It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

“…All the Christmases roll down toward the two-tongued sea, like a cold and headlong moon bundling down the sky that was our street; and they stop at the rim of the ice-edged fish-freezing waves, and I plunge my hands in the snow and bring out whatever I can find. In goes my hand into that wool-white bell-tongued ball of holidays resting at the rim of the carol-singing sea, and out come Mrs. Prothero and the firemen.” –From A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas

Do you know it? Did you love this enchanting story of Christmases past as I did? Were you also in love with snow and beautifully lit trees harboring wrapped surprises and the food and music and magic and redemption of the holiday? My son received The Polar Express book and movie from his grandparents last Christmas, and he has been enraptured ever since with trains, gifts, snow. While other little boys his age pretend to be superheroes, he pretends to be Santa Claus and asks me almost daily what I would like for Christmas. When he isn’t Santa, he dons my husband’s black seafaring hat and pocket watch and calls us to board the train (our bed) and present our tickets. He demands I sing the Polar Express theme song, which, in my ignorance has become a wordless, off-key hum, and delights to imitate me.

I’ve been surprised at how infectious Gabriel’s excitement is 6 months before Christmas. I envy him. I would love to be a child again, just for a little while, free of a sense of fleeting time, completely engrossed in imaginative play, experiencing the unfettered magic of Christmas. Today, my son insisted on wearing his Santa hat to bed even though it was 90 degrees outside, and he woke with a sweat-soaked head.

During the month of December, Leonard and Emily Hutchens of Clemmons visit local families as Mr. and Mrs. Claus for a fee. They look like the Clauses– Leonard has grown a long beard for the part. Beautifully costumed and briefed on details of the family, they appear on your doorstep and spend an hour delighting children and adults alike. I can’t think of a gift that would delight Gabriel more than such a visit.

Are you a Christmas lover? What is your favorite memory of Christmas?