A gift from another "Santa Claus"

“Please blog about your favorite holiday …” That was as far as I read before the mental gag reflex kicked in. “How about my most Unfavorite holiday?” “The blight that decends each winter.” “The one that ruins my favorite season for a few weeks each year!”

After that purge of building bile and venom, I actually finished reading the email message and calmed down; considerably. I can empathize with Ebeneezer Scrooge. Whether his disdain for the Season of Expense and sudden gushing of emotions hidden the rest of the year was for the same reasons as my own, is of no matter.

And yet ….. sometimes ….. even those of us so alienated by this annual tsunami of mercantile fury in the guise of a faith, unbelievably not shared by all, can appreciate a very special gift of the season.

True peace, quiet, and the splendor of creation can be experienced this time of year.

A wise man, ironically the unknown twin of Santa Claus, gave me this one cold December.

I was dating the living vision of the commercial, traditional, Santa Claus. Even without a red suit, and in the middle of July heat waves, it was not uncommon for strangers to comment on how much he looked like the jolly old soul. He would be polite and smile, but as he would thank the person you could see the aggravation in his eyes, cringing behind his spectacles.

Having no family anymore, his Christmas celebrations tended to be lonely, broken only by office parties and parties at friends earlier in December, so I had invited him to my cousin’s annual gathering on Christmas Eve. It was a party I enjoyed as the regular family renunion. He accepted, but I knew it was only because there was no acceptable way for him to decline.

A few days later, he added to the plan. From the party, we would go on a road trip. A great excuse for not visiting anyone on Christmas Day! Then on the 23rd of December, with my bags already packed, we agreed that with an earlier start we would have more time at our destination. I gave my regrets to the extended family and we headed out.

As the sun set on Christmas Eve the mild temperature began to dip into a cooler range and made me hope for snow as we watched the clouds cross the multi-colored sky. It was far more facinating than my neighbors’ blinking wire reindeer.

I awoke Christmas morning to a dry, but frigid, sunrise over the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park. The songs of wild birds are so much more inspiring than carols. Though some would have disliked the cold (about 20 F), it brought back my childhood in England and the awe of winters there. It was a truly wonderful celebration in the beauty of nature. We even shared our Christmas feast with the havelina that had become accustomed to people and came like a wayward band of waifs begging for figgy pudding.

It has been more than a decade since we were two geeks without our electronics, enjoying a Christmas without the litter of TV commercials and internet spam! I have become a far more cynical curmudgeon when it comes to the subject of religious holidays. But this memory reminds me that there really is something of worth to be found beneath the sludge of what Christmas has become for far too many people.