And So This Is Christmas

In which Mike is fed a subliminal message: "It's a one way ticket to midnight."

Suquamish, WA - 25 Dec 2024

And here we are, another day older and another day wiser - maybe. It is just we two now so Christmas is pretty low key for us. I like to make a nice dinner for us. Sure, we could go out somewhere and have a meal made for us, but then I wonder why a place would be open at all for this day. "It's only once a year, sir." Thank you for pointing that out Bob Cratchit. I would feel guilty being the reason someone was working and not home with family. But that's another story.

As I said, I like to prepare the meal for the day. I am generally the one who does the cooking in this house. I do it because I like it and my wife likes what I make. We both win. One thing I like to put on the table is bread. I am not one to load up on carbs and bread is generally a worst offender in that category, but somehow I feel sourdough is not as evil as that loaf of Wonder Bread because it has nutritional value and it is alive. Really, it is.

Since I wanted to add a little levity to the meal, I decided that instead of making my usual slash in the bread to help it rise tall I would make a happy face instead. It came out pretty cool. I can't alway predict how these things work out, but the eyes appeared to be right happy. Then I turned it on end to get a better look at what I'd made when it hit me. Was this action somehow planted in my head? Planted by... Space Aliens? Is that possible?

Apparently I spent too much of my young adulthood with my nose deep in an issue of Heavy Metal magazine. Thinking back on those days, an image came to my mind and I was sure that the artist and myself were both deeply manipulated by intelligence beyond our comprehension.

Sadly we won't get the pleasure of cracking the loaf at the table as is our tradition. It smelled way too good and I split the loaf as soon as it had cooled. Now it has gone from a pre-planted image to a good old fashioned loaf of rustic bread fit for a hearty meal.

Merry Christmas everyone and keep your eyes to the heavens.

Keep on truckin'
-Mike