{"id":1332,"date":"2019-01-02T06:36:19","date_gmt":"2019-01-02T00:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=1332"},"modified":"2024-12-06T20:21:23","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T14:21:23","slug":"welcome-2019-im-ready-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=1332","title":{"rendered":"WELCOME 2019&#8230;I&#8217;M READY FOR YOU!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 15pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold','sans-serif';\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Here it is 2019 and I&#8217;m doing one last blahg this evening before the newness of the first day wears off.<a href=\"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/sketch1546356974896.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1333\" src=\"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/sketch1546356974896-169x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"213\" height=\"378\" srcset=\"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/sketch1546356974896-169x300.jpg 169w, http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/sketch1546356974896.jpg 540w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 213px) 100vw, 213px\" \/><\/a>\u00a0 Today is January 1st, 2019 and I&#8217;ve changed this picture of myself using one I took with an application on my phone called Sketch Camera.\u00a0 I think it looks cool.\u00a0 I was just playing around with it and I think I might have been on the toilet or something because I don&#8217;t appear to have a shirt on.\u00a0 That might be a theme for this blahg if you read on.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 15pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold','sans-serif';\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How do you start off a New Year? I know there is one thing I&#8217;ve always wanted to do and that&#8217;s a Polar Dip.\u00a0 That&#8217;s where you go swimming in a large cold body of water on New Year&#8217;s day.\u00a0 I always said I was going to do it but kept coming up with excuses and last year I was sick.\u00a0 So, this had to be my year.\u00a0 Seize it and freeze it.\u00a0 I drove out with my daughter Abbie to North Beach on the Lake Ontario side in beautiful Prince Edward County and did the deed.\u00a0 Here&#8217;s the proof:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5cPtcBmcqJA\" width=\"450\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 15pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold','sans-serif';\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thanks to my daughter Abbie for taking the video.\u00a0 She was a little sick and didn&#8217;t think it would be a good idea to go in the water but she did stick her toe in.\u00a0 She also didn&#8217;t think it was a good idea that I go in because she&#8217;d heard about other older people who had heart attacks trying the plunge.\u00a0 Hey, I&#8217;m only 56!\u00a0 Last year I ended up in the Emergency ward at the local hospital on Christmas Day with a throat infection.\u00a0 You can read about it in my blahg <a href=\"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=1078\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#8220;BEING SICK ON CHRISTMAS IS NO FUN&#8230;BUT HERE WE GO<\/a>&#8220;.\u00a0 This year I didn&#8217;t add New Year&#8217;s day to that bucket list.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 15pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold','sans-serif';\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The other thing I managed to accomplish was to finish a late Christmas story.\u00a0 In a December blahg &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=1268\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SOME CHRISTMAS STORIES<\/a>&#8221; I published a story called &#8220;Billy Built A Robot Christmas Morning.&#8221;\u00a0 I also said I was working on a sequel.\u00a0 Well, last night I finished it and this evening I finished the final edit.\u00a0 I guess you could say it was a two year effort.\u00a0 Get it?\u00a0 Two years?\u00a0 2018 and 2019?\u00a0 Skip it.\u00a0 The story&#8217;s better.\u00a0 Happy New Year.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">BILLY\u2019S BEST WORST CHRISTMAS EVER<\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">by<\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">Scott Henderson<\/h4>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<h4>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is the story of Billy but it\u2019s not really his first story.\u00a0 Let me be clear I\u2019m the author and I\u2019m the one writing this story.\u00a0 I felt I needed to say that because I\u2019m not sure if Billy is a good character or if he\u2019s redeemable or worth redeeming.\u00a0 That\u2019s what this story will determine.