Apologies to our man Clement Moore.
‘Twas the night before Xmas and all through the farm,
The pond was froze over and so was the barn.
The snow was piled up belly-deep to a mule.
And the kids were all home on vacation from school.
Happier young folks you never did see,
Just all sprawled around a-playin’ with their WII.
Then suddenly, some time around 8 o’clock,
There came a surprise that gave them a shock!
The power went off, the TV went dead!
When Grandpa came in from out in the shed
With an armload of wood, the house was all dark.
“Just what I expected,” they heard him remark.
“Them power line wires must be down from the snow.
Seems sorter like times on the ranch long ago.
“I’ll hunt up some candles,” said Mom. “With their light,
And the fireplace, I reckon we’ll make out all right.”
The teen-agers all seemed enveloped in gloom.
Then Grandpa came back from a trip to his room,
Uncased his old sax & started to play,
That old Christmas song about bells on a sleigh.
Mom started to sing, and the first thing they knew
Both Pop and the kids were all singing it, too.
They sang Christmas carols, they sang “Holy Night,”
Their eyes all a-shine in the ruddy fire light.
They played some charades Mom recalled from her youth,
And Pop played a song from Aabersold’s Vol. 78 .
They stayed up till midnight-and, would you believe,
The youngsters agreed ’twas a fine Christmas Eve.
Grandpa rose early, some time before dawn;
And when the kids wakened, the power was on..
“The power company sure got the line repaired quick,”
Said Grandpa – and no one suspected his trick.
Last night, for the sake of some old-fashioned fun,
He had pulled the main switch – the old Son-of-a-Bitch!
~ adapted from an anonymous post on the Bass Sax Coop.
The Bis Key Chronicles 