Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the yard,
All the switchmen were switching, some working quite hard.
The grips were all hung by the shanty with care,
In the hopes that a time slip would soon show up there.
The trainmasters were nestled, all snug in their beds,
While visions of test failures danced in their heads.
The hogger in his kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a sneakey quick nap.
When out in the yard there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from our motor to see "what's the matter?"
Away from the cab, I flew in a flash,
To line all the switches, and stop a bad crash.
The moon on the field of new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a worn out SD40, dragging eight old reindeer.
Run by an old hogger, who looked like St. Nick,
I knew in a moment, I had to act quick.
At yard speed the 40 down my lead he now came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
"To the top of the yard, we'll cross over them all,
Now drag away drag away, drag away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the top end the old 40 flew,
With a gon full of toys, and Saint Nicholas too!
And then in a twinkling, I heard an old horn,
Blowing for the brakes, soft and forlorn.
As I threw down my lantern and was turning around,
Down the old 40s steps the old hogger bound.
He was twitchy and wormy, from his head to his feet,
His yard list all folded and sorted, quite neat.
A bundle of time slips he had flung on his back,
He looked like a peddler opening his pack.
His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
He filled all those grips, then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, to the seat box he rose,
He notched out his 40, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."
With sincere apologies to the Reverend Moore...
23 17 46 11
good morning
thank you Ed.Breakfast is ready.Matt has set out some red and green cups and napkins.We wish all a very Merry Christmas.
stay safe
Joe
Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").
Merry Christmas!!
Ed, Thank You for posting your poem!! It isn't Christmas around here, without your rendition of "Twas the Night Before Christmas"!
Joe, thanks so much for getting breakfast ready, and thank Matt for me, for setting such a very fine table(s) this morning.
Been trying for about 40 minutes to get in here, but puter was being slow this morning.
Everyone have a good morning, people in the "snow belt" be careful today and I'll see you all after a bit.
Have yourselves a very merry Christmas!!!
Will someone please come out here and help me get the tree out'n the car?!?!?!?
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
Merry Christmas to all.
Merry Christmas to you all!
I've got some of the turkey, dressing, green beans, broccoli, potato salad, corn, dumplings, ham, fruit salad, and some watergate salad on the serving station, along with an assortment of other Christmas dessert goodies.
In a little bit, I'll also post a picture of our Christmas tree. Just took a picture w/my cell phone, and need to upload it to the computer, so I can post it on here. (May even try to post it on facebook page.)
Everyone have a good afternoon, take care, and see you all later on.
Here's a picture of our Christmas tree:
I wish you all a merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.
Our church had a six o'clock service (with candlelights at the end), so I had to leave Ricki in time to attend it and help as necessary. Both Ricki's daughters came to see her just before I left--and they set a little tree up in her room. Katie sent me a picture; I tried, but failed, to copy it and send it on to you. I'll send it to Paula, and she may find some way to send it on to all.
Ricki is improving slowly. For a short time, we thought she might be able to get out to one of the girls' house for a Christmas get-to-gether, and also to church Sunday, but it seems that if she leaves the premises of the hospital the insurance company will stop paying for her care, since she would be away from the nursing supervision for a time, be it ever so short..
Johnny
MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!
LC
....Our 10 pm Christmas Service was nice.....and the snow treated us to just about an inch this evening. Others got somewhat more.
Merry Christmas to all posters and families on here.
Quentin
Ahhh, Home......
//Thud//
zzzzzzzzzzzzz...........
Randy Vos
"Ever have one of those days where you couldn't hit the ground with your hat??" - Waylon Jennings
"May the Lord take a liking to you and blow you up, real good" - SCTV
Merry Christmas to everyone. According to the boffins, we may have snow here Sunday afternoon. They say likely no accumulation tho. That is boffinese for get out the swimwear or call for a bulldozer...
Everyone have a great day
Tom
COAST LINE FOREVER
It is better to dwell in the corner of a roof than to share a house with a contentious woman! (Solomon)
A contentious woman is like a constant dripping! (Solomon)
Good Christmas Morning.
Breakfast is ready.Juice and coffee are ready to go too.Matt is sleeping in.Went to church last night for our candle service.Randy glad you made it home.Weather guessers calling for a warm up and rain by new years?? it's nw ohio we'll see.
MERRY CHRISTMAS! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Coffee, juices, hot chocolate and hot water for tea are all fresh and ready to go! Mookie, here's your coffee mug!! Mutt, here's your Tropical Punch!!
On the serving station this morning: bagels, bear claws, blueberry muffins, cinnamon rolls, turkey bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, pancakes, waffles, and whatever syrup, jelly, preserves, jam, you want with your pancakes/waffles.
I managed to sleep in until 6:50 this morning. Had trouble doing it, though, as Tapper the Cat kept trying to get me up since just before 4 a.m.
Everyone enjoy your day with your family, extended family and friends. If any of you decide to come in later on this afternoon, there will be things to eat on the serving station and on the front counter (like turkey, dressing, and all the other side dishes) and holiday desserts.
M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S!!!!!!
Merry Christmas everyone from Alamo City!!!!!!!!!!!
Jay
"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics
....Made it safely to late Christmas Service last night....Didn't see Santa, but....sure did see two of his "raindeer"......Two of them jumped out right in front of us as we returned home from Church. If there would have been a third....we and the deer might have collided. Snow on the road, so I'm not sure if hard braking would have been possible.
