Last Christmas, Uncle Albert promised his neighbor, Wilson, to find a way to keep
Christmas spirit alive all year. You know, just like Wilson and everybody else wishes people each year.Yesterday I was checking my calendar. "Holy smokes! It's almost Christmas. I better check to see if Uncle Albert found a way to keep Christmas spirit alive all year."
So I put on my boots and buttoned up my jacket. I dashed out door.
I came back into house to put on a scarf. And some gloves. And a hat. And my long-johns. I filled up thermos with hot chocolate and dug out a pair of ear muffs. "Yup. That's Christmas spirit," I thought as I headed out once more, trying to keep my head above snow.
When I reached Uncle Albert's, I could tell something was different. I wasn't sure quite what, but I suspect it had something to do with large red and gold sleigh parked in his driveway.
"Say, Uncle Albert. What's with sleigh?"
"You like it, Happy Guy? That's part of my Christmas spirit," he enthused.
"It is?"
"Of course. Riding in a one-horse open sleigh. Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? All that shtick." he smiled.
"You think that's how to keep Christmas spirit alive all year?"
"That's just beginning," he said as he lit up a candle. "I've cancelled my electricity."
"But why?"
"Have you ever heard of a Christmas carol with electricity?" Uncle Albert asked. "No. You hear about Christmas carols by candlelight, about silver bells, boughs of holly, all sorts of nostalgic stuff from days when General Electric hired mice to turn wheels of power."
I looked around for a Christmas tree. "So why no Christmas tree? Is that too modern for you?"
"Only plastic kind," he said. "They keep dying on me. I was probably feeding them too much sheep manure. Anyway, I decorated one out front."
