Nanny’s
Angels
Offer a presentation of:
Christ“m”as
Love!
(a play)
Act I---Christmas Eve
Setting: A traditional living room adorned with
festive Christmas decorations
Scene 1: Bapa asleep before the fireplace in
pleasant dreamland
All: Shush! He’s napping before the annual big event
All: When around the world on a reindeer bright red
sleigh he’s sent
Lauren: He sure takes to heart this Santa Claus
thing
Anna & Lexi: He so loves Christmas time and the
carols we sing
All (singing): Oh! Come all ye faithful, joyful and
triumphant
Anna (singing): I want a dog big as an elephant
Z.Tyler: Girls, Christmas is all about giving
All: We learned that from Nanny and Bapa’s living
Lexi: Sure, Rye-Rye, they say we’re a great family
Anna: But, I think Bapa may have fallen out of the
tree
Lauren: Oh! Sister! He really can count and knows
the alphabet
Z. Tyler: He’s simply teasing with trying your goat
to get
Anna: I want a dog, not a pointed set of Billy goat
horns
Lexi: Uncle Alex just said now he’s surely forlorn
All: Don’t despair, Alexander, you could live with
that
Lexi: Poppy! If Anna gets a dog, then I want a cat
Bapa: Ah! I truly love this Christmas season
Bapa: These family get-togethers must be the reason
All (singing): Silent night! Holy night! Peaceful
snowfall purely white
Scene 2: The gift exchange
Nanny: There’s a pile of gifts with a name on each
Bapa: To the ceiling I do believe they’ll reach
With practiced hands they seek the hidden treasures
inside
Until colored confetti builds a mountainous
avalanche slide
Anna: A microscope to view the miniature creature
world
Lexi: A doll and clothes, my very own American Girl!
Z. Tyler: Thanks ever so much for a trip to River
City
Lauren: Without those ads, that Kendall sure is pretty
And books and clothes and gift cards galore
Perfect presents for each that the others adore
Dinner was great, the party just right
Gentle snowflakes swirled at the stroke of midnight
Our girls placed the Innocent Babe in His manger
The reason for Christmas to whom no one’s a stranger
All: Oh! This was the best ever Christmas Love
All: Blessings abound from heaven above
Act II---Christmas Secular?
Setting: School auditorium
Scene 1: Children’s Winter holiday performance
Teacher: No! No! We cannot say “Merry Christmas!” in
this public place
Teacher: Insult someone’s dignity with such a
protocol disgrace?
Lauren: But, Miss-Informed with an M.A.
(mal-adjusted)
Anna (loudly): By the P-C police will we be busted?
Lexi: We all have practiced and learned our lines
well
All: Let’s just celebrate Jesus and promise not ever
to tell
Teacher: Children, it will not do to lie or cheat
Teacher: A proper social table just must “tolerance”
seat
Now, she was really nervous and quite upset
On hand would be Hizz honor and “high” celebrity set
Lauren & Lexi: We’ll change the title, just get
a grip
(Anna-aside to audience): Jeez! What’s one more fib
to a hypocrite?
Z. Tyler: My darling sibling and cousins true
All: We’ll perform the play and just make do
Scene 2: Christmas Love!
So the authority agreed to a subtle change in name
As long as none were blatantly brought to shame
The children caroled and behaved with respect
There were no complaints, not even one did object
For the finale they lined with poster board painted
When rolled in a manger scene, the teacher about
fainted
Each letter was raised for the audience to see
Spelled out the message they meant it to be
Z. Tyler: “C” is for Children summoned by His
clarion call
Lauren: “H” is for Heaven which welcomes them all
Lexi: “R” is for Rhythm of the Little Drummer Boy
Anna: “I” is for Independent, Individual joy
Z. Tyler: “S” is for Saints above and on earth
Lauren: “T” is for Trinity declaring His birth
Lexi: “M” is for Me, never forgotten
Anna: “A” is for Angels who honor the begotten
Z. Tyler: “S” is for our Salvation-Redemption
Lauren: “L” is for Love without any condition
Lexi: “O” is for Others to join in the fun
Anna: “V” is for Virtue in God’s own Son
All: “E” is for Eternal Grace every day
All: The exclamation point is a Christian in every
way
All (singing): Go ahead and love your neighbor, go
ahead and kiss a friend
All (singing): Do it in the name of Jesus, He will
bless you in the end
All (singing): On sacred every hereafter day
All (singing): One true Christian rides away
Dead silence enveloped the audience in its confusion
Staring at the spelling, they couldn’t get its
conclusion
The “M” letter was sitting quite upside down
A “W” meaning exacted smiles from a frown
The children didn’t know what they held above
The true message today, simply: Christ-was Love!