I was traveling just 35 mph. and there were just two....so we all made out ok.
Christmas Service was nice as usual, and the snow threat we've been under for several days turned out to be just one inch of it here.
28 plus degrees now...overcast, and not snowing.
Best wishes to all for a good Christmas Day.
cherokee woman
Beautiful tree, Paula.
Merry Christmas to all of you!
Peace be with you on this most blessed of days. 49 and cloudy in Carolina and calling for SNOW. I haven't seen a guess of how much, but we are promsed at least a dusting across the entire state.....
Everyone take care
Everything has just been refreshed on the serving station for this evening. I hope you all have had a very good day with family, and possibly any friends who might have dropped by to wish you and yours A Very Merry Christmas.
Enjoy your evening and take care.
Merry Christmas from us to you.....
We just got back from delivering my sister back to her home from here...traffic really light...road conditions dry....
Ahh, home.
Not that it was a tough day - I got to do what Grandparents do, spoil the grandkids and go home!
I did forget to provide earplugs to daughter and her husband, since two of the gifts to grandson make noise. Daughter said he enjoyed playing with his cousin's toy vacuum cleaner, which makes vacuum cleaner noises, so he got one, too. It does double duty as a bulldozer, too!
The other gift was a toy guitar that also makes noise - which vaguely resembles music (who knew an 18 month old could play Cream?). Grandson had enjoyed playing along with his cousins (on dad's side) while they played "Guitar Hero," and we were thoroughly entertained by his antics.
But we had a good time.
Hope everybody had a marvelous time and that all the clothes fit!
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
It was a beautiful day. Church this morning, then to the hospital to stay until after Ricki's supper. Katie and Ginny (daughters), with Katie's daughter, and Ginny's husband and two daughters, and one of Ginny's co-workers were already there. Ginny's four-year-old has begun to to greet me when we arrive--and the two-year old was at last ready to greet me. After we sang Christmas hymns and a New Year's song, they gave us presents (we had already gotten their presents to them). No exercise for Ricki today, but we hope she will have her time filled next week.
Merry Christmas (all Twelve Days) to all.
Happy Boxing Day.We had a great day yesterday.After trying out matts new sled we saw a G 939 on CSX. A lonely sd 60 was returning to Garrett.There were a few other trains on csx too.Breakfast is ready.Juice and coffee are ready to go too.It's back to work for me tonight.Matt and mamma are on vacation.
joe
Got a whole bunch of kits and parts for the layout yesterday plus a Peavy PV6usb for my computer...yes I also produce music off my computer...
Kind of cccold out there this morning...damp and raw Northeast winds....
Have a good day...
Good Sunday morning, everyone. Joe, thanks for fixing breakfast. And Happy Boxing Day to you and everyone else here.
Christmas was very good for us. I got Walt a Chessie 2011 Calendar, Sarah got him a book on C & O, that he'd been wanting; From us, Sarah got new house slippers,and a lovely top; And I got a couple of books, a couple of lounge slacks, a new jacket and a new rocker/recliner. So Mr. Claus was very, very good to us all.
We had about an inch of snow yesterday, so we had a White Christmas.
Johnny, glad to hear that you, Rickie and daughters had a good Christmas, as well. Will keep praying for Rickie's health to improve.
Everyone have a good morning, be safe going to Church, or wherever you need/want to go this morning. Take care and see you all later.
Good Sunday morning everyone. Got about 6 inches of snow in central NC last night, with a few more due to fall today. Temps in the 20's above zero. Guess I'll get to use the new snowblower this year after all...
Morning all......
Christmas was nice to my sister and I as well, we got gift cards from Menard's for use on the new house, and got the two china hutches from the house's previous owner. Other than DVD's and a new shirt (which unfortunately didn't fit, was cut too tight around my stomach), not much else, and that was fine.
My grandparents did like the Jack Benny CD collections that my sister and I got them, and dad loved the bowl maker and the LED lights I got him for his trailer.
Today, other than a walk to the grocery store, should be staying at home to recover, will probably work on some more model railroad cars that I had bought a few months ago and have not yet gotten to fleet standards, i.e. check wheels and change to Sergent Engineering couplers.
See everyone later.....
Man - this Christmas on Saturday thing has my mind all messed up, especially with the day after being Sunday, so another 'holiday' of sorts (never mind Boxing Day).
Just a suggestion of snow here. No word from my son, who lives within spitting distance of DC and is therefore getting a healthy dose of the white stuff.
Got a couple of projects to work on, so I ought to go do something.
Afternoon all. Larry, I know what you mean with today being the day after Christmas, a Sunday, no less. I woke up this morning, thinking it was Monday!
Here is our Sunday Dinner menu: We're having Saturday Night Pizza Fest on Sunday:
1. Anchovie
2. Cheese
3. Canadian bacon
4. Goetta
5. Hawaiian
6. Italian Sausage
7. Pepperoni/mushroom
8. Supreme
Dessert Pizzas: apple, cherry, peach and strawberry. There's also some jam cake, yellow cake w/chocolate icing, chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge, and mince meat bars and pecan pie.
Everyone enjoy your meal, your evening, take care and see you all tomorrow.
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