“Heavens, it’s only December and I’m sick of winter already – and it’s not even officially winter yet!” Molly Whiteside complained as she delivered menus to the fellows’ table the half-light of one morning at Mabel’s Grill.
“It’s been a dreary Fall, all right,” said Cliff Murray as he opened the menu. “So much cloud and rain. Hardly any of the colour in the leaves that picks up your spirit before winter sets in.”
“Too damned high propane bills to dry the corn down to where you can store it!” grumbled Dave Winston.
“Kind of makes me long for the days when my Father used to store corn on the cob in a crib to dry in the wind,” said George Mackenzie. “No propane bills back in those days.”
“And he grew what? Fifteen acres of corn?” Dave wondered. “I grew 350 acres this year.”
“My, even I can tell that’s enough for a heck of a lot of corn bread,” chuckled Molly as she pulled out her order pad. “Now, what can I get you fellas?”
After they studied their menus a bit more and Dave grouched about the prices, they ordered the exact same thing they have for the past week. Molly headed back to Mabel in the kitchen.
“So much night and so little day,” George sighed. “I can hardly wait for Christmas when you get to December.”
“That’s probably why some of those TV stations start showing Christmas movies right after Halloween,” Dave said.
“About two of those movies are all I can take before I have to make sure I’m near a toilet in case I have to barf!” George moaned.
“Christmas is supposed to cheer you up,” Cliff said. “The early church leaders put Christmas in December, just after the shortest day of the year, because the pagans had a celebrations during the same season. The Church assumed more people would embrace Christmas if it was seen as a replacement-option from their pagan holiday.”
“See even the church leaders were trying to pull a fast one on us!” Dave muttered.
“I’m not sure I can take December this year, what with the actors and writers being on strike for so long,” George sighed. “I’m sure they’ll pull out every soapy movie ever made to keep the schedule full.”
“Well I can take it if it saves me watching another 10 minutes of Donald Trump sounding off,” Cliff chuckled.
“Better be careful when Molly gets back, said Dave. “You know Mabel’s rule about not discussing politics over breakfast.”
“Besides, what’s wrong with Trump?” asked George. “At least he gives you something to talk about, not like boring old Joe Biden.”
“Yeah and Trump is a mere kid by comparison,” chuckled Dave.
“Since you’re talking about kids,” said Molly as she delivered their plates, “I can hardly wait for Christmas, as far as my kids go. There’s no time of the year like it,.”
Dave laughed. “We weren’t talking about kids or about Christmas, we were talking about Donald Trump and Joe Biden, neither one of whom is exactly Santa Claus.”
“Oh, well I’ve been having fun going shopping to help out Santa,” Molly added as she set their plates down. “It’s the best time of the year to be a parent!”
“Yeah, I remember the fun involved,” said George. “Of course I remember the expense involved, too.”
“Yeah, I heard on the TV news that with the cost of groceries being up people won’t be spending as much on Christmas presents,” said Cliff.
“Gee, it would be terrible if the kids had to pay the price,” Molly said as she prepared to go back to the kitchen. “I hope my tips are high enough so the kids have a good Christmas!”
“That was a dirty trick,” said George. “Now we have to leave a good tip.”◊