Christmas 2021

Dec. 15

Christmas 2021

– I suppose it once sounded futuristic. The 21^st Century had such a march into the unknown ring. We are now 20% in on the future. This year I am grateful but haven’t found the joy of Christmas yet. It may come, as it has every year in some simple way. Sometimes it is the soft snow on Christmas Eve and other years it is the simple joy of family, the wonder in a young child’s face. Joy may come this year wrapped in colorful paper and bows tinged with dread.

December 21

Grandson James spent the night Sunday and was here until after school Monday when his parents demanded him back. I have found a joy, a joy sufficient to last through another not quite normal Christmas. James born on June 27 will be two and one half this Christmas. He loves the lights, decorations, and the carols. James is not excited, actually rather unsure of these characters in red suits and white beards. He does think white hair and scruff-ly white beards are perfectly acceptable. He delights in his grandparents; he is fortunate to see all of his grandparents for at least one overnight a week. He then is joyous to return home to find his mommie and daddy. James is Joy personified. I didn’t have to look too far to find joy this year. James has no list nor a long hoped for gift. He is surrounded by childish delights – old boxes that open and then close with a snap. He would have no interest in the long-forgotten ring the box once held. We discovered a great toy in the garage last week. Someone once gave our sons toy semi- trucks; I do not remember who. Nancy added the required four batteries, and the toy came to life. It will engage in all the sound of an over the road truck. When turned on, and James knows how, it sounds like an idling diesel. Air brakes pop, if backed there is a warning beep, the throat of the engine is heard when pushed forward. Another feature is when someone pushes down on the air horns the piercing sound of warning is heard. Nearly faded from memory the sound has returned. The truck’s warning now alerts scattered blocks and action figures to clear the way. James is very taken with the air horn and Nancy is less so – one might say not taken but given to annoyance.

Happy to play after long drive on vacation

ames said a prayer at lunch the other day he said thank you for Jesus and butter scotch pie. He loves my attempts to make my mother’s butterscotch meringue pie. I fail from the get go because I start with pie crusts from Pillsbury. I have gotten better with the other elements. One of the joys of grandparenthood is seeing all the photos of every other older person’s grandchildren. Everyone has a professional camera in their pocket in this 21^st century; great photos overwhelm us. I’m just going to say this as politely as possible. Some of you have achieved an age of the seasoned, not really like a fine wine or whisky more like a shriveled apple. I cannot understand how many of these old people are my age some even younger than me. However, your children and sometimes even great grandchildren are beautiful. Well, most of them, some not so much, but yet wonderful kids. I’m sure they are wonderful when not being brats. Still, even brats and the homely deserve a healthy planet to build lives for themselves. Climate change must be our greatest priority. If you are among the beguiled who are called deniers or the greedy exploiters of God’s world, I would suggest locking one’s self in a closet for forty days. The time of denial and reflection may allow God’s message to be heard. That’s it for the repent from your selfish and evil ways part of this mini-tome. I am going to write a post on my WordPress site. A Christmas epistle which will be more of a clarion call. If your feathers are all ruffled, or your bustle is now all tussled, I would not look up the blog post. I know we all contain love. Sometimes it is buried deep under much of the world’s garbage. If we all found it, we would heal the world.

We are going to Christmas Eve service cautiously. All family is vaxed and boosted. Erik and Laura expect another son in January. Alex and Joni got married on October 2. Nancy loves the mama Nancy role, but there is barely time to keep up with one child. I do not know about two. My mother is 93 healthy and stubborn. We are about to negotiate a few sensible changes. Nancy’s mother Winifred is 99 and will have her 100^th birthday in March. She is doing well. Her daughter Lynne and son in law George have come. They are staying with her and have helped her be healthy as possible. I am well surviving pandemic adjustments some good, but most not. I have written two novels. I would recommend, ask, maybe appeal to you to read The Solace of Solitude. It is on Kindle and Apple Books. Search for shiresteve – I am donating two dollars of the 3.95 or 3.99 price to our community project to build a health and fitness center. Apple and Amazon get much of the rest. I may have said I was done with my other book Null Stillness, but I found myself reworking it again last week. Ask for a new PDF; it is not epublished yet. Solace has a straight timeline, a single narrator who is a science fiction writer. It is a mystery romance interspersed with the reflections of an introvert seeking solitude while wrestling with mythical beasts. It is set in 1983 and 1984 in coastal North Carolina. I wrote it to be an entertaining tale for Nancy, who was not a fan of the multi-generational nonsequential approach of Null Stillness. Epublishing allows one to upload corrections. After many hours reading and rereading finding more annoying errors it is in decent shape now. I think the current versions only have a few millions edits left to find.

I now must go select photos to accompany the letter. I will carefully select those that present the glossy romanticized version of our life. You will not find those that clearly display the old fat man, I will mostly stay a ghost in the background. No pouting child, or exasperated grandmother shots. We do have a good life. James rarely pouts and Nancy’s exasperation is mostly with me. I have learned to ignore it. I do pray all are well or coping. Many are facing difficult life struggles. I can only lift prayers. I cannot heal or comfort all the injuries of the world. I hope your new year goes well; it does seem to be one of uncertainty. I will be taking a lesson from James living in the simple joy of the moment. Finding the extraordinary in the very common humdrum of daily life.  May you find the simple joy of simple this year

Steve Davis –

Enjoy the photos – family has had a good year in spite of Covid pandemic