'Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas...Or Was It?

‘Twas the nightmare before Christmas, and all through the land,
Not a creature was driving, no chains could be found.
The ham and potatoes were cooked with great care,
But sat on the table, our family not there.

We children, all loaded so snug in the car,
Would have nightmares of snowflakes and wind from afar.
The moon that hung over the still falling snow
Cast an eerie gloom over the city below,
And Mommy’s loud laughter now sounded like groans,
And the jingling bells like grumbling tones.

Then what to our hopeful eyes should appear,
But a weather report that says, “skies may be clear.”
And an experienced driver so smooth and so rad,
We knew in a moment, it must be our dad.

To Nana & Papa’s, with a true sense of joy,
Dad courageously drove us and our presents and toys.
From side streets to freeways, he maneuvered and sped
Until we arrived at the holiday spread.
Unaware that the family was in panic and fear,
Dad merrily spread his own brand of cheer.

There were screams of excitement, but Dad didn’t hear it,
He was much too involved with his own Christmas spirit!
Our loved ones, our family were such a great sight,
And a Merry Christmas was had, and all had a good night.


So, those of you who are even vaguely familiar with that break from regularly scheduled t.v. programming referred to as the News probably saw Washington's unseasonably cold and wet winter weather featured a few million times in the days leading up to Christmas.



I actually liked the idea of a white Christmas because here in Washington, those are rare. However, when the winter storm warnings threatened to ruin the Christmas plans we had, I started becoming a little irate at the little white flecks that wouldn't stop falling from the sky. The neighbors didn't quite understand why I was outside my home yelling, "Go back where you came from!" O.k...that might be a little exaggeration. But what wasn't a stretch of the imagination was that the weather was threatening to turn our night before Christmas into the nightmare before Christmas.

As my poem described, however, the weather broke just in time for us to make our journey to my parents' home, with our fearless Daddy behind the wheel. We enjoyed a mouth-watering meal and fun, child-friendly version of the Nativity story. Thanks Mom and Dad for a memorable night.