‘Twas the night before Christmas
and all through our abode
all the creatures were waiting
for the Christmas Day Party to unfold.
The children were cozy
and snug in their rooms,
they’re dreaming of Angels Stadium
and can’t wait until baseball season resumes.
With Travel Man in his pj pants,
and I in my sweats, we’d just settled down
for a good power nap.
(I don’t power nap well,
that’s a travel man thing)
Up on our roof top
there was such a big clatter,
I was hoping none of the kids
had jumped up there
to see what was the matter.
Away to the patio door
I shuffled barefoot,
opened the blinds,
and squinted my eyes
to take a good look
(I forgot my glasses).
When what to my wondering eyes
should appear,
the dog and the cat
were outside drinking a beer!
What I meant to say was,
I saw Santa’s sleigh sitting
out by our pool
with eight cute little reindeer,
just playing it cool.
There was little old driver
with a flashy, Hawaiian shirt,
and I knew in a moment
it was our California Santa,
is he wearing a grass skirt?
Next Santa took roll call
he called them by name,
to be sure none had
jumped in the pool to play a game.
“Where’s Dasher, and Dancer?”.
“Wake up Prancer and Vixen”.
“Finish your ice tea in a hurry”,
he called to Comet, Cupid,
Donder and Blitzen.
To the top of the patio cover,
to the top of the wall
now dash way,
dash away,
dash away and
please don’t fall.
So up to the top of our roof Santa flew
with the help of his reindeer,
and I’m guessing Rudolph was there too.
And then as I listened
on our rooftop I heard
Santa and the reindeer
stomping around,
now what could have occurred!!
I walked out in the hallway,
took a peek around the bend,
and there was Santa standing
in the living room,
is this a dream,
will it ever end?
He was dressed in his Hawaiian shirt,
khaki shorts, and black boots.
I’m pretty sure I saw his socks,
they were black too it was a hoot!
A big bag of presents
he had flung on his back.
Surely there was no room
for a new car, we’d call Mack!
His eyes how they sparkled,
His dimples so happy,
His cheeks looked a little sunburned
His nose was so like a cherry. (sunburned too)
He had a cute face,
and a little beer belly
it shook when he laughed
like a little bowl full of grape jelly.
He was chubby and plump
such a cute little elf,
I laughed when I saw him,
trying to keep it to myself.
He saw me watching him,
out of the corner of his eye
gave me a little wink,
and I thought I might cry.
He didn’t say a thing to me,
just got straight to work,
filling our stockings,
and I thought I saw him smirk.
He placed his finger
on the side of his nose,
gave a little nod and
up the chimney he rose.
He ran to his sleigh
and gave the reindeer a jerk
“Let’s go boys, we’re busy”, he said
“We’ve still got lots of work”.
And as Santa was leaving
our California paradise
I heard him yell loudly,
“Man, California is Nice!!”
Merry Christmas Eve to all,
and to all a good night.
** This is my personal adaptation of Clement Clark Moore’s, “Twas the Night Before Christmas poem. Clipart shown here is available from Microsoft Word.
