...to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free....

26 December, 2011

A child's Christmas in Colorado


"Bags of moist and many-colored jelly babies and a folded flag and a false nose and a tram-conductor's cap and a machine that punched tickets and rang a bell; never a catapult; once, by mistake that no one could explain, a little hatchet; and a celluloid duck that made, when you pressed it, a most unducklike sound, a mewing moo that an ambitious cat might make who wished to be a cow; and a painting book in which I could make the grass, the trees, the sea and the animals any colour I pleased, and still the dazzling sky-blue sheep are grazing in the red field under the rainbow-billed and pea-green birds. Hardboileds, toffee, fudge and allsorts, crunches, cracknels, humbugs, glaciers, marzipan, and butterwelsh for the Welsh. And troops of bright tin soldiers who, if they could not fight, could always run. And Snakes-and-Families and Happy Ladders. And Easy Hobbi-Games for Little Engineers, complete with instructions. Oh, easy for Leonardo! And a whistle to make the dogs bark to wake up the old man next door to make him beat on the wall with his stick to shake our picture off the wall. And a packet of cigarettes: you put one in your mouth and you stood at the corner of the street and you waited for hours, in vain, for an old lady to scold you for smoking a cigarette, and then with a smirk you ate it. And then it was breakfast under the balloons." 







"Our snow was not only shaken from white wash buckets down the sky, it came shawling out of the ground and swam and drifted out of the arms and hands and bodies of the trees; snow grew overnight on the roofs of the houses like a pure and grandfather moss, minutely -ivied the walls and settled on the postman, opening the gate, like a dumb, numb thunder-storm of white, torn Christmas cards." 





....prose quotes from A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas



6 comments:

  1. I kept thinking, "what is this excerpt from? I know I've heard it before . . ."
    What a wonderful way to describe a day as joyous as this. Merry Christmas, Mike !!

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  2. Oh I love this one! If you're still away, we got a little more snow yesterday. Hope you are enjoying the holidays Mike! ~Lili

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  3. Oh, I forgot to thank you for the info about the birdie. I love that you even knew the call too. Will listen for it from now on. Thanks!! ~Lili

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  4. Sweet loving post that is sure to bring back memories for every mother (or grandmother!) who reads it. All the wonder of Christmas day in a splash of colorful toys, but most of all, in a hug and a kiss!

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  5. this post made me smile today....thank you...

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  6. Wonderful! Our little one and her mommy and daddy left a few hours ago; the void is there for awhile, but, wow, this made me smile and remember the moments. Thanks.

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