PRACTICAL PARSIMONY: The Real Santa

Thursday, December 25, 2014

The Real Santa

Christmas Lunch

Before the Santa story, this. I love turkey and chicken and eat chicken almost every day. This was lunch. Bagged greens with Roma tomatoes. There are more pieces of tomato under the chicken. I take the turkey and put in a very small bowl, shredded or chopped. Then, I put a small amount of oil-based dressing on the turkey and coat thoroughly BEFORE putting the turkey on the greens.. This way, I use less dressing and get enough dressing to make me happy.

Years ago when my sister was about twenty-five, she told me this story. Her friend, let's call her Dee, asked her mother if Santa was real. Dee was about eight and had heard things from her friends about Santa. Her mother told her not to tell any of the other kids at school, but her father was Santa. So, Dee kept her secret and told no one.

When Dee was a teen (17), she discovered that her father did not really fly around the world delivering toys every Christmas Eve. All this time, she had thought there was a real Santa, her father. Of course, this was not what her mother meant.

So, have a merry-what's-left-of-Christmas. That story still makes me laugh. Dee was a child who wanted to believe.

I was crushed when I was eight and found out there was no Santa?

I will delete any comment that about the "reason for the season" or thinks it is wrong to pretend there is a Santa and tell that lie to children...lol. I am conflicted about pretend.

Your turn
So, do you have any stories about finding out Santa was not real? Your story? Anyone's story?

4 comments:

lotta joyDecember 25, 2014 at 9:41 PM
It was my sister's job to keep me behind the bedroom door while Santa brought in the presents. I heard a crash, and thought Santa had dropped something.....until I heard my big mouth mom yell "Dan! Can't you be QUIET! She's supposed to think it's Santa."
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Elephant's ChildDecember 25, 2014 at 10:06 PM
My brothers are all older than I am. I can't remember believing - they made it their business to 'set me straight'.
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Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.

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The Cast

Fancy is my favorite hen. She is one of the three youngest hens I adopted. Because she is so gentle and friendly, she may be the one I rescued when she was being pecked to death after she could no longer stand. She got to live in the house in a box. Sometimes, I let her sit in my lap while she was convalescing. Now, she comes to sit in the swing with me, cuddling up to my body like a cat or dog. She died in February 2012.

Fancy follows me begging, complaining, needing me to do for her. She talks to me in various voices. She allows me to pick her up and carry her. When she became an adult, her head was a darker red and her body was light brown. Around her neck were tips of black feathers. It appeared she had a necklace of jet around her neck. When I showed this characteristic to a friend, he said, "Oh, you have fancy chickens and plain chickens."

Chessie has a broken toe. I broke it! She had a habit of jumping really high and almost sticking. A raccoon ate her in October 2009.

Thelma is the blonde. She is also the largest hen and the alpha hen. I suspect the gigantic eggs are from her. She often squats and presents herself to me. She is top hen, but I suspect she knows she had better be deferent to top feeder of the flock--me.

Louise is the auburn-feathered hen. She looks like the true Rhode Island Reds in pictures. She is almost as large as Thelma. Some days I suspect she is trying to be top chicken. When I got Pepper, I found out Louise is the Alpha hen.

Pepper came here from the same home as the first four. We were discussing putting red pepper on their food, wondering if it really would increase egg production. Pepper is the only name we agreed on. She is terrorized each day by Louise. Even after the worst was over, she was and is still filled with terror and very wary.

Linda is owned by four hens. They allow her to fetch for them. She loves them dearly, so she allows them to boss her around. Linda comes out in the rain to perform chores for them and make sure they have food and water. She begs scraps from all sorts of places to make sure they have fresh fruits and vegetables.

Parsimony is not a vegetable

Parsimony is extreme care in spending money. Stick around and learn about my random thoughts on accomplishing goals economically--dumpster diving aka safari, gleaning, do-it-yourself, sewing tips, recipes, and whatever is happening in my life.

Okay so maybe "parsimony" is not your thing. How about thrift, frugality or just plain saving money? I try not to go the tightwad route as that seems to imply others will suffer from my habits.

Some of my not-spending habits have very much been a part of my lifelong habits. Other habits are newly acquired and are an extension of my lifelong not-spending habits.

I am very imaginative when it comes to substituting or making instead of buying. I will tell you about making a heater for the chickens' water. Not one dime was spent since I had everything I needed right in my basement.

Practicality must rear its head alongside parsimony. For example, I will use the dryer in bad weather or because of allergies in the spring. But, I will not wash clothes in a tub as long as I have a washing machine or can find one.

You may hear more about my four Rhode Island Red hens than you care to hear. They lay delicious brown eggs.

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Thursday, December 25, 2014

The Real Santa

4 comments: