Well, I had a wonderful Christmas. On Christmas Eve, my mentor Mavis came over for dinner with her son, my aunt, my brother and two friends. We had a nice ham, as well as tamales, yams, green beans and multiple desserts. Presents were opened to "oohs" and "aahs".
On Christmas Day, my brother and I drove out to my cousin's house in San Dimas where we ate even more food and desserts, and opened more presents.
But the real magic came on Christmas morning.....renewing my faith that yes, there is a Santa Claus.
On Christmas morning, I awoke, as usual, to a cat on my face. It was a holiday morning, and so I had slept late - past their usual feeding time. I stumbled groggily from my bed, and Wobbly, my gray and black tabby, stood expectantly by the door.
"Map", she said. "Map, map, map".
"Just hold your horses, girl," I said, and made my way into the kitchen. I pulled down two cans of Friskies and prepared to take them outside to the cats' bowls on the patio. I almost tripped over the cats a number of times just between the kitchen and the door - they were under my feet, around my ankles, in front of my toes and generally making themselves annoying with their eagerness to be fed. I opened the front door and looked down, and there it was.....proof of the existence of Santa Claus......
In front of my door..a giant, four and a half pound tin of tunafish with a festive green bow on top, and a note: "To Wobbly from Santa".
Before seeing this gargantuan can of tuna I had never given much thought to how large institutions such as schools and hospitals prepare their batches of tuna salad. I guess I assumed they opened lots and lots and lots of little cans and dumped them all into a giant vat before adding the mayo and the relish.
But this can of tuna on my doorstep was huge....big enough to feed a tiger! With leftovers!
Wobbly stood next to the amazing package and looked up at me - her eyes glistening with anticipation. "Map!" she exclaimed.
Of course, this surprise present caused me some ethical conflict, since I certainly wasn't going to open this huge can of tuna and only give the contents to Wobbly - Toc and the Creature would have to have their share as well. I bent down, picked the can up and took it back into the kitchen, cats around my ankles at every step. Suffice it to say that the past two days have been kitty tuna heaven at my house. And the can is barely one-tenth eaten!
I don' t know why Santa chose to leave this precious gift with only Wobbly's name on it. It may have something to do with the fact that Wobbly "gets around" - she visits the homes of my neighbors frequently and they may have spoken to Santa about her on one of their trips to the mall.
At any event, I believe in Santa. And I believe that he loves cats. And that's all I need for a very merry Christmas.
Hoping you all had a good one as well, and that you have a happy and tuna-filled new year,
Byrd in LA
When you refer to your friend Mavis as your mentor, is that a joke or are you serious? How is she your mentor and why do you have one?
ch
Clown, I am an SGI member, and as such I have to have a mentor, no? As I discussed in my earlier entry - "Who's your Mentor?", Mavis is a sort of "if I absolutely have to pick someone, I'll pick her" sort of mentor. She distinguishes from the SGI's Mentor in that she is publicity-shy and does not name buildings after herself.
I guess she's really a big inspiration to me, and I call her my "mentor" in order to provoke outrage and indignation among the straighter-arrows in the SGI, that's all.
She also loves to wear purple turbans, which I never see Daisaku Ikeda wearing. I'd pay good money to see that, though.....
Best, Byrd in LA
Posted by: Byrd in LA at December 26, 2007 12:24 PMJoey, Tarzan, Mischka and Inscrutable Ming Wa aka SBO all wish you and your friends a wonderful holiday. They also want you to know that, indeed, there is a Santa!!! Only, they got scads of catnip.
P.S. They are hoping Wobbles will tell Santa that they will all work harder this year in the hopes that they too will get tuna. Joey is sincerely sorry for catching and eating that rabbit earlier this summer, and promises to stick to voles. He says to tell Wobbles "Mack! Mack!".
Hope your New Year starts out with more happy news!
Kris
Byrd,
Does Wobbly also believe in the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy?
Happy New Year!
Patrick
Posted by: Patrick at December 28, 2007 02:21 PMWobbly believes in tuna. All tuna and nothing but tuna. Light tuna, dark tuna, albacore tuna. Her religion is simple, indeed. She's a tunist. Or perhaps a tunite. Or a tunian. Maybe she's a tunaholic. Maybe she needs treatment instead of me and Santa enabling her addiction. Oh, goodness - I never thought of it that way before. It's like one of those movies they used to show in high school social hygiene class - "Tuna Madness"! Aaaagh!!!!!
Posted by: Byrd in LA at December 28, 2007 02:40 PMFor heavens sake, Byrd - just tell her to chant. Then you will be her mentor. Hey, I've got 3 cats, and they all love tune. Have Santa send some this way, or maybe it will get here faster if the tooth fairy brings it.
Happy Holidays, Beautiful Byrd.
Posted by: Ashley at January 1, 2008 07:45 PM