All (singing): Silent night! Holy night!
All (singing): All is calm! All is bright!
All (singing): Round yon virgin, mother and child
All (singing): Holy Infant, so tender and mild
All (singing): Sleep in heavenly peace
All (singing): Sleep in heavenly peace
All: Amen!
All (singing): We wish you a Merry Christmas!
All (singing): We wish you a merry Christmas!
All (singing): We wish you a Merry Christmas!
All (singing): And, a life of good cheer!
All (shout!): Merry Christmas!
The End
Plus:
What,
Then? Have I?
If all I have left tomorrow, is what I thanked God
for today?
Justice served? Not in Jesus’ forgiveness-mercy
double play
Reflection: Baseball IS God’s game! He
invented perfection, then chose to allow lowly man to play. And, through free
will interspersed with a sinful nature, we have perverted that perfect purity
which, in reality, belongs only to the Creator; yet, the game lives on while
teaching valuable life lessons to each new generation. There are no great
players, only the immense God-given talents of instinctual reactions for so
very few. Many practice hard and surely, some progress; too many believe the
lies of those who know neither the ecstasy of this most sacred challenge nor
the values of a Christian life; not for their own salvation nor for that of
their progeny. Coaches glean vicarious machinations of glory through untalented
nepotism.
So true! Too, sad!
The analogy of “Jesus-forgiveness-mercy”
double play refers to the Chicago Cubs infield team perfection of that
devastating execution. Joe Tinkers, Johnny Evers and Frank Chance helped lead
the Cubbies to four National League pennants in 1906, 1907, 1908 and 1910
winning the World Series in ’07 and ’08---World Champions of the greatest game
ever invented!
New York columnist Franklin Pierce Adams
wrote in 1910, this catchy little ditty:
Baseball’s
Sad Lexicon
These are the saddest of possible words:
“Tinker to Evers to Chance.”
Trio of bear-Cubs and fleeter than birds,
“Tinker to Evers to Chance.”
Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble—
Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble:
“Tinker to Evans to Chance.”
(Note: Gonfalon refers to the pennant and
the tone expresses the writer’s dismay over the Cubs continued triumphs against
his hapless New York Giants of the day.)
And, to us, in taking for granted our
myriad blessings and not thanking our Lord daily, He pardons our transgression
with “Jesus to Forgiveness to Mercy”.
Prayer: Dear Lord! Thank you for the many
blessing bestowed on a wanton sinner. Repentant in earnest I be, yet repetitive
by a sinful nature, You see. Forgive me, once more. Amen!
Conclusion: I thank God for life and
Grace, for Faith! Family! Freedom! And, baseball!
Amen!
Plus:
“Oh! Yes, Bapa,” said Lauren as Lexi and
Anna Marie nodded excited agreement.
“But, Bapa,” the “Little Professor”
prompted, “what are you trying to hide behind you?”
“Well, girls,” Bapa began, “Santa Claus
came last night and left---this!”
He stepped aside.
Eyes widened as “oohs” and “aahs”
sounded; forgetting herself in excitement, Lexi shrieked.
In the stall stood a beautiful dark grey
filly. Black mane and tail, four black stockings, a fetching dark-dappled coat
and a refined dished face topped with black-tipped attentive, refined ears. Her
eyes were alert, clear and bright, and intelligent; she stood 14.2 hands tall.
The filly nickered softly in greeting to the excited girls.
“Merry Christmas! Girls!” Bapa
announced, slipping his arm around Nanny.
“Oh! She’s so beautiful,” Lauren
announced, patting her neck.
“Oh! Yes!” echoed Lexi. “She looks
like---frosted Crystal!” She giggled.
“Let’s ride her!” exclaimed Anna, her
excitement jumping her a step ahead of all the rest.
Everyone laughed at the little girl’s
unabated enthusiasm.
That was our Annie Rie. Her youthful
exuberance squeezed every drop of goodness, excitement and satisfaction from
each event in her young life. Not that the others had not thought the obvious,
Annie Rie had always displayed a proclivity to push every situation to its
limits, and, well beyond---and…of course, and, most important, immediately.
Bapa’s and Nanny’s progeny held a zest
for life, born of their ancestry, which allowed each to make every day a grand
event, or better, a series of events which demanded celebration. Life was
abundantly full of excitement if only one knew “where” to look, and, most
importantly, “how” to see. A positive attitude trumps tedium and boredom, every
time it’s tried.
There was no room for any possible ennui
here. As Bapa often quipped, “”Bored people are boring people!” This family had
proclaimed a silent “Amen!” to that prayer in every aspect of their daily
lives. Each day was a perpetual celebration of the events that filled their
time and which value was not lost on their appreciation of life and…one
another.
These children were the personification
of a heaven-sent spirit in human apparitions; this gift of understanding
permeated the being of each family member. To live and enjoy life was one
thing; to be “in excitement” of life was quite another. Bapa often explained
the phenomenon when he would say, “I not only love you, I am ‘in love’ with
loving you.” Each lived the virtue.
“Well,” Bapa cautioned, “we can ride
her, but, gently. We’ll have to baby her for a while. You’ll need to use a light
blanket saddle, instead of a heavy leather one, on her at first.”
“But why, Bapa,” asked Lexi, “is she
sick?” She patted the filly’s neck; concern on her face.
The old man laughed. “No,” he replied,
“but let me ask you girls a question: Could there be any better Christmas
present than this half-Arab, half-Morgan filly?’
“That’s a Morab,” informed the ‘Little
Professor’.
“And, no. She doesn’t look sick,” she
giggled, “and I don’t know how this could be any better. She must be the very
best present, ever!”
Two blonde heads nodded in total agreement
as the trio beamed broadly.
“Well, “ Bapa said, “maybe there might
be just one ‘little’ thing.” He paused.
The girls looked at one another;
innocent eyes displaying puzzlement.
“She’s going to have a foal in March!”
Bapa announced proudly, smiling widely.
“Yea!” Exploded simultaneous cacophonous
shouts of excited exclamation from all three.
Lexli Lu sobered, remembering his
admonitions about babying the filly.
“But, Bapa. We don’t have a blanket saddle,”
she announced, sadly.
“Now, now, Lexi. You girls have presents
to open after supper this evening. I’ll just bet ‘ole’ Santa Claus didn’t
forget a thing,” Nanny said, teasingly, all aglow with excitement.
Knowingly, the three girls giggled and
yelled, “Yea!”, as they nodded in understanding.
Later, Nanny smiled as she watched from
the living room window. Her brood was in the lot between the barn and the
house. The snow had let up having deposited four inches beautifying nature in a
Currier & Ives perfect Christmas landscape scene suitable for framing.
Z. Tyler held the grey horse with a
nylon lunge line secured to a new red halter adorning the Morab’s head. He held
her short as the girls patted and petted her, taking turns sitting on her back;
they had already fed her carrots appropriated from Nanny’s root cellar. Beth
and Becky, the old couple’s daughters, held Lofty, the sixteen hand gelding, so
as to include him in the festivities; he had eaten his fair share of roots,
too. No one was ever left out. Even Ella and Goldie had joined the party and
had buddied-up to the new filly. Zoe coyly watched aloofly from the living room
window, sitting on the arm of the sofa, enjoying the warmth and comfort of her
castle; feigning total disinterest, she secretly kept an eye on the outdoor
festivities.
Bapa had fired up the silver tractor and
with the blade attached had plowed a fifty-foot diameter circle in the lot
where his grandson gently worked the animal.
“Funny,” thought Nanny, contentedly
observing her fine family, “that Bapa, he’s just never too busy nor tired nor out
of time to do something nice to please others.”
This would be…oops! She caught herself,
this already was, a fine Christmas. Once she had overheard a friend ask Bapa
which Christmas had been the very best for him. He had replied immediately,
without consideration, as was his always direct way, “Why, ’twas, the very
last--- last Christmas past.”
“Really?” the friend had blankly asked,
unsure of what to say.
“Always!” came Bapa’s immediate reply,
confusing her even more.
It was the final line of a poem he had written
years earlier. Nanny often wondered if the woman had ever gotten his meaning.
“No,” she had correctly surmised. It didn’t matter; Nanny knew that his stated
confession on the matter was true.
Z. Tyler lunged the filly so all could
assess and appreciate how adroitly she moved. His athletic ability and natural
ease in adapting to any situation allowed him to deftly handle the horse as
easily and expertly as any “cowboy” born to the saddle. Changing direction, the
Morab proudly displayed her innate proficiency by immediately picking up the
correct lead.
As he let out the loops of coiled braid,
the filly’s nostrils flared, her ears perked up, she tucked her head and broke
into a floating trot when the length of line had played out. Then, her black
tail shot up as she proudly put on a special holiday performance, like the
proud filly understood that she was the center of attention. When she broke
into a canter, it was clear that her ride would be smooth and fast; this was
one fine piece of horseflesh, exceeding all expectations.
After Bapa watched the filly walk, trot
and canter, left, then right for a few minutes, he proceeded to blade open the
driveway to the county road. Two passes opened the road for safe passage. The
snow had stopped and a deep cerulean sky was pushing away the steel grey cloud
remnants of a spent winter storm. A clear nighttime sky would send the
temperature plummeting.
“A good omen,” he concluded, enjoying
the delights of winter’s tingly cold.
Later, amid scads of holiday festooned wrapping
paper, seeming miles of colorful satin ribbon, a display of toys, games,
clothes and goodies to make a department store manager envious, the clan began
to settle in, reflecting on their good fortune, satiated physically with good
food, socially with great company, spiritually with Christmas love. In a while,
they would attend midnight mass in the little country church. It was a holy
place, always welcoming, but on Christmas, it glowed with heavenly warmth. All
was good; all was perfect. Silent Night!
Nanny came to sit by Bapa; she gave his
hand a soft squeeze; their eyes met and she nodded, smiling. “Who would have
ever believed all of this could have started with one little innocent kiss?“
she teased, giggling. Then, she kissed his cheek and gave him an endearing
wink.
They were as one. Occasionally, they
would laugh, one telling the other that talk between them had become
unnecessary as the thought of one, prior to taking voice, would be spoken by
the other. “We’ve been together too long,” he would tease. “You can read my
mind.”
“Before you all fall asleep to nap time
and dreamland,” Bapa said to the tiring throng, “I think we should decide on a name
that pretty little filly.”
Lauren and Lexi brightened and sat up
amid the rubble of paper and gifts. Even Annie Rie, who had been in the throes
of sleepy quiet dreams of Santa Claus, stirred to semi-wakefulness.
“Oh! Yes! Bapa,” Lauren agreed.
“Princess,” she offered, quickly,
reflective of the three girls’ shared love of fairy-tales and make-believe
movies about such outrageous fantasy figures.
“Princess,” Lexi seconded. Then,
realizing she had parroted her cousin‘s offering, she quickly amended her
suggestion, “Or---maybe, Snowflake?” A delightful smile lovingly adorned her
beautiful, bright face glowingly framed by radiant, long blonde curls.
Chuckling with the others, Nanny chimed
in, “How about you, sleepyhead, our little Miss Anna Marie? What tag do you suggest
as a proper name for that perfectly beautiful filly?”
