Don't forget a card for your mail carrier!

Tomorrow the moon will be full. The Ojibwe call it Manidoo-Giizisoons (Little Spirit Moon). Tomorrow is also my sister's birthday. In fact, December gets downright complicated in our family since the Daughter Person and the Son Person also were born this month. Add in Christmas and things get a little hectic.

Manidoo-Giizisoons (Little Spirit Moon)

Photo by J. Harrington

With yeoman-like effort by the Better Half, we finally appear to have a handle of who's getting what, for whom and from whom. In fact, many of the presents have already been purchased and some have even been delivered and are waiting to be wrapped or put in stockings. Last night our local mail carrier didn't arrive until after 8:00 pm. (Does the Post Office pay overtime? Do they bill Amazon extra for any overtime?) As this year's Christmas cards begin to arrive, I've noticed a pattern, half the cards we've received have deer on them. Is that because the senders associate us with deer and the country or is it because the senders liked the card with deer on them and so sent them to us and others. I doubt that we'll ever know, but it gives me something to look for as we open the rest of the cards, delivered evening after evening, by an overworked mail carrier who now has to watch for deer crossing the road in the evening. Plus, we can soon expect a visit from Santa and his reindeer. That should bring this month's overtime for mail carriers to an end. Do they get Christmas off?

Christmas Mail

By Ted Kooser

Cards in each mailbox, 

angel, manger, star and lamb, 

as the rural carrier, 

driving the snowy roads, 

hears from her bundles 

the plaintive bleating of sheep, 

the shuffle of sandals, 

the clopping of camels. 

At stop after stop, 

she opens the little tin door 

and places deep in the shadows 

the shepherds and wise men, 

the donkeys lank and weary, 

the cow who chews and muses. 

And from her Styrofoam cup, 

white as a star and perched 

on the dashboard, leading her 

ever into the distance, 

there is a hint of hazelnut, 

and then a touch of myrrh.

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