Need Tos

Today's Saying

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. ~Burton Hillis

I sit here this morning with a whole pile of “ we still need to” in front of me.
We still need to finish wrapping gifts.
We still need to get the rest of the Christmas food.
We still need to get the guest rooms ready.

We still need to vacuum the living room and get the dog hair.
We still need to make saffron buns.
We still need to mail out some Christmas cards.

We still need to shovel out Mary and Joseph.
I am becoming Christmas stressed.
So what will we do?

We will finish wrapping gifts. Pennie is off and she will help.
We will make one more trip to the grocery store for food.
We will clean off the beds in the guest rooms as far as the rest of the room forget it.

We will vacuum the living room. The pet hair in the air bothers Bree’s asthma.
We will postpone the saffron buns and let Pat make them after Christmas.
We will get the Christmas cards out during the “ twelve days of Christmas”. Being liturgical has advantages.

Pat’s boys can shovel out Joseph and Mary when they get here.

There is nothing like a clear plan to handle stress.
So why do I still feel stressed?

For Chief Ican it has been like waiting for the other shoe to drop. He expects more magic but has no idea what to expect. There are so many nursery rhymes and each could be brought to life. In his office he has tried to visualize the problems a particular nursery rhyme could cause. He knows his task to be impossible. He may be getting some help as his friend from the FBI got back to him with a telephone number for Dr. Jim. He had worked with Dr. Jim on a case in the city and hopes he can help here. Dr. Jim is what one might call a sorcerer. He does real magic but has sworn to use it to help people. Having gotten the number Chief Ican called Dr. Jim this morning.
Dr. Jim understood the problem but he had commitments and couldn’t come until January fourth or fifth. Chief Ican saw that as light at the end of the tunnel and began making arrangements for Jim’s travel.
Dr. Jim did tell him something helpful. He thought the child would have to put the entire nursery rhyme in the spell so he was listening for young children saying long things. Dr. Jim says the child only needs some key words and the rest of the spell is filled from the child’s imagination. Thus the apparition will not always conform to the rhyme.
While all of this was taking place somewhere in Pigeon Falls a child said:

Сніговик на вулиці. Око вугілля, кнопка носа

Suddenly walking or dancing down main street was a snowman with a corncob pipe and a button nose and two eyes made out of coal. You could hear a thumpetty thump thump, thumpety thump thump as he danced along. He waved an old silk hat and began pulling rabbits out of it .
Chief Ican went out to catch Frosty , thinking he would put him in the jail until he faded away. He hollered at Frosty “ Stop”.
But Frosty said “ Catch me if you can” and threw a rabbit at him while bouncing off, thumpetty thump thump.
“ Wonderful”, Chief Ican thought “ Now I’m part of the stupid song.”
Frosty stayed out of the grasp of the good Chief and kept dropping rabbits. Chief Ican wondered if a taser would have any effect on him but then decided it wouldn’t. So he went back to his office to wait the end of the spell. It had to come soon as there were now so many rabbits you couldn't drive on main street.