Cold Clear Night and Santa!

It seems kind of funny at times, well mostly once a year or so? But there are little things that sometimes cross my mind, and of course they are at “odd” times. Take last night for example: Christmas eve, I stepped outside to let the Dog out and it was close to Midnight, and for some reason I felt this urge to look up at the sky and see if I could see a Sleigh? Of course I looked up, and of course I was disappointed, but maybe it is the hope that keeps me looking?

Now I am well up there in years, and it has been more then a few since I have even kind of believed in the old guy. But, as I was looking up in the sky I was reminded that I seem to do this almost every year? And this just seems to happen; it isn’t even a thought until after I do it? And when I do this, it isn’t because of some cynical notion that by doing this I will prove the inexistence of this aged story. I think that I do this because deep in my heart there is a part of me that really wants it to be true?

The idea of a Jolly old Man in a Red suit giving away gifts for the pure and simple reason that it may bring a little joy into peoples life that if it wasn’t for this “thought” that most of these people may not see any joy, or more importantly, and I think this may be the real catch for me, but I think it is the belief of Magic? Magic that there is some kind of person who does selfless acts for no particular reason?

In the back of my head I kind of want to believe in the idea of a Santa and all the things that go with him? Belief in a world where there a person who does things like Santa, and who’s “Values” don’t change with any political ideology, or with any social or economic sway. Belief that the base principles that motivated this person have held true for all of these years and continue to remain the same.

Who knows maybe one day I will look up in the sky on a cold December night, right around midnight and I will hear a little jingle and I’ll have to do a double take and I just may see that Sleigh going by in the night. And I will honestly be too shocked to tell anyone.

Childhood memories and good intentions

So, I am going thru some things earlier today at my parents house and I came across a few interesting items. The one that grabbed my attention the most was an Elephant shaped Key that is made of red plastic. This key was made for children about 30 years ago, and I am guessing that it was a national thing? But it was made for children for when they go to the Detroit Zoo. The key itself was sold by the Zoo for a buck or two, I honestly do not remember? But I do remember that after the first year I got one that I always forgot the darn thing at home, and only remembered it after I had already spent all my money that my parents had given me on “snacks”. I remember this part vividly as I was only able to talk my parents into giving me the money to buy another one once.

The key itself is Red Plastic made into the shape of an Elephant, with its trunk as the “Key”. It came with a Blue card, and it told you where the key may be used along with the instructions, and on the other side it had a place where you could put your name and address, in case you lost it? It was definitely made of pretty durable plastic for at least two reasons. 1 – It had to take some pretty serious abuse. Think about a normal boy anywhere from 8-12 year old and the trials that little elephant was to endure. 2 – The darn thing has made it thru just about everything imaginable by me and my brother and the thing has still made it to be over 30 years old? Not to sound like everyone’s Grandfather, but they just don’t make stuff like this anymore. (This is probably why, at least to my knowledge that they don’t make these anymore. Lol)

Anyways, the key was made for kids so that when they arrived at an exhibit and if that exhibit had a certain “type” of box, the kid could insert the key, turn it and out of the box would come a description of the animal in the exhibit, if the animal was carnivorous or herbivorous? What the Animals home land was like and information of that nature. It was great if you were like I was 8-12 years old, and your world evolved around animals. Well, it was great the first time, because one of the bad parts of this little information box was that they never seemed to change the information in the box. They didn’t even update the information. (I believe this is why I was only able to talk my parents into buying me one more during those years.)

As I sit here and look at this thing it brings back more then a few childhood memories, actually a lot of good memories from when I was a child. And who among us doesn’t need a good memory from time to time! More importantly, I think it may just be better to try and leave a good memory for other people. So if you find yourself in a situation where you can have a good memory, think about the other people that are possibly involved and then maybe they can be left with a good memory as well?