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We first met Billy in a story I wrote entitled \u201cBilly Built A Robot Christmas Morning.\u201d\u00a0 I guess he was about nine or ten.\u00a0 I never really gave it any thought.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t really likeable although I liked the story I wrote.\u00a0 But I\u2019ve been thinking about Billy lately.\u00a0 I got to wondering how he turned out.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I was getting my hair cut not that long ago and I heard two women discussing what you get a 14 year old for Christmas.\u00a0 There were comments about it being a tough age and everything is electronic and gift options were limited.\u00a0 Really?\u00a0 I would think a good swift kick in the pants might be a good option.\u00a0 That last comment, like the good swift kick, should be aimed squarely at Billy.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let me be clear, I don\u2019t dislike 14 year-olds or teenagers in that age range.\u00a0 I don\u2019t even dislike Billy.\u00a0 I just think that all the stories today are about teenagers who get to save the world, as if there weren\u2019t some more suitable older or even senior adults able to do that, or the teens are lost and struggling and you\u2019re not really sure if they\u2019re likeable or capable of redemption.\u00a0 I just would like to know where Billy fits into all of this.\u00a0 He\u2019s going to be 14 in this story and we\u2019ll see what happens.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So, I\u2019m going to give Billy one more chance.\u00a0 He could be a good character but that\u2019s up to him.\u00a0 When you have nothing to lose then you have everything to gain.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t make that up.\u00a0 I\u2019m just remembering that from somewhere.\u00a0 But that fits Billy.\u00a0 Let\u2019s find out.<\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/h4>\n<h4>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Billy came home from school at the start of his Christmas vacation on December 22<sup>nd<\/sup> to find a note pinned to the door of his home:<\/h4>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: right;\"><em><strong>Billy, we\u2019ve gone away for Christmas and we\u2019ve taken Logan with us.\u00a0 Everything you need is at Grandma at Grandpa Thompson\u2019s.\u00a0 Don\u2019t try the door because it\u2019s locked and we\u2019ve armed the alarm with a new code.<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: right;\"><em><strong>Merry Christmas.<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: right;\"><em><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: right;\"><em><strong>Mom &amp; Dad<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<h4>All Billy could think to say was \u201cthey took Logan?\u201d\u00a0 Logan was his dog.\u00a0 Well, it was more the family dog.\u00a0 Billy had whined long and hard about having a dog and when his parents gave in, like they always did, he got a beagle for no particular occasion.<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy was good with Logan in the beginning and did his best to feed him and walk him and clean up after him but when that became too much for him, or more to the point Billy lost interest, Mom and Dad provided for Logan.\u00a0 But still, \u201cthey took Logan?\u201d\u00a0 What was that all about?\u00a0 They went away for Christmas and they took the family dog and left Billy behind?<\/h4>\n<h4>Of course, I could tell you what that was all about.\u00a0 I am the author after all.\u00a0 Simply put, Mom and Dad had had enough\u2026not with caring for Logan but with Billy not caring at all.<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy tried the door.\u00a0 It was locked.\u00a0 He wondered if he should try his key.\u00a0 Maybe that part about changing the alarm code wasn\u2019t true.\u00a0 He decided against that.\u00a0 No, this seemed all too real but he thought he\u2019d better look around a bit.<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy pressed his face up against the window in the door.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t see anything.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t dark but his view was only of the entrance hall and there was nothing there.\u00a0 He tried the living room window.\u00a0 Nothing there either.\u00a0 Oh, he could see the Christmas tree and all of the decorations but no sign of Mom and Dad.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cThis makes no sense,\u201d he said aloud to no one in particular.\u00a0 It really didn\u2019t make any sense as far as he was concerned.\u00a0 Throughout the month of December his parents had been fools about Christmas.\u00a0 The decorations and the lights came out early and the tree went up and the holiday specials annoyed Billy for the whole month.