"'Twas the night before Christmas,
When all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; the stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads; and mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap, had just settled our brains for a long winter nap...when, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer, with a little old driver so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick...I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
'Happy Christmas to all, and to all a Good night!'"
*****
On Christmas Eve, 1822, Clement Clark Moore, emeritus professor of Oriental and Greek literature at New York's General Theological Seminary, wrote a poem about how Santa Claus flies in a sleigh drawn by reindeer and arrives down chimneys. He wrote this for his family, never intending it to be published. He was 43 years old.
I read this tidbit in a an interesting and fun book called "A Book of Ages, An Eccentric Miscellany of Great & Offbeat Moments in the Lives of The Famous & Infamous, Ages 1 to 100" by Eric Hanson.
*****
Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday and a New Year filled with joy, love, good books, and plenty of "great and offbeat moments."
