Ghosts of Christmas Past

Back by popular demand is another holiday sampling from the Sonny Drysdale Archives of 'The Danny O' Day Christmas Card Series' (*TM*) - this one entitled, 'The Party Boys,' featuring Paxton the dog and Danny O'Day, the eternal frat boy and Sonny's favorite nephew.

It's Christmas Eve and as you can see, Danny is still rarin' to go. And why not? Nuthin' says Christmas better than an Oriental Party Pak from M&M Meat Shops - and that particular box of frozen oven-ready goodies hasn't even been cracked opened yet. Except by the counter help at M&M who always open the box and make a big deal of showing you the contents and then waiting for your approval and the inevitable 'oohs' and 'aahhs.' It's like being in a fancy restaurant when the wine-guy untwists the bottle cap, offers it to you to sniff and then waits for your thumbs-up before pouring. Now, that's class.

Paxton, on the other hand, is all partied out and just wants to get back to doing what he likes best, having a little nap knowing he is in the company of his loved ones. The ol' boy was only eight years old at the time this picture was taken. That's 56 in people years, and that explains his middleaged love of napping. Alas, the party is officially over for Paxton. He'll be missing his first Christmas this year - and would have celebrated his 12th birthday just this past Tuesday.

But life goes on. As do the Christmas traditions. I'll still take the boy out some night at the three a.m. and we'll cut down a small evergreen in one of the parks along the Forks of the Thames. And hopefully won't have to drag it too far to get it home. I'll still send the girls out carolling around the neigbourhood on Christmas Eve and maybe this will be the year we break the $500 mark. And I'll still send out my home-made Christmas cards, if I can ever get Danny to get off his ass and come up with a new pose or concept.

And once again I'll get Edward Scissorhands to help me put up my paper snow-flakes. He's pretty useless at handing me the things because they always accidently get cut in half (and yes, there is such a thing as two snow-flakes that are exactly alike,) but he's a whiz at snipping the string that I use to suspend them from the ceiling. ... You know, until Edward came down to live with us, it never snowed. And since then, it has. If he wasn't still here, I don't think it would be snowing right now. Sometimes, you can even catch me dancing in it.

And that's my Christmas wish for this year. More snow. Maybe a Snow-mageddon's worth. Maybe a Monster Snow-magaddon. Or a Snow-McJihad. A blizzard on Christmas Eve would also be nice. And Boxing Day should be a Snow Day too. Retail employees everywhere would be thankful. And just think, everyone would have to stay home and only spend the holidays with their immediate family.

Paxton has already got his wish. Uninterrupted napping. And less stressful dreams. He no longer chases that rabbit in his dreams. He finally caught him the night he died in his sleep. That's when it happened. At the moment he had the rabbit between his teeth, his heart stopped. It was all over just like that. I can only hope the same thing happens to me in a similar fashion some night when I'm having that recurring dream about finally making it with Candice Bergen.

As for Danny, all he wants is the same wish that was granted to that block-head Pinocchio - that someday the Blue Fairey will come and turn him into a real live boy.