Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the slope
Not a snowflake was falling, not even a hope.
The boards and the skis sat by the door with care,
In hopes that maybe cold weather would soon be here.
The children sat at the table waiting to be fed,
While visions of snow danced in their heads
And Jeff with a knife, my wine in hand,
Had just settled down for the Christmas eve feast we planned.
When outside the house there arose such a clatter,
Jeff jumped from the table to see what was the matter.
Away to the window he flew like a flash,
Pushing aside Trina and Scott with a crash.
The moon on the wet grass, how it shone,
Puddles flooding the yard made him groan.
When what to his wondering eyes did appear,
A sight that made him drop his beer.
A kayak being pulled by eight flapping ducks,
Jeff knew it was St. Nick, he was in luck.
More rapid than fish, did they paddle in time,
St, Nick called, each with a name that rhymed,
“Now Puddle! now, Raindrop! now Deluge and Monsoon,
On, Thunder, on, Lightening! on, Cloudburst, give Drencher some room.
To the top of slope, to the top of it all,
Paddle away, paddle away, paddle away all!
The waves how they rippled, the ducks how they swam,
Across the lake in our yard, into the house with a wham.
Those birds, Up to the house top they flew,
With a kayak full of wet stuff, and St. Nick too-
And then, in a twinkling, we heard above us,
Some ducks a quacking, making such a fuss.
Kevin stood from the table, turning around,
Down the Chimney came St. Nicholas with a bound.
He was dressed in a bucket hat, rain washed away the soot,
His clothes, soaked with mud, water in his boots.
A bundle of umbrellas he had flung on his back,
Looking like a peddler, above we heard a quack.
His hat was so wet, his clothes how they dripped,
His cheeks were like roses, in his puddle Wes slipped.
His droll little mouth, was drawn up like a bow,
The beard on his chin, it dripped on Erin’s head below.
The stump of a pipe sat there, he could not smoke,
Every match Tammy tried was totally soaked.
He had a broad face, a bright red rain coat around his belly,
Max squinting his face, that old raincoat was quite smelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
Splattering us with water as he shook his wet self.
A little bit of water, it didn’t bother us,
Christine wondering, ‘Why all the fuss?’
He spoke not word, handing each an umbrella, shiny and new,
Outside more rain fell, the wind how it blew,
He gave Seth a raincoat, Addy a rain hat,
Lilly a poncho, Thomas some plastic wrap.
Emma how she loved her goggles, Wolf in plastic pants,
Max held a tarp, Andrew a bucket for watering his plants.
Finally with a wink, and a splash,
Back up the chimney he went with a dash.
He sprang to his kayak, gave the ducks a smack,
Away they paddled, with a flap, a swish and a quack.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he swam out of sight!
Don’t worry the snow is coming, and to all a good night.