\u00a0 Of course Billy had nothing to do with any of it.\u00a0 He shook his head at all that holiday nonsense.\u00a0 It had been too much for him and he had retreated to the sanctity of his room and his video games.<\/h4>\n<h4>Of course, you and I can see it plainer than Billy.\u00a0 His Mom and Dad had tried to make a Christmas but Billy didn\u2019t want to be a part of it.\u00a0 He wanted Christmas day and the presents and the dinner and that was it.\u00a0 No wonder Mom and Dad had split with Logan.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cWhat about the presents and the dinner?\u201d\u00a0 Billy was getting good at talking to himself.<\/h4>\n<h4>Mom had been baking all month and there had been cookies and squares and tarts and all kinds of things that Billy did indulge enjoy.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t help bake anything but he really liked sampling them.\u00a0 He always ignored his mother\u2019s pleas to \u201cleave those alone\u201d or \u201csave some for others\u201d or \u201cyou\u2019ll spoil your dinner.\u201d\u00a0 It was like a game to Billy.\u00a0 He never thought his mother was really upset.\u00a0 That was just what mothers do or say.\u00a0 The truth is that\u2019s what Billys do or say.\u00a0 And Billys never think.\u00a0 But boy was he thinking now.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cGrandma and Grandpa\u2019s?\u201d\u00a0 His utterings would have been comical to anyone walking by who heard this all coming from a 14 year old boy with his nose pressed against the living room window of a house that was armed and alarmed by owners who took their dog and left for Christmas and left their son to Grandma and Grandpa.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cGrandma and Grandpa\u2019s?\u201d he asked himself again.\u00a0 It was a fate worse than death.\u00a0 They had no internet and no cable television.\u00a0 They had rabbit ears and got three channels and one of those was public broadcasting.\u00a0 Public broadcasting, Billy thought, was for toddlers and old people.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t any of those.\u00a0 \u201cGreat, more Christmas specials,\u201d he said to the window.\u00a0 Billy thought that with his parents gone he\u2019d at least dodge that bullet.\u00a0 He called that wrong.<\/h4>\n<h4>Grandma and Grandpa\u2019s house was on the other side of town.\u00a0 It was a long walk and it would not help much with Billy\u2019s mood.\u00a0 Maybe they\u2019d be gone too.\u00a0 Maybe there\u2019d be another note pinned to the door passing him on to other relatives until he came full circle back to his own home and it would all have been a cruel joke and his parents with Logan would be there to greet him.<\/h4>\n<h4>No such luck.\u00a0 Grandma and Grandpa were home.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cYour parents dropped off what they thought you needed.\u00a0 We put everything up in the spare room,\u201d Grandma said.\u00a0 \u201cOh, and they left this note.\u201d<\/h4>\n<h4>Great, another note, Billy thought.\u00a0 Here\u2019s where the gag would be revealed and they\u2019d all have a good laugh\u2026at his expense.\u00a0 Again, no such luck.<\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: right;\"><em><strong>Billy, listen to Grandma and Grandpa.\u00a0 Their house, their rules.\u00a0 We have left you no electronics.\u00a0 Don\u2019t even try your phone.\u00a0 We\u2019ve cancelled your plan.\u00a0 No texts, no data, no calls.\u00a0 Don\u2019t forget to wear your boots.<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: right;\"><em><strong>Merry Christmas.<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: right;\"><em><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: right;\"><em><strong>Mom &amp; Dad<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n<h4><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n<h4>Billy reeled with the horror.\u00a0 He tried his phone.\u00a0 Nothing worked.\u00a0 Emergency Service only.\u00a0 Would 911 consider his plight an emergency?\u00a0 He dashed up the stairs to the spare room.\u00a0 The note didn\u2019t lie.\u00a0 There were no electronics.\u00a0 No game consoles.\u00a0 No hand-held game systems.\u00a0 No tablet, no laptop.\u00a0 But there were boots.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cI\u2019m not wearing those,\u201d he said to the room.\u00a0 Surprisingly, the room didn\u2019t answer.<\/h4>\n<h4>The next day, Billy wore the boots.<\/h4>\n<h4>It had been a rough night.\u00a0 He had pressed Grandma and Grandpa for answers but they gave none.\u00a0 All they would say was that he was there for Christmas and they\u2019d see about New Year\u2019s.\u00a0 Nothing about Mom and Dad and Logan and his cancelled Christmas.\u00a0 Nothing about the presents and the dinner.\u00a0 Nothing about anything.\u00a0 He had hid out in the room.\u00a0 The blankets were wool and itched.\u00a0 Oh, and it snowed.<\/h4>\n<h4>Overnight the landscape had turned to white and Billy\u2019s expensive running shoes were useless.\u00a0 Two feet of snow and climbing.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cDoesn\u2019t beat the seven feet of snow they had in Buffalo a few years ago,\u201d Grandpa said as he shook Billy awake the next morning.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cWhat?\u201d was all Billy could manage at seven o\u2019clock.\u00a0 His eyes were hardly open and the room was too cold.\u00a0 \u201cWhy do old people always like it so cold\u201d, he thought.\u00a0 He knew better that to at least say that out loud.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cShovelling first,\u201d Grandpa went on, \u201cand then Breakfast and then shopping.\u00a0 Get a move on.\u201d\u00a0 Grandpa whipped off the blankets before flipping on the lights and leaving the room.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cCould this get any worse?\u201d Billy said to the room.\u00a0 The room was a good listener.\u00a0 It was not much on small talk but it didn\u2019t laugh at him for talking to himself.<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy struggled out of the bed and into his clothes.\u00a0 At least his parents had provided him with what seemed like enough clothes for a long stay.\u00a0 And he put on the boots and a toque and gloves and a scarf.\u00a0 All provided courtesy of his parents.\u00a0 Bundled that way, no one would recognize him.\u00a0 At least he had his anonymity to cling to if he wanted it\u2026oh and he wanted it.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cThis is my grandson, Billy, and he\u2019s going to shovel your driveway.\u00a0 Merry Christmas.\u201d\u00a0 Grandpa didn\u2019t know anything about anonymity.<\/h4>\n<h4>Not only did Billy have to shovel Grandma and Grandpa\u2019s driveway but they insisted on introducing him to every elderly neighbor on the block and extending them the courtesy of Billy\u2019s free labor.\u00a0 Billy wasn\u2019t one for good deeds but Grandpa kept an eye him until everything was done.\u00a0 Five driveways and aching arms later, it was time for breakfast.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cOatmeal, there\u2019s nothing like it on a cold morning,\u201d Grandma said as she spooned out a good sized bowl\u2019s worth.\u00a0 Billy glared at it.\u00a0 There was no sugar.\u00a0 The milk was skim or non-fat or something he\u2019d rather avoid.\u00a0 At least they let him have some coffee.\u00a0 It was too strong.\u00a0 There was no sugar.\u00a0 The milk was skim or non-fat\u2026you get the drift.<\/h4>\n<h4>This was really shaping up to be an awful holiday for Billy.\u00a0 First, no Christmas and now no sugar and some liquid that passed almost as white water.\u00a0 At least he had the shopping to look forward to.\u00a0 He had some money on him and maybe he could buy himself something to make it all passable.<\/h4>\n<h4>They drove to the Bulk House.\u00a0 Everything was in bulk.\u00a0 Grandma and Grandpa bought fifty rolls each of paper towels and toilet paper.\u00a0 Oh, but there were vegetables.\u00a0 Billy had to heft a fifty pound sack of potatoes out to the car.\u00a0 That didn\u2019t include the 20 pounds of carrots or the big bag of onions.\u00a0 Billy had to huddle in the back with groceries.\u00a0 Grandpa said his summer tires were in the trunk.<\/h4>\n<h4>That evening, dinner consisted of fish with, you guessed it, boiled potatoes, carrots, and onions.\u00a0 The evening also consisted of watching a Christmas movie with Grandma and Grandpa.\u00a0 They insisted.\u00a0 It was A Christmas Carol.\u00a0 Of course it would be.\u00a0 This story is about redemption and what better tale happens at Christmas about redemption than Ebenezer Scrooge\u2019s own?\u00a0 I don\u2019t mean to hit the reader over the head with this but I thought that Billy might need some poking.<\/h4>\n<h4>The next morning, being the day before Christmas, Billy did indeed wake to some poking.\u00a0 It was Grandpa again.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cUp and at \u2018em, boy, it snowed another foot in the night.\u00a0 You know the routine.\u00a0 Shoveling first, then breakfast, then shopping.\u201d\u00a0 Grandpa jerked the covers back again before leaving the room.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cWhat time does he even get up?\u201d Billy muttered.\u00a0 Again, the room had no response.<\/h4>\n<h4>Five more driveways plus Grandma and Grandpa\u2019s.\u00a0 Breakfast was fried potatoes and toast.\u00a0 The margarine was cheap and hard.\u00a0 It tore the toast.\u00a0 Billy flavored his semi-milk with some coffee this time.