Ta Dah!
The days after Christmas are often the quietest of the year in Oysterville. The relatives and family members and visitors who ‘come down for the holidays’ have usually gone home by December 26th. Apparently, spending ,the holidays, here means Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. New Year’s celebrations take place elsewhere. That’s fine with the rest of us. Having Oysterville to ourselves, without tourists or visitors, is a rare treat and seems like our own special gift from Santa.
Yesterday, after Charlie left, I didn’t see a single strange car on the street. No one visited the church or stopped to take pictures of our house. Of course, it helped that there was a more-or-less constant drizzle all day – not conducive to sight-seeing, perhaps. It was one of those days that “you could fire a cannon down Territory Road and not hit a soul.”
Sometimes tourists make that remark and then laugh at their own cleverness. We laugh, too, knowing that there is, indeed, a cannon residing right here at our house. It belongs to T.H.O.M. (The Honorary Oysterville Militia) and, in winter, is safely snuggled next to the rider mower and table saw inside our garage.
The cannon is used for various celebrations but never with real ammunition. No cannon balls. Just black powder in an aluminum foil casing which explodes into glittering confetti upon firing. Nevertheless, we’ve never even considered aiming it up or down the street. We wouldn’t disturb the peaceful ambience for anything!
On these precious days when we have Oysterville to ourselves, we are much more likely to consider a quiet stroll around town. Sometimes there is absolutely no sign of human habitation except maybe a little smoke curling out of the chimney. This is when the village feels like it must have 150 years ago, before cars and trucks and RVs and other impingements on the landscape. Now that all our utilities are underground, the illusion is almost complete.
On days like this, Oysterville is also the perfect setting for a bike ride and I expect that Nyel will be off on an explore at any moment. I’m almost feeling sorry that I didn’t ask Santa for a shiny new bicycle, myself, so I could join him. Almost. But I’ll sure be thinking of him as I curl up next to the fire with my book and cup of tea. Maybe a little walkabout later…
Do you haul out the cannon for New Year’s? Dave goes to the Olalla Bridge to jump into Puget Sound on New Year’s Day with the Polar Bear Club and they fire a cannon at noon. Would the folks in Oysterville consider that breaching the peace of the village?
I think you should ask for a bicycle for your birthday and then the two of you can pedal around.