21 | December | 2016 | MY ENDURING BONES

So much snow, so many memories-

When I was 8 I came down with the mumps just before Christmas.

I got to stay home from school, and I spent most of my time drinking soda pop and coloring. It was great. My Mom bought me a ton of coloring books and paper dolls and I had our family dog Punky all to myself.

The only fly in the ointment was that year it wasn’t even cold enough to frost the windows let alone snow.

Then on Christmas Eve there was a cold snap and wouldn’t you know it? It started to snow.

My Dad bundled my brother and sister in their winter gear and took them for a walk in the snow with the dog and they left me at home with my stupid crayons and paper dolls. I stood in front of the living room window and watched them merrily break a path in the new snow, which did indeed twinkle in the moonlight.

I didn’t say a word.

Then I went into my bedroom/jail cell and wrote a letter to Santa:

Dear Santa,

I hope you crash your sleigh and I hope your Reindeer get rabies and eat you.

Anita

I stuck my letter in my Christmas stocking and went to bed.

I woke up sometime in the night and I heard my Dad and his cousin laughing.

” That girl is a piece work ” one of them said and as I fell back to sleep I’m pretty sure I agreed.

The next morning I rolled out of bed, I put my robe on inside out and didn’t wear my slippers- which were pink and spectacular because they had little puppies all over them. I put one snow boot on and stalked out to the living room.

When I got out there, right next to the tree was what I had been asking for since the previous Christmas- a new bike.

It was lime green and had a gears and it had tiny little pale green daisies on the frame.

I was in love.

I sat next to my bike and opened my other presents- it was a haul- I got a rock tumbler, roller skates an etch a sketch, a butterfly yo-yo and a purple yo-yo. I even got a couple of Barbies, Sea Monkeys and a crystal growing kit.

My Mom pointed out my mumps would be gone soon and maybe the snow will have melted and I could take my bike and skates out and try them out.

I was in such a good mood I agreed.

Did I mention I got a Shrunken Head kit too?

We cleaned up the paper and started in on the treats and I took my bike to the pantry and where there was a back door that led to the back yard.

I guess someone looked up and saw me flying by the window in one boot, one slipper, my inside out robe on my new bike down the snow and ice filled street.

I’m not sure how long I was out there, but by the time I got home I had a huge bump on my forehead a couple more on the back of my head and I had sprained my ankle.

Plus side is, I got a couple of candy canes and a color book from the Nurse at the Doctor’s office.

For the rest of the night my Mom and Grandma kept waking me up and asking me my name and I almost ended up back in the hospital when I said, ” Emma Peel “.

So there it is- a snow memory and one of my best memories ever.

Apparently my parents thought it was pretty great too because years later I found my Santa Bite Me letter in a box with the Christmas ornaments.

As you can see, my weirdness didn’t pop out of thin air.

The Holly Berry doesn’t fall far from the Holly Tree.

Our Random View: Christmas Prompt Snow

Sometimes you learn a story, see a picture or hear a song and your brain just fires up- all of the sudden the lights go on and you know at that exact moment in time you have found your muse.

You can write, sing, find a sport you love, doesn’t matter exactly but that feeling- what a rush.

Here are a few things that fed my imagination over the years.

Arthur Davidson and William S Harley

I’ve always wanted to own a Harley but I never got around to it. I do ride though and when I was a teenager I found a kitten who was too young to leave her mom. I brought her home and she lived to be almost 20 years old. I named her Harley Davidson. Not because she was a fighter or a survivor or one heck of a hunter.

I named her Harley Davidson because she used to leak like one.

Her name was inspired.

Machu Picchu in 1912.

When I was little I was told that this place was full of ghosts and powerful spirits. So it probably wasn’t a place you should go to unless you wanted to risk bringing some of the ghosts home with you.

I get it, it’s a tourist place and people go there everyday and I guess I’ll get around to it eventually. But for the moment, I prefer to think of it as a sacred place you should be invited to visit. Like a spirit animal or a possessed person will show up and tell me it’s time to go.

So I guess I’ll wait until that happens.

It makes for a better story in my mind and that feeling inspired by Machu Picchu has ended up in several of my short stories.

Seal to King Tut’s Tomb

I’m of two minds when it comes to the tombs and mummies of ancient Egypt.

On one hand, we are opening up graves and putting human remains on display for our edification and amusement.

I have replicas of a full sized human skeleton and various bones, but no real ones. I don’t consider them ornaments. I think I picked up that feeling after working in a Funeral Home because I don’t remember feeling that way before.

However, to be able to look into the face Ramses The Great or see jewelry or artwork that was never intended to be seen by human eyes carries the feeling that you are being allowed into a special and dare I say it- spiritual world that the living don’t get to visit. It’s an honor.

I think the Pharaohs would approve.