The Curmudgeons’ Christmas
First were the kitchen and wait staff at Millie’s Diner where they shared breakfast several mornings each week. They delivered $100 bills in plain white envelopes addressed to the staff members by name and given to Millie to hand out a week before Christmas Day so they could be used for further gifts for children, grands, or parents as most needed.
Next were gifts to the plantation pond keepers at the plantations where Ben and Sam fished for bream in March. Most were retired hunt staff members, and their gifts were mostly passed on to daughters or sons who were parents of grands in need.
Then there were gifts for nurses at the hospitals where Sam placed patients, also mostly bound for the ultimate needs of children or grands of the nurses.
Last but, not least were the gifts delivered Christmas Eve to the kennel keepers at several shooting plantations, men mostly retired from loftier jobs at the same plantations and like Ben and Sam far beyond a “normal” retirement age but wanting retirement less only than death.
For this Christmas Eve run the Curmudgeons drafted Pete-Bob Dix as chauffeur and rode in the back seat of Pete-Bob’s black Chevy Suburban, mostly used by Pete-Bob to carry potential buyers to see fancy properties Pete-Bob was selling. They had a fifth of The Macallan 16 with them and sipped it slowly with a little club soda in their plastic short glasses embossed with the logos of Harvard and University of Georgia.
Pete-Bob delivered them to their homes plenty early for Pete-Bob to drive on for Christmas Eve adventures of his own.
About the Author : Tom Word
Visit authors website | View more articlesTom Word is a lawyer who represents individuals about managing their assets and for amusement writes fiction and non-fiction about bird dogs and humans obsessed with them.
About the Artist : Leah Brigham
Visit artist websiteAfter graduating from Millersville University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelors of Science in Art Education, Leah began teaching Art to inner city Middle School students in Houston and later Dallas, TX. Leah has shared with her students her passion for art and nature. This passion has sustained her and continued throughout her life in the form of painting and drawing.
Leah was introduced to American Field Horseback Field Trails and has been able to experience the excitement of seeing her own dog, competing for the National Championship at Ames Plantation in Grand Junction, TN ...standing on point, head and tail held high. This has inspired her to create works of art depicting dogs and the wildlife associated with the sport and hunting.
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