Christmas is over and Santa is gone. Everyone has opened their presents, and children are enjoying their new toys.

Christmas has always been a special time for me, and I fondly remember how much I enjoyed Christmas as a child. Family gatherings, church activities, and the gifts I received from all my aunts and uncles were great, but the most exciting thing about Christmas was the long anticipated visit from Santa Claus and the surprises under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning.

At my age, I am beginning to enjoy telling stories about things that happened years ago, especially things that happened when I was a kid. There was one gift from Santa that I will always remember, and I will always enjoy telling about it. In fact, let me share this story now. Everything I share is true, and my younger brother can back me up.

My brother, Ricky, is only about one and a half years younger than me. Two boys, this close to the same age growing up in the country on a farm, can find a lot of mischief to get into. My mother can back me up on this.

It was not very often that Ricky and I had the opportunity to see a movie when we were young, but on a couple of occasions, my father had taken us to town to see the Saturday afternoon matinee at the theater in Fremont, North Carolina. We had seen the Little Rascals on the big screen, and we saw that they had a goat that pulled a cart. They would pile all their stuff in the cart, and sometimes some of the Little Rascals gang would even ride on the cart.

Ricky and I wanted a goat and a cart for Christmas. In fact, when we went to Goldsboro with mama to do our Christmas shopping, we crawled onto Santa's lap at Belk's department store and asked him for a goat and cart for Christmas.

I understand today that my father had much more wisdom than I gave him credit for at the time. Santa did not bring us a goat and cart. In fact, Ricky and I never got a goat and cart. But on that Christmas morning, Santa brought us a shiny new red wagon.

Although somewhat disappointed, we lost no time on Christmas day playing with our new wagon. We took turns pulling and pushing each other around the yard, across the nearby fields, and even down through the woods. We even let our old dog, JaBo, ride in the wagon with us. Come to think of it, the Little Rascals had a dog that looked a lot like JaBo.

JaBo was what gave us the idea. We never knew what kind of dog JaBo was. I guess his mother was not very particular, and his father must have been a traveling man. But JaBo was big and strong, and he was as gentle and kind as a little kitten.

Since Santa did not bring us a goat and cart, what about tying JaBo to our new wagon and let him pull us around the yard? This would be the next best thing to a goat and cart, and we would be just like the Little Rascals.

So we found an old plow line under the mule stable, and we tied JaBo very snugly to the handle of our new wagon. We got into the wagon and told JaBo to "go." JaBo just sat there. I guess he thought being tied to the handle of the wagon was no different than being tied to a tree; he was supposed to just sit there and wait until someone came and untied him.

No matter how much we coached and begged, Jabo would not move. He just sat there. So I got out of the wagon and tried to make him pull. Ricky sat tight. I tugged on JaBo, I scolded him, I think I even tried spanking him just to get him to pull the wagon. JaBo just sat there.

Now, there was nothing that JaBo hated worse than a cat. He chased cats every chance he had. As far as I know, he never caught one, but he sure did like to chase them.

No farm back in those days was complete without a few barn cats, and we had a bunch of them. So being the bright youngster I was, I left Ricky sitting in the wagon and JaBo sitting tied to the handle of the wagon and slipped out to the barn to find a cat.

It didn't take but a minute to find a young, sleepy looking kitten that was gentle enough for me to catch. I placed it behind my back and walked casually back toward the unsuspecting JaBo.

Just as I reached the wagon, the kitten spied JaBo and broke for freedom. Jabo spied the kitten and took off like a bolt of lightning. Ricky was not paying attention to what was going on, and when JaBo took off, he was flung out the back of the wagon.

The kitten took off across the yard, with JaBo in hot pursuit. Our brand new wagon was bouncing along behind JaBo. The kitten rounded the old well that was in the backyard and headed for the china-berry tree behind the smokehouse. Ricky and I just stared in disbelief.

The kitten made it to the safety of the china-berry tree. As JaBo rounded the smokehouse, still dragging our wagon, the back wheels of the wagon wedged between the china-berry tree and the side of the smokehouse. JaBo was running with such force that he jerked the front wheels and handle right out from under our brand new wagon. JaBo had the cat treed, and he could have cared less that he has just destroyed our wagon.

Daddy tried to patch up our wagon. He placed a big bolt with several large washers where the handle used to attach to the frame, but it never did turn right. The back axle was bent, and he never could straighten it enough so the wagon didn't lean over to one side when you pulled it.

In all this excitement, Ricky and I never got to ride in our new wagon with JaBo pulling it. I guess we just found some other mischief to get into.

I still wish Santa had brought us a goat and cart.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 1/17/03