As sailors often are. Got a Christmas story?

Gunners Mate O'Quinn and me are broke a few days before Christmas. In Indian Head Maryland it is bitter cold. To pass the time we go to the off base EOD School building to check our mail. We pass by the Gateway Inn see the lights the party goers.

I have a package from my sister Lois. Aw darn it is a pair of hand knitted socks. Very nice but I do not think we can trade them for a beer, warmth or company at the Gateway Inn.

But wait! I feel a crinkly something in one sock. "Hey look here O'Quinn it is a twenty dollar bill.

So we are allowed entrance to the Gateway Inn. And the warmth. And the company. And the beer. And the slot machines.

Thanks Lois.

Christmas 1956

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How I love your work. :)

Thank you for your kind comments.

We are the last of our family Lois and me.

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On Christmas Eve us tykes would gather on the hearth around grandma's knees.
"Grandma, tell us The Christmas Story, please?"

"Alright my little cherubs. One night, over the city of Bethlehem, a very bright star appeared in the sky..."

"No, NO, NO!!!, we squealed.
"Tell us about the Christmas in Skagway when you were a whore during the gold rush."

And she would smile, and a tear would come to her eye, and she would once again begin the old story.

The End
;-)
Merry Christmas all.
:hi:

:rofl:

to warm place for that one Mr. Trof.

Hahahahahahaha

Neat story. Merry Christmas Pilot.

Ed

That story was told to me by my great uncle.
A fabrication, as far as I know.

:)

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Our only (at that time) son was hospitalized from his 3rd birthday, Nov 11,until Feb 16th. He had Birthday cake 4 days after his birthday, and Christmas almost 2 months late.. He didn't care.. he was happy to be home, and when you're 3, any day CAN be Christmas.

a Merry Christmas for Mom and Dad too. I bet.

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We lived in Northern Indiana and every winter our son would be hospitalized in Rochester Minnesota. Saying the weather was wicked, would be a gross understatement.. We would drive up there and check into our seedy little hotel for the duration.. dad's "time-off" would tick away, and then I would be the lone ranger.. We could not afford to pay to park every day, so we would walk from the motel to the hospital.. A good half hour jaunt, moving as fast as possible to avoid freezing in place...and of course when Dad had to go back to work, I was on foot anyway.. the bus did not stop at our seedy little motel.. but for $6 a night, what could you expect.. and there was free ice in every room.. in the sink and on the insides of the bathroom windows:)

I was working at a greyhound track about 2 miles from where I lived. When you work with animals, you work every day so Christmas was no exception. My husband and I went in first thing and turned out and fed the dogs, we went back at around 4 to turn out again. It was snowing by then and was starting to get heavy. We had one more turnout to make, at 10 that night, and when we walked out the door, the world was transformed by the snowfall. It was still coming down and big heaps of it were all over the road and the snowbanks that were left from the last fall.

Our truck was pretty lousy in snow and though it was falling heavily, it wasn't that cold so we decided to walk to the kennel. We set out in that echoing silence that you only hear when the snow is falling, a silence that muffles every sound except the soft squelch of your boots as you tromp through it. As we walked, we could see the colored lights and trees in our neighbors' houses, we could see them moving past their windows carrying gifts and drinks, see their silent laughter. Once on the road, there wasn't a single car - we had the world to ourselves and it was so beautiful.

We got to the kennels and separated to let out our dogs. As I stood in the pen with dogs gently nudging my hands asking for pets and the snow drifting all around me, I thought about the story of Christmas, about that little stable and the animals within it. And I thought about how appropriate it was that I was spending my Christmas night alone with animals.

It was close to midnight when we got home. It's one of the nicest memories of Christmas that I have.

I walked with you and I too petted the dogs.

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I always enjoy your stuff.

Skygazer. Each time I see you I think of shrimp trawlers and of the mysterious fishes we often drag up.

One of which is called a 'Stargazer'. The eyes are near the top of the head. I picture the 'Stargazers' laying tight and safe to the ocean floor gazing up through clear water at the starlight and wondering.

Like we as we children once lay on sandy night beaches gazing up at the stars and wondering.

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