A Magical Christmas. A "Bewitched" Christmas.

When I look back on my childhood Christmases, my first recollection is the time I heard reindeer hooves on the roof.  I definitely, certainly, without a doubt, encountered a holiday miracle.  My Dad tucked me in on Christmas Eve and told me that the reindeer attempt to stay quiet at night because they don't want to alert children to Santa's arrival, but it's hard to stay completely quiet as there are eight reindeer, albeit tiny ones.  So he simply told me to stay vigilant and listen, listen, listen for the magic.  Because magic is an important part of Christmas, he'd say.  It was for me then -- and it is now.

Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, I heard them - accompanied by wee bells.  Tiny, tinkling, crystalline bells rang out, hooves clip clopped like miniature wooden shoes.  Overwhelmed by the promise of Santa in close proximity, I stayed in bed and covered my head (just like I was told in the song, "Here Comes Santa Claus") and imagined the miraculous Jolly Elf entering through the window Dad left open a crack (we had no chimney) to keep Santa's job safe and easy.

That morning, Mom woke me up and told me Dad had something important to report.  I remember Dad entering my room, sitting at the foot of the bed, and telling me he found reindeer hoof prints out in the snow.

"They're very small, but I can tell they're not birds, they're not rabbits; they're reindeer!  Come take a look!"

A bundled-up Pam trundled outside, holding my Daddy's hand.  Sure enough: extra small hooves in the snow, made by what must have been a sleigh team of something the size of squirrels (but NOT squirrels).

Back inside, it was apparent that St. Nick made it in through the window unscathed, leaving me a plethora of mid-century toy store goodness (from the Official Southwest Side of Chicago North Pole Annex, Bargain Town, on Cicero Avenue, near 63rd Street, not far from Midway Airport.  That would make sense...) that perplexed and pixiliated tiny Pam.

Yes, I was an only child, so Santa always outdid himself every year.

I don't know about you, but a look at me in my jammies on this mid-60s Christmas morning reminds me of Tabitha from "Bewitched" so much, that it sparked me to find my favorite Christmas episode.  Thus my treat to you: the entire #123, "Humbug Not to be Spoken Here", their take on "A Christmas Carol".  Pay close attention to the second part, wherein you'll take a peek into the North Pole featuring sleek, mid-century reindeer.

Oh, and I love the fact that Samantha and Santa know each other like old friends.  Of COURSE they do!



Part One A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y99cpVj7BGA

Part One B: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11i2pRSDSQM

Part Two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqiH8bE2i1k

End Tag: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpfoQW9zjqw&list=PLF7EB3DF89619B590&index=5&feature=plpp_video

 (Here's Elizabeth Montgomery, apparently at an after party for the episode, because this scene is not in the actual episode, but she's wearing the same divine ensemble she has on in the final portion of the show.  It's a completely smashing jumpsuit that I want so badly, I can taste it.)


So tonight, when you're nodding off to slumber, make some room between sugar plums dancing to keep quiet and still and listen.

Just Listen.

A Christmas Miracle

A few weeks back, Ben and I sat down to our annual viewing of our favorite holiday TV special, "A Charlie Brown Christmas".  Yes, of course, we can always watch it on DVD, but taking time to make the date when it's actually playing is a holiday event we don't like to miss.

Another thing we don't like to miss is the show in its entirety.  So when we viewed it a few weeks back - and witnessed the vivisection ABC did on the show, omitting the snowball throwing, Sally Brown's "tens and twenties" lines, and the entire Lucy-Schroeder "Jingle Bells" exchange, we thought we had inadvertently come upon ABC as owned by Mr. Potter from "It's a Wonderful Life".  We sat and grimaced through the Pottersville version, complete with scores of commercials - and bad sound-synching, which made me wonder if perhaps this was the Bulgarian version, but without the Bulgarian subtitles.

As Lucy said of the tree, "No, no - it's all wrong."

So enter Christmas miracle: ABC reran the REAL show last night and we just happened to come upon it and record it, complete with all previously-missing scenes.  We even stopped and started it to catch some things we'd never noticed before, like when Snoopy's decorating his dog house: he nails a stick to the front and then the little beagle gloms himself onto the front with a string of lights and wiggles them into place.  Next time you watch the show, slow this part down.  Trust me - one of the best moments ever.



The show itself is a Christmas miracle.  When it first aired back in 1965, it got low ratings. It spoke of the Christian, non-commercial meaning of Christmas unabashedly - no one else had the chutzpah to do that on prime time TV.  Then it slowly and silently built momentum over the years.  Today, you can't listen to holiday radio without hearing "Linus and Lucy" - the song played when the Peanuts dance their frugs, ponies and watusis in the school auditorium.  It's not a Christmas song: wasn't written as one.  But it and the iconic TV special it's from is so firmly ensconced now into our culture as part of Christmas, it might as well have been entitled, "Linus and Lucy's Christmas Shindig." (Side note: Ben and I love this moment so much, we planned to play the song at our wedding as the background for our wedding party to dance to.  When the d.j. attempted to pop the cd out of the jewel case, it broke in half, necessitating me to "think fast" and have him play "Gettin' Jiggy Wid It" instead.  Wasn't quite the same...)



Thanks, Sparky, for the Christmas miracle that will always endure in my heart.