The Infinite
The Infinite
October, Meet December
December 11, 2021
An Orange Prayer
Annalee Birdcount is on a walk.
It’s two weeks until Christmas and she has lots to do and much to buy. Christmas cards, sweaters, books, gift cards, ornaments, text messages, decorations, and probably much more.
But it’s a sunny Saturday afternoon two weeks before Christmas and the Army-Navy game is at halftime so a walk down to Roosevelt Road, over to Briarcliff, up to Jackson, and then back to York is not just a luxury or a whim, it’s a must.
People are out, dogs are out, the sun is not being shy, and it’s good to be an American with Santa and Jesus on the way.
And then our sweet gal Annalee finds a little pumpkin.
It’s one of those tiny little pumpkins no bigger than an orange, and someone has left it by a tree within breathing distance of the street. Or perhaps, Annalee thinks, it fell from the tree. This is one of those magic pumpkin trees, she imagines. And this little one plopped to the ground.
Or maybe it escaped. Annalee considers the possibility that this itty-bitty pumpkin knew after Halloween its days were dwindling and so it hit the road. It got out of there and got this far and, God Bless it all, Annalee thinks, this is as far as the pumpkin who dreamed of Christmas is gonna get.
She picks up the pumpkin and holds it up to the sun and names it “Leopold” and puts it in her coat pocket and the two of them ramble on.
It will soon be Christmas. And they will be together.--TK
Saturday, December 11, 2021