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December 22, 2015

Teapot Tuesday – Snowman Style

12 Comments/ 2485/ 1

It may not be an official Christmas teapot but it is a cute winter themed one that I am featuring today on Teapot Tuesday.  The weather seems to be unusually warm most everywhere this week so I don’t think this little snowman will survive the heat but he is cozy and happy on my hutch.  The cardinal on his hat tops off this happy little teapot. 1

2

A Christmas Cup of Tea
by Tom Hegg

The log was in the fireplace, all spiced and set to burn
At last, the yearly Christmas race was in the clubhouse turn.
The cards were in the mail, all the gifts beneath the tree
And 30 days reprieve till VISA could catch up with me.

Though smug satisfaction seemed the order of the day
Something still was nagging me and would not go away
A week before I got a letter from my old great Aunt
It read: Of course I’ll understand completely if you can’t,
but if you find you have some time, how wonderful it would be
if we could have a little chat and share a cup of Christmas tea.

She’d had a mild stroke that year which crippled her left side
Though house bound now my folks had said it hadn’t hurt her pride
They said: She’d love to see you. What a nice thing it would be
For you to go and maybe have a cup of Christmas tea.

But boy! I didn’t want to go. Oh, what a bitter pill
To see an old relation and how far she’d gone downhill
I remembered her as vigorous, as funny and as bright
I remembered Christmas Eves when she regaled us half the night.
I didn’t want to risk all that. I didn’t want the pain.
I didn’t need to be depressed. I didn’t need the strain.
And what about my brother? Why not him? She’s his aunt, too!
I thought I had it justified, but then before I knew
The reasons not to go I so painstakingly had built
Were cracking wide and crumbling in an acid rain of guilt.

I put on boots and gloves and cap, shame stinging every pore
And armed with squeegee, sand and map, I went out my front door.
I drove in from the suburbs to the older part of town
The pastels of the newer homes gave way to gray and brown.

I had that disembodied feeling as the car pulled up
And stopped beside the wooden house that held the Christmas cup.
How I got up to her door I really couldn’t tell…
I watched my hand rise up and press the button of the bell.

I waited, aided by my nervous rocking to and fro
And just as I was thinking I should turn around and go
I heard the rattle of the china in the hutch against the wall
The triple beat of two feet and a crutch came down the hall.

The clicking of the door latch and the sliding of the bolt
And a little swollen struggle popped it open with a jolt.
She stood there pale and tiny, looking fragile as an egg
I forced myself from staring at the brace that held her leg.

And though her thick bifocals seemed to crack and spread her eyes
Their milky and refracted depths lit up with young surprise.
Come in! Come in! She laughed the words. She took me by the hand
And all my fears dissolved away as if by her command.

We went inside and then before I knew how to react
Before my eyes and ears and nose was Christmas past, alive, intact!
The scent of candied oranges, of cinnamon and pine,
The antique wooden soldiers in their military line,
The porcelain Nativity I’d always loved so much,
The Dresden and the crystal I’d been told I mustn’t touch.

My spirit fairly bolted like a child out of class
And danced among the ornaments of calico and glass.
Like magic I was six again, deep in a Christmas spell
Steeped in the million memories the boy inside knew well.

And here among old Christmas cards so lovingly displayed
A special place of honor for the ones we kids had made.
And there, beside her rocking chair, the center of it all
My great Aunt stood and said how nice it was that I had come to call.

I sat and rattled on about the weather and the flu
She listened very patiently then smiled and said, “What’s new?”
Thoughts and words began to flow. I started making sense
I lost the phony breeziness I use when I get tense.

She was still passionately interested in everything I did.
She was positive. Encouraging. Like when I was a kid.
Simple generalities still sent her into fits
She demanded the specifics. The particulars. The bits.

We talked about the limitations that she’d had to face
She spoke with utter candor and with humor and good grace.
Then defying the reality of crutch and straightened knee
On wings of hospitality she flew to brew the tea.

I sat alone with feelings that I hadn’t felt in years.
I looked around at Christmas through a thick hot blur of tears.
And the candles and the holly she’d arranged on every shelf
The impossibly good cookies she still somehow baked herself.

But these rich and tactile memories became quite pale and thin
When measured by the Christmas my great Aunt kept deep within.
Her body halved and nearly spent, but my great Aunt was whole
I saw a Christmas miracle, the triumph of a soul.

The triple beat of two feet and a crutch came down the hall
The rattle of the china in the hutch against the wall.
She poured two cups. She smiled and then she handed one to me
And then we settled back and had a cup of Christmas tea.

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holiday teapot snowman teapot teapot collection teapot Tuesday
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12 Comments

Leave a comment
  1. Darlene
    December 22, 2015 at 07:04 am

    He makes me feel all Christmassy! I have always loved snowmen, just not snow. The poem is lovely. Thanks. <3

    Reply
    1. Beth Ann Chiles
      December 22, 2015 at 07:21 am

      Thanks, Darlene. I have a couple of snowmen ones and I must admit they make me smile as well.

      Reply
  2. Marci B
    December 22, 2015 at 09:19 am

    Very cute – I especially love the cardinal, but I”m partial to birds….

    Reply
    1. Beth Ann Chiles
      December 23, 2015 at 07:57 am

      I do love cardinals as well. I have a few here in my feeders and I love to watch them.

      Reply
  3. Minnesota Prairie Roots
    December 22, 2015 at 09:47 am

    So cute. A snowman would not melt here in Minnesota.

    Reply
    1. Beth Ann Chiles
      December 23, 2015 at 07:56 am

      Do you guys have snow on the ground now? It has been so warm up there so far I am surprised. Of course the weather is better since we moved….

      Reply
  4. Katy Flint
    December 22, 2015 at 09:52 am

    I love all snowmen, so I adore him!!

    Reply
    1. Beth Ann Chiles
      December 23, 2015 at 07:55 am

      He is pretty adorable I have to agree. Love you!

      Reply
  5. donnahup
    December 22, 2015 at 02:07 pm

    I love snowmen too! It’s adorable 🙂

    Reply
    1. Beth Ann Chiles
      December 23, 2015 at 07:55 am

      Snowmen are like owls in my book–pretty darn cute.

      Reply
  6. My Odd Family
    December 30, 2015 at 08:24 pm

    The poem. I love it. The particulars. The bits. Isn’t that really so much of life. i had a great aunt like this who live in Manitowoc and thinking about going was an awful choir especially as a young mom…but I went and was never ever sorry that I did.
    The teapot is very cute. I love snowmen. And the cardinal! My bird.

    Reply
    1. Beth Ann Chiles
      December 31, 2015 at 08:22 am

      The cardinal holds a lot of significance for a lot of people I have found. I loved the poem as well and yes—the bits are what life is about.

      Reply

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