JJ SAYS: A sleigh full of hope

Santa has packages of hope for all.|

I’m a sentimental sucker for the holidays. Put a tree in front of me this time of the year and I’ll put a bulb on it. It might be just me, but I sense a feeling in the air and it isn’t smoke. It’s good will.

It isn’t the best of times in our community. So much has happened to so many that it is hard to keep the attitude on a level, not to mention optimistic, plateau.

Every other movie you see on television has to do with being home for the holidays. What if you don’t have a home as is the case with so many in our area and now Southern California, to go home to? Santa doesn’t have to worry about finding the chimney, in too many homes, it is the only thing standing.

But even before the fire, there was turmoil swirling in our local sports world, as schools and teams headed “in different directions,” although no one seemed quite sure what that direction was.

So, here it is Christmas and no snow - not even rain - in sight.

But, if we peer hard enough, we can see the red nose of of Rudolph, the triple-threat reindeer, pulling a sleigh packed with optimism and enthusiasm.

I see a package marked: ST. VINCENT HIGH SCHOOL. It’s stamped fragile. Inside are Legos with instructions on how to create a new athletic program.

Bows are sprinkled all over a package that carries a tag to CASA GRANDE HIGH SCHOOL. Inside are several travel guides with information on what to see and do in downtown Napa when you’re not old enough to go wine tasting.

Beside it is a huge package, 120 yards (110 m) long and 53.33 yards (48.76 m) wide headed for PETALUMA HIGH SCHOOL. It is composed of a grass-like substance overlaying a foundation of cork.

A medium-sized box marked PETALUMA LITTLE LEAGUE contains three smaller packages, one labeled City Champion, one District Champion and one Little League World Series. Name tags marked Petaluma Valley, Petaluma American and Petaluma National lay scattered at the bottom of the big box. They had obviously fallen off the packages.

A container full of mittens, coats and scarves is earmarked for WINTER SOCCER PLAYERS is tucked away in the corner of the sleigh.

A trophy clearly engraved “EGG BOWL” was carefully packed inside a crate addressed to?

Sitting beside the sleigh was a huge package that contained an engraved proclamation beginning “Peace on Earth; Goodwill toward Men.”

Who gets that? I asked the chubby Teamster driving the sleigh.

“Anyone with the courage to accept it,” he said.

(Contact John Jackson at johnie.jackson@arguscourier.com)

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