The following is a little story for the New Year about a little girl who;
wants to go to  the New Years Ball we are going to tonight .  Its best to
download and read at your leisure. Bon Noel  Pyrate

Pixie Ball
Little Mary(aka peanut) ran barefoot  around the corner of the porch; the
early morning frost nipping at her toes.
"Its raining its raining!  she cries.
Indeed it was;
 A tickertape of fallen leaves fell in a flurry of color non stop and
gathered in leafy scatter upon the porch and Forrest floor.
Mary held forth a leaf that she had caught in mid air an offered it to me to
wonder like some entitled gift from the leaf gods.

"Thank You sweetheart;"...Its very special" ;
I parked it behind my ear and served up a pancake on the outdoor table " now
put your ,Princes  shoes on and have some breakfast with Da -Da"

It had rained all night ; leafs that is .They lay in mottled  color all over
our driveway ,car, lawn and gardenl.
 Even the tin roof of our Creole Cottage was submerged in a canopy of colors
making it indistinguishable from the lawn floor except for the curl of smoke
from the little chimney of  my morning fire.

As I served up a second pancake as the unmistakable sound of the "princes
shoes " rounded the corner in the staccato rhythm of little feet running .

TAPIDDY_TAPIDDY _TAT_DA TAPIDY TAT_TAT

The shoes ; some tiny French blue  mules with celtic  gold design were barely
a month old from my travels and already showing the scuff signs of  busy feet.

These days the Princes shoes seem to go everywhere;
 in the car,to do the shopping ,upstairs downstairs ; church  and even to bed
if we let her.
They were her "special " shoes.."From .... MY DADDY...  in ...FRANCE"
 she is quick to say with   big convincing eyes of being just 3 ; (thats with
3 fingers held high).

Mary scrambled past me  ; then climbed on her chair an tore into a pancake
with a tiny hand clutching the  fork neck.
 Wolfing it  like a commuter who just made the  uptown   express; she eats
and  watches the leaves parade by in sails  of rusts and gold ; .Sometimes
she parks her head on hand and eats while watching  the little ones then big
ones; curl and twrirl then plunge to earth through warm blue sky .  ..

Into her third bite she called  forth for some ..."Zeus";
 Now Mary is well read in the classics of
 Curious George;
LittleToot and Scooby-do;
 and can dazzle the Sophists in discussions of such post modern greats as
 Pooh and Barney ;
 but "Zeus??
   ."Zeus;Da-da"...she points to a carton  of Apple and ( well you guessed
it).Z-eus; (juice)
... and I connect the dots and pour her a glass.

By this time Ma-Ma has joined us in her Kimono and the morning sun begins to
filter through the crashing leaves and warm the table amid smells of  the
hardwood fire and griddle cakes..
Her red hair is washed and her ivory skin snuggles into the kimono like a
warm glove..She watches the leaves and takes  her breakfast ; while  telling
us all about the New Year Ball this evening that she and I are  invited to.

A Ball? ; Mary asks
.. yes a Ball ; a real Ball;

Given in a 150 yr old recently restored plantation house called Waverly.
The house used to be the seat  of a 50,000 acre plantation. One of a few to
have survived .into the 20th  cent    .
OH BOY... DA_DA ..... A BALL !
Ma  ma  winces  and whispers in code that it isn't in the cards for  Peanut
to  come ..

she then continues the story  ..
By all accounts it will be the first Ball there since the Federals came
through in their pursuit of the gallant and skillfull CSA  calvary General
Nathan Bedford Forrest in  "da  Woe (da war)Also known the "great
unpleasantness" between the states.
Depending on who you talk to there was only one "big woe "; and it excites
the imagination to no end in romance and chivalry of a by gone age

WEE WEE a Ball....Mary shouts to our dog Lucy  ; who has the clever  tid-bit
position just below her high chair and works it like mana from heaven.

Tonights Ball will be a reflection of that antebellum period
in so much as there will be a pig roast ; fiddles and squeeze box; open bar
and all