that is right and good and holy:

-Of family
-And a warm bed to snuggle into
beneath those cool sheets
-Snowmen in the yard
-Walking among the pines with my grandfather
-Going after the Christmas tree in the dark with grandpa,
the tractor, a flashlight and a chain saw

And most of all, of Christ the LORD, without Whom there would be no holiday which bears His Name...to honor the birth of our Savior.

For those who can relate, you know of what I speak. And for others, perhaps you can catch a glimpse of that beautiful mystery I enjoyed as a child.

Here is the title song by The Vince Guaraldi Trio: "Christmastime Is Here.(Instrumental)" [link]



All Rights Reserved. 2012.
Comments appreciated
© 2012 - 2024 Blacksand459
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PuppyPal1000's avatar
Simply beautiful! I can already feel the Christmas magic welling up inside, and the holiness which I always associate it with. Such a beautiful feeling that, I think anyway, you captured perfectly:heart: