If We Make It Through December

YouTube - Merle Haggard-If We Make It Through December

This song really has some deep rooted meaning for me. I try to go along with the merriment of the season, knowing full well that the only thing to celebrate is the birth of Christ. Seems I'm always expecting some sort of tragedy to fall in the month of December.

Years come and go but somehow I can never shake the memories of loosing the love of my life and the mother of my children just days before the big season in 1976. I'm kinda like chicken little waiting for the sky to fall. Oh, sure there have been many joyful times since then and I've been blessed with new and extended families but the beast of past never leaves my mind. This year is starting out kinda bah hum bug, not only is the economy bad, a granddaughter who is

expecting is having difficulties carrying and a grandson was just rushed to the hospital with appendicitis.

Wouldn't it be nice to turn back the years and leave all the worries behind? Being a kid in Colorado and the only thing to worry about was how to keep warm. I didn't even mind getting frost bite while searching for just the right tree to chop down or gathering pine cones to make wreaths to ship to sunny California folks.

Here's wishing all my friends , family and readers of this blog, a joyous season and a Happy New Year. My wish for all is good health, peace and love shared to one another.

Looking Back

On my last trip to Pagosa while trying to re-trace landmarks where I once enjoyed nature in its glory, my heart was crushed to find nothing resembled those special places. The place where I once skinny dipped with friends had been transformed into a place for tourist to pollute the river and build condos along the river bank. "Cotton's Hole" as we knew it was not longer a place for youngsters to learn to swim, spear mud suckers with hand made willow spears and pocket knifes or steal a first kiss from the girl next door.

Mesa Heights as I knew it decades ago gave many youngsters a thrill parking on the hill overlooking the town,listening to some romantic tune while embrassing your sweetheart. This hilltop now is a serene setting for some lucky homeowners to have a daily
view of the beauty down below. The sawmill that once provided much employment to the area is long gone. The smoke from its smoke stake could be seen from the top this hill. This was where highway 160 and 89 separated and was also a favorite parking place for teenage lovers.


While visiting and reminiscing I was thrilled to enjoy sharing an evening of bingo with folks from my era, even got to meet one of my old school teachers there. My brother being very active in the local American Legion helps with the activities there. I was amazed to find the old building so well kept but my mind kept having flash backs of the days that building was the local Teen Canteen, home of the duck tail haircuts, saddle shoes and poodle skirts.

The Reason for the Season

Once again old father time has marched into the land of young just to remind us all that our time here is only on borrowed time and the only insurance for longevity is to love one another.
With the economy being on the down side, I ventured out into the local shopping mall to attempt putting a gift or two under the tree. What would have been a nerve wrecking trip in past was quite pleasant. Since I am not the only penny pincher looking for a bargain, the other souls though few, seemed in good spirits. The few things I managed to find worthy of resting under a beautifully decorated tree, I would have been embarrassed to claim in years past.
Reading scriptures related to advent and the coming of the real reason for the season I was taken back in time with my thoughts. Remembering when Christ was really the center of festivities and decorations, and local merchants greeted with a "Merry Christmas" and political correctness was never considered with Happy Holiday replacing the birth of Christ.
Growing up in a poor family in Colorado, only two Christmas's stand out. One was a year when my most treasured gift was a basket of fresh fruit, the other was a time I got a Roy Rogers outfit complete with guns and holsters. Expensive gadgets escaped my youth and I seemed to have survived, living with a land line telephone, a Philco radio with laughter and suspense coming out of speakers that only my mind could visualize, a brownie Kodak camera, a 35 cent movie ticket or a gallon of gas for about the same price.
As years have come and gone I tried to instill some the values of life handed down to me into my own children, but like the pied piper of stuff they have all fallen in line and at times I'm sure have forgotten the real reason for the season.
When driving down the road in the comfort of our shiny automobiles and burning $3:00 gas and seeing some poor soul standing in freezing weather on the corner with a cup in hand. do we curse and say what a lazy bum or do we wonder if maybe he just lost his job or had his home forclosed. Perhaps the change in our pockets could put a little nurisment in a belly or help find a warm place to sleep on the eve of the reason for the season