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a welcomed change.<\/h4>\n<h4>Shopping consisted of another trip back to the Bulk House.\u00a0 This time it was just Grandpa and Billy.\u00a0 They did not go inside.\u00a0 Grandpa bought a Christmas tree from the man who sold them at a corner of the parking lot.\u00a0 There was some haggling between Grandpa and the vendor.\u00a0 Billy tried to hide among the pre-cut forest.\u00a0 Apparently this was a ritual for Grandma and Grandpa.\u00a0 They waited until the 24<sup>th<\/sup> before buying their tree.\u00a0 At least Billy didn\u2019t have to suffer that too much.<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy, however, did suffer. \u00a0He counted his scratches.\u00a0 Guess who had to help lift it on the roof and drag it in the house and crawl underneath the tree and help balance it in the stand until Grandma declared it was perfect?\u00a0 Not Grandpa, I can tell you that.<\/h4>\n<h4>You know I hate to see anyone suffer; especially at Christmas.\u00a0 I\u2019d like to say I take no joy in seeing my boy Billy suffer but I don\u2019t want to lie to you reader.\u00a0 Billy has to suffer.\u00a0 Without the suffering there\u2019s no motivation for change.\u00a0 After all, haven\u2019t I caused him enough anguish by cancelling his Christmas and packing him off to his Grandparents and then having him break his back with a shovel only to suffer yet another fruitless trip to the Bulk House where he got nothing for himself again except the scrapes he\u2019s now counting?\u00a0 I thought the message of A Christmas Carol would have been plain enough for him.\u00a0 What\u2019s it going to take?<\/h4>\n<h4>After the tree decorating, Grandpa delighted in beating Billy twice at Cribbage.\u00a0 Billy hadn\u2019t played in years and Grandpa made sure to collect all of the points for himself that Billy missed in error.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cYour head\u2019s not in the game, boy,\u201d Grandpa stated after the second defeat.\u00a0 At least Billy was only skunked in the second game.\u00a0 The first game had ended in a double skunk with Grandpa declaring that Billy should study harder in school because math obviously wasn\u2019t his strong suit if he couldn\u2019t realize what cards added up to fifteen.<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy escaped.\u00a0 After the game he wore the boots again and trudged down the block to the corner store.\u00a0 Grandma had sent him there twice the day before for bread and then the watered down milk.\u00a0 Not only did she forget to stalk up on these when she was at the Bulk House, she couldn\u2019t even remember everything she needed so she wouldn\u2019t have to send him out more than once.<\/h4>\n<h4>This time, Billy went for himself.\u00a0 He still had his money.\u00a0 He bought a soda and rejoiced in the sugar.\u00a0 He eyed the magazines but found he was not old enough for some and the others were nothing he\u2019d care to read.\u00a0 Your corner store doesn\u2019t usually stock in the latest gamer magazines.<\/h4>\n<h4>While Billy was enjoying the sweetness of the soda he thought about the lack of sugar at Grandma and Grandpa\u2019s.\u00a0 He bought some sugar cubes, a carton of good milk possibly 50 proof, and some coffee creamer.\u00a0 Given the exorbitant prices at the corner store, Billy soon found his spending money well depleted.\u00a0 He bought a Christmas bag with his loose change.\u00a0 He\u2019d put the sugar, milk, and creamer in that and that would be his gift to his Grandparents.<\/h4>\n<h4>Dinner was cabbage and pork-roll.\u00a0 Oh yes, and baked potatoes and more carrots.<\/h4>\n<h4>The movie that night was \u201cIt\u2019s A Wonderful Life.\u201d\u00a0 It had been a while since Billy had sat through it in its entirety.<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy lay awake long into the night.\u00a0 You would think that redeeming thoughts of histories of his youth or a life lived by others without him or visions of sugar plums at the very least would have been dancing in his head.\u00a0 No, instead he thought of this Christmas lived without him.\u00a0 Mom and Dad and Logan were probably on some beach somewhere or at some mountain resort thinking of anything but Billy.\u00a0 He began to wallow in his own misery.\u00a0 He piled on everything from the cancelled Christmas to the pine needles he had had to shake from his hair.\u00a0 Grandpa had said that wouldn\u2019t have happened if Billy got a haircut once in a while.<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy finally drifted off to sleep feeling thoroughly sorry for himself and wondering what type of potato would greet him for Christmas dinner\u2026if there was a Christmas dinner.<\/h4>\n<h4>The room was very warm when he awoke.\u00a0 No one had whisked away the covers.\u00a0 He had kicked them off himself.