Yawning and still in half-slumber, the
little blonde six year old shook her head slightly to clear the sugar-plumbs;
she rubbed one eye with the back of a tiny hand, looked around her from face to
face as if searching the family members for guidance to choose just the right
moniker.
Finally…“Christmas Magic!” she exclaimed
in childlike innocence, endearingly spiritual, as though her reply had been
inspired by grace. Then, she closed her eyes and slept soundly, a hint of a waning
smile showing, as though she had, once again, spoken the final word. Imagine
that!
Amen! So be it! And, so it is!
Christmas
Magic!
Epilog
Christmas Day dawned crisp and clear as
light stole away the night. Slowly, a small, dim, cold, whitish orb ascended
the pale abyss. By mid-morning the sun’s masquerade of promised warmth provided
no hope of comfort relief in a pure cerulean sky. Christmas Day was born,
lived, and would pass all too soon. The uncle arrived with his family and
Grandma. Other relatives and friends came to visit; another adventure unfolded.
Amber was hitched to the red sleigh adding fanciful delight to the day’s events
in reminiscent reflections of yesteryears. Bapa had attached bronze sleigh
bells to the harness which he had purchased at an Amish village years ago. The
adventurers enjoyed sled riding on the hills and ice skating now that the pond
had frozen thick enough; Z. Tyler put on an Ice Capades display to rival the
professional traveling troupe. When frozen fingers and toes and rosy cheeks
required thawing, the ice cubes retreated to the warmth of the farmhouse where
a feast of Nanny’s Christmas delight was indulged. At last, dusk overtook the
day, then night ushered in silent respite as peace covered the earth. The
farmstead lay quiet under the watchful sentinels of tiny faceted-diamonds on a
black velvet canvas. Yesterdays were saved memories; tomorrow, the promise of
even better times. Those remembrances are the keys to a warm tradition built on
love of Faith! Family! Freedom!. And, “Some day”? Well, that’s today, right
now…Right Now! Do not wait for that elusive “someday” to perhaps arrive,
delivered in a pre-planned package of perfection to be opened and maybe
experienced and enjoyed; it may not appear. Or, it may show up in a form
neither anticipated nor recognizable. Today is important! Please live it,
experience it, push it, challenge it, cherish it. Celebrate the gift with
living, laughing, loving. Like Christ‘s
birth, each new day is the best---
Christmas Magic!
So be it. Amen? So it is. Amen!
Merry
Christmas!
Day 357
Nanny’s
Christmas houses
Lovely
Lady Candice Leah has a few very nice collections like Snow Village Christmas
houses along with Depression-glass, Polish-pottery pieces, antiques and
jewelry.
At
Christmas, the Lady’s elegant home “glows” with the spirit of the sacred
holiday; her Snow village lighted houses with church-buildings, schools and the
Ryman Auditorium decorate the hearth in her living room running over to take
the bookshelves and desktop. Her crowning glory in the collection (my favorite,
too) is the lighted Ice Palace Castle chosen by Z. Tyler.
He
was still a tyke, maybe 6 or 7, when we went to the mall at South county to get
his Nanny a Christmas gift (one of many she received each year)[ we went right
to the Snow Village collection. Immediately, Z. Tyler set his eyes on the Ice
Palace (over a hundred dollars), a “bit” more than I had contemplated spending.
That boy does have Class! It was
absolutely beautiful!
I
suggested several other houses for our purchase; he cut me off each time
pointing to his prize. Hmm! Oh! Well! Deterring the “child” should be easy for
an old salesman like me!?
“How
about this…?” He pointed! “Or---this…nice house?” He pointed! And---on, and…on!
Well!
I might talk tough and show a disdain on occasion, but, the kids have me
psyched-out.
We
wrapped the treasure when we brought it home and she absolutely loved it.
I
am so glad that my little-man persisted; the Ice-Palace is the crown jewel of
the collection!
Ah! Cookie Jar
Sweet “Baby! It’s cold outside!” Memories!
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