HERE'S A RITIN FRUM OLD BEAR
FOR DECEMBER 1998
Hi, Evrybudy! This is Old Bear ritin 2 u agin and wat du U think of that gud pitcher of me at the top? A purty long tyme ago my man sent Miss Anne 2 foto pitchers of me that he liked reel gud and she did sumpn 2 make them luk lyke sumbudy did the pitchers with a paint brush. Miss Anne shure dus a gud job usin her kompewter 4 a paint brush.
Well, it's gettin on towards Happy Christmus tyme sew I thot it wuld be nyce if I dekorated this ritin page with sum purty lites and played U a Happy Christmus tyme song abowt goin 4 a ryde in sumpn kalled a 1 hoarse open slay. Here's a Christmus kard pitcher of what one of these is.
My man sez that he never got 2 ryde in a slay lyke that and don't even member ever seein one in the little town we lived in. He sez that the slay he rode in sum tymes wus sort of lyke a big box and a hole lot of childruns culd get in it 4 a ryde and sted of one hoarse there wuld be 2 hoarses or maybe a traktur wuld pull it. He sez that bein pulled by hoarses wus more fun than bein pulled by a traktor. Anyway, in this big box thing there wuld be lots of hay and warm blankets and the childrun wuld get pulled all over town while they were singing Happy Christmus songs and then they wuld all go 2 sumbudy's howse later on 4 maybe popcorn and hot chocolate. Here's a pitcher of one of those kinds of slays.
Well, here in Dallus where we live now we don't hardly ever get enuf snow 4 a slay 2 dryve on. In fact, u hardly ever C a sled like we used to ryde on in the winter tyme. It wus fun to sit on the sled and get pulled and even funner goin down a hill. My man wuld du sumpn he called a 'belly whop' which was when he wuld run reel fast wile he wus carryin his sled and then fall down on top of it. i guess he called it that cus his belly would go 'whop' wen he landed on the sled, but he sure culd go reel fast down a hill after duin this belly whop thing. He sez this hardly never hurt him cus in those days childrun wore big heavy things called snow suits.
Sumtymes when my Uncle Dick or Aunt Mary wus playin with our sled my man wuld get out the coal shovel and it made a purty gud sled 4 goin down hill. Wat he wuld do wus sit on this big coal shovel with the handle between his legs and then he culd slyde rite down a hill reel fast. Sumtymes childruns rydin coal shovels culd go faster than childruns with sleds. But here in Dallas childruns probably don't even no wat a coal shovel is cus they don't use any coal to make their houses warm.
This is just abowt the tyme of year wen we get lots of Bahum bugs in our house. I don't know why they cum mostly at Happy Christmus tyme. I never see one sew don't know what a Bahum bug luks like but my man must C them all the time cus wen purty Christmus musik cums on the radio he says Bahum bug. I guess that's why we don't dekorate our howse or put up a Christmus tree cus these things tract bahum bugs. We used to have a purty Christmus tree in our howse but there was a kitty who lived here who lyked to climb the tree and make it fall over. Sew my man sed he wuld rather get rid of the tree than get rid of the kitty. Course now we don't have a kitty living here but I guess my man don't want a tree cus of the bahum bugs.
My man rote a poum abowt Christmus one tyme that he thot wus purty gud sew now he lykes to print it every year at Happy Christmus tyme. It is sumpn he calls a tradishunal Christmus poum. Here's wat he rote.
I believed in Santa Claus
For, oh, so many years.
But when I found it wasn't so
I think I shed few tears.
For each Christmas morn
There was that burst of joy.
There were still gifts just for me
And a Christmas toy.
Santa Claus or Mom and Dad
What difference did it make?
The toys were there for me
To play with and finally break.
Then there was the Christmas
When no toys for me were there.
One gift only did I get ...
Can you believe! A ROCKING CHAIR!
Sad and hurt I really was
To see this miserable thing.
Where was all of the stuff
"Santa" used to bring?
My parents said not a word
(At least I don't recall)
When I went to my room
To lay down and bawl.
From that Christmas Day
My gifts were things to wear.
And finally I understood
The message of The Chair.
Toys were good when I was young
But I was almost grown.
So now I must put aside
The childish things I own.
And it all became very clear
As I grew in years.
Life isn't all one of joy
So be prepared for tears.
Now it's Christmas once again
And I cannot help but care.
Will there be toys for me?
Or just a ROCKING CHAIR.
James Sage
Well, my man wus goin 2 say Happy Christmus 2 u but he is busy chasing bahhum bugs. So, here's sumpn frum me to you.
U can go reed my man's magazine or see sum of my old ritins or send me a letr jist by clickin on one of these pitchers.
Note: If you have a sound card but didn't hear music it is probably because you do not have the appropriate MIDI plug ins. Download Crescendo from www.liveupdate.com. Remember, if you want a copy of the Child's Play font that allows you to read Old Bear's stories the way he writes them, please send him a request. It will be returned as an e-mail attachment.J. Sage (Old Bear's Man).
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