\u00a0 And it was still dark.<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy looked about the room.\u00a0 There was a glow from the street light but he could only see shadows in the room.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cHey room, Merry Christmas,\u201d Billy called out in the dark.\u00a0 It was meant as sarcasm.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cMerry Christmas yourself Billy,\u201d the room replied.<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy bolted up in the bed.\u00a0 He reached over and turned on the lamp beside his bed.\u00a0 The light was suddenly too bright in the close darkness.\u00a0 Eventually the shadows became blurs and then shadows again and then he saw it\u2026saw him\u2026Santa Claus<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cMerry Christmas Billy,\u201d Santa said.<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy rubbed his eyes.\u00a0 No, this couldn\u2019t be.\u00a0 He closed his eyes tight for a few seconds and then opened them again.\u00a0 It was no use.\u00a0 He was still there.\u00a0 And it was Santa.\u00a0 Billy knew this right off.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t Grandpa or anyone else dressed up like Santa.\u00a0 It was the real Santa.<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy looked Santa over.\u00a0 Red suit and real beard.\u00a0 He looked just like a thousand images of Santa he had seen in print or on television or in the movies.\u00a0 The image was immediately recognizable and true to his own memories of what he thought Santa looked like.\u00a0 Not that Billy ever thought of Santa Claus these days.\u00a0 That was kids\u2019 stuff.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cMerry Christmas Billy\u201d, Santa said again.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cYou said that already,\u201d Billy pointed out.\u00a0 Billy didn\u2019t mean to be flippant but what do you say to Santa when he shows up in the middle of the night at your grandparents\u2019 house after you\u2019d been dreaming of your thoroughly miserable Christmas.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cAnd would it kill you to say it back?\u201d Santa asked.\u00a0 Apparently Santa was not opposed to being flippant.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cMerry Christmas,\u201d Billy replied, \u201cbut you can\u2019t be\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Billy trailed off what he was going to say.\u00a0 Why couldn\u2019t he be Santa Claus?\u00a0 Nothing else that had happened to him lately made any sense.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cOh, but I can be and I am.\u201d\u00a0 Santa looked around the room.\u00a0 \u201cWhat, no cookies and milk?\u201d<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cI\u2019m not a kid you know\u201d, Billy found himself answering.\u00a0 \u201cThat stuff\u2019s just for kids.\u201d\u00a0 Again it was the kids\u2019 stuff guiding his thoughts.\u00a0 Substitute Bah Humbug and you will understand what Billy was getting at.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cThe cookies aren\u2019t for the kids, they\u2019re for me.\u00a0 I\u2019m for the kids.\u00a0 But I\u2019m not just for children Billy.\u00a0 I came because you need me.\u201d\u00a0 Santa shook a mittened hand in Billy\u2019s direction.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cI don\u2019t need anything\u201d, Billy replied in defiance.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve got everything I need.\u201d\u00a0 Billy shook his own hand back at Santa.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cNo Christmas, potatoes galore, scratched up arms, and pine needles in your hair.\u00a0 I guess you do have everything.\u201d\u00a0 Santa was good at stating the obvious.<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy ran his fingers through his hair.\u00a0 It was true.\u00a0 There were still some pine needles clinging to his scalp.\u00a0 At least he could thank Santa for that.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cYou see Billy, you really don\u2019t have anything.\u00a0 Listening to me might just change that.\u00a0 When you have nothing to lose then you have everything to gain.\u201d\u00a0 Santa sat down on the bed.\u00a0 \u201cI heard that somewhere and it bears repeating.\u201d\u00a0 Told you so, reader.<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy couldn\u2019t think of anything to say.\u00a0 Santa was right\u2026on all accounts.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cYou once needed me Billy and I used to come to you every year.\u00a0 You were always a delight when you were sleeping.\u00a0 Still are.\u00a0 I bet your parents would say that about you now.\u00a0 It\u2019s the waking times that need a little polishing.