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December 23, 1996
"Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat, please put a penny in the old man's hat..."
Christmas:
Jolly old St. Nicholas: coming soon to a chimney near you.
There's an article in today's Boston Globe about beanie babies. Stores in some places are sold out of 'em. They are all the rage from kindergartners to 5th graders, girls and boys. They're made in China. I've already bought them so my contribution to supporting slave labor in China has already been made. It's so hard to be a responsible citizen of the world these days. Anyway, beanie babies are the first non-violent gender-neutral toy fad in a long time. With their sleeping bags and hats and scarves they require lots of cozy nurturing - a good thing in the harsh reality of the '90's. Maybe the 5th graders of today will be a little more compassionate as adults for having nurtured their beanie babies.
Geese: Yesterday I saw a boat come under the bridge from the bay into the cove. There were two men in camouflage outfits and a black dog in it. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I thought, Ohmigod they're here to kill the Canada geese - the golf course must have complained - they're gonna do the Massachusetts thing of treating the geese like weeds - shoot 'em and give 'em to the homeless to eat (this was proposed in some towns in Massachusetts but I don't think it was implemented)... All these thoughts raced through my head. The boat turned around and went back out into the bay. I don't think they can hunt in the cove anyway because there are a lot of houses nearby and the bike path is right there. Too much potential for accidents. Later on I saw what may or may not have been the same boat out in the bay sailing along covered in camouflage tarps like a duck blind or an ambush or something. Maybe they were foreign agents staging an invasion, a coup against Buddy Cianci. yeah that's it they want to overthrow Waterplace....
Pennies: Every day the mailman brings new pleas for money for year end donations to worthy causes - or unworthy causes - some of which I've already donated to and some of which I've never heard of. It's overwhelming. How do I tell which ones are legitimate? How do I decide who to give my limited money to? Where did this custom of soliciting charitable donations at Xmas originate? Is there more of it now under the Republican Congress and welfare reform? Do I really need to see videos of whaling? How much does it cost Greenpeace to send out those videos? Does it really do any good to send the videos to people who already support them? Inquiring minds want to know...
Old Men: (well, it's stretching it a bit to call these guys old men, but I've got a theme going..)
I ran into Tom at Starbucks this morning. We talked about a wide variety of things like how different families celebrate the holidays, art, the meaning of life, poetry, the meaning of Ned... Ned joined us for awhile. He's reading the Koran from the back. The longer chapters are at the beginning and shorter ones at the end so he's starting at the end. Makes sense I guess. Me: "Why the Koran?" Ned: "It's writing that works".
Hat: I watched a rerun of Cybill tonight. Maryann says to Ira: "I knew a woman who could only make love while eating lo mein out of a hat". I tried to picture that. Weird images.