\u201d<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cThanks a lot Santa,\u201d Billy snapped.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cIt\u2019s only the truth.\u00a0 Don\u2019t blame the messenger,\u201d Santa replied without buying into Billy\u2019s anger.\u00a0 \u201cThen you grew up.\u00a0 You thought you knew it all.\u00a0 You didn\u2019t want anything.\u00a0 Or if you did, your parents gave it to you.\u00a0 I blame them for expelling me from your life.\u00a0 What do you need me for after they break the illusion?\u00a0 Still, you didn\u2019t have to buy into it all and let it run your life.\u201d<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cI thought you said I needed you?\u201d Billy asked.\u00a0 The sarcasm was creeping back in.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cYou do.\u00a0 You did and then you didn\u2019t and now you do.\u201d<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy looked confused.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cIt\u2019s like this\u201d, Santa continued.\u00a0 \u201cWhen you are little you need the magic and the wonder and I\u2019m there for that.\u00a0 When you got older you didn\u2019t need that anymore or maybe you didn\u2019t want it.\u00a0 But boy do you need it now.\u201d\u00a0 Santa was shaking his hand at Billy again.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ve lost something and it isn\u2019t just this Christmas.\u00a0 You\u2019ve lost all your Christmases.\u00a0 You gave them up.\u00a0 Thought you didn\u2019t need them.\u00a0 There\u2019s an emptiness in you that you can\u2019t find a way to fill.\u00a0 No video game\u2019s going to give you back that.\u201d<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy stared at Santa.\u00a0 He had cut Billy to the core; only because it was true.\u00a0 Santa was right.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t just this Christmas.\u00a0 Billy had walked away from all of that the first Christmas he didn\u2019t get everything he wanted.\u00a0 The memory of not getting the Grim Reaper 4 video game came back to his mind.\u00a0 That was the morning he had built the robot.\u00a0 But that\u2019s the other story.<\/h4>\n<h4>Santa reached over to pat Billy on the arm.\u00a0 Billy thought about quickly pulling his arm away but he didn\u2019t.\u00a0 Billy felt the touch.\u00a0 It was real.\u00a0 It was true.\u00a0 Everything Santa had said was true.\u00a0 There was truth in the words and Billy knew it.\u00a0 The truth was the one thing that Billy would never have thought to ask for but the one thing he needed most.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cDon\u2019t think on it too much kid\u201d, Santa went on.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve given you a gift.\u00a0 It might not have been anything you wanted but sometimes it\u2019s the things we need that are the best gifts received.\u201d<\/h4>\n<h4>Santa stood up and stood beside the bed for the moment looking into Billy\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 He reached out to shut off the lamp.\u00a0 Just before he did he turned back to Billy and said \u201cand that was a nice touch about the sugar cubes, milk, and creamer.\u00a0 Now go and find your own Christmas.\u201d\u00a0 The light went out, the room grew colder, and Santa was gone.<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy lay in the bed trembling for a long time.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t sure if it was the coldness of the room or what had just happened.\u00a0 He pulled up the blankets and hunkered down.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t be sure if what just happened really happened or if he\u2019d been dreaming.\u00a0 Soon he slept again.<\/h4>\n<h4>In the morning Billy woke to a strange sound.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t recognize it right away.\u00a0 It was like bells in the distance and it stirred him.\u00a0 Church Bells?\u00a0 Christmas Bells?\u00a0 No, it was his phone.\u00a0 The chiming signified he had a message.<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy snatched up his phone.\u00a0 It was working again.\u00a0 The service was back on.\u00a0 There were about a dozen texts from friends wondering where he was or what he got for Christmas or bragging about their own gifts.\u00a0 And there was a text from Mom and Dad:<\/h4>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: right;\"><em><strong>Billy, there\u2019s a gift for you at the house.\u00a0 We\u2019ve disarmed the alarm and we\u2019ve restored your phone service.<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: right;\"><em><strong>Merry Christmas.<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: right;\"><em><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: right;\"><em><strong>Mom &amp; Dad<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n<h4><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n<h4>Billy practically flew out of bed. \u00a0It was Christmas and there was a gift.\u00a0 After dressing he ran down the stairs and called out to Grandma and Grandpa.\u00a0 They must have gone out or were sleeping in.\u00a0 He left his gift bag for them on the table.\u00a0 They\u2019d find it.<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy didn\u2019t care that it was cold out or that it had snowed again.\u00a0 He was just glad he hadn\u2019t been awoken by Grandpa hovering over him with a shovel.\u00a0 There was a spring back in Billy\u2019s step and the walk home didn\u2019t seem half as long as normal.<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy tried his key in the lock.\u00a0 It opened.\u00a0 No alarm went off to spoil it all.\u00a0 But there was something.\u00a0 Billy smelled bacon.\u00a0 And there was music.\u00a0 Okay, it was Christmas music but he\u2019d take that over alarms ringing.\u00a0 And then Logan was there jumping up at him.\u00a0 And Mom.\u00a0 And Dad.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cWhat?\u201d Billy started.\u00a0 But it stuck in his throat.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cMerry Christmas son.\u201d\u00a0 Dad was at his side pulling off Billy\u2019s toque.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cStamp that snow off your boots,\u201d Mom said appearing in the hall with Grandma and Grandpa.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cMerry Christmas boy,\u201d Grandpa said.\u00a0 \u201cMore snow hunh?\u00a0 Still, it doesn\u2019t beat what they got in Buffalo a few years ago.\u201d<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cI know, seven feet of snow in Buffalo,\u201d Billy replied.\u00a0 Billy found himself chuckling at what he said.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cYou\u2019re just in time for breakfast,\u201d Grandma said.\u00a0 \u201cBacon and eggs and toast and waffles if you want them.\u201d<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cWhat, no hash browns or home-fried potatoes?\u201d\u00a0 Billy asked.\u00a0 Billy gave off with another laugh.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cThought you\u2019d had your fill of potatoes?\u201d Grandma replied.<\/h4>\n<h4>But there were potatoes.\u00a0 Mashed potatoes with dinner.\u00a0 And turkey,\u00a0 And stuffing.\u00a0 And gravy.\u00a0 And just about everything that makes Christmas dinner Christmas dinner.\u00a0 And pie for desert.\u00a0 Mom\u2019s apple and Grandma\u2019s pumpkin.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t missed them.<\/h4>\n<h4>Before dinner but after breakfast, there were presents.\u00a0 Billy hadn\u2019t expected anything so no matter what he got, he thoroughly welcomed the presents.\u00a0 There was even the Grim Reaper 4 video game.\u00a0 Dad had found it in a retro game shop.\u00a0 Billy put it away.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t need it right now.<\/h4>\n<h4>In the afternoon he beat Grandpa two straight games of Cribbage.\u00a0 He loaded the dishwasher.\u00a0 He even walked Logan.<\/h4>\n<h4>That night, Billy lay in bed and thought back on the day.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t even asked his parents what it had all been about.\u00a0 Had they been there the whole time?\u00a0 Should he have tried his key that day after school?\u00a0 He didn\u2019t care.\u00a0 He had lost something and now he had got it back.\u00a0 He had found his Christmas.<\/h4>\n<h4>Billy didn\u2019t really know if Santa Claus had really come to him.\u00a0 It might have been too many potatoes or too many movies with Christmas spirits or angels.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t be sure.<\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cMerry Christmas room.\u201d\u00a0 Billy waited for a reply.\u00a0 There was none and that was okay.\u00a0 Still, he wish he knew for sure.<\/h4>\n<h4>The next year he took no chances and he hung up his stocking and left out cookies and milk.\u00a0 Logan ate them all.<\/h4>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">The End.<\/h4>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Here it is 2019 and I&#8217;m doing one last blahg this evening before the newness of the first day wears off.\u00a0 Today is January 1st, 2019 and I&#8217;ve changed this picture of myself using one I took with an application on my phone called Sketch Camera.\u00a0 I think it looks cool.\u00a0 I was just [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1332"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1332"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6536,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1332\/revisions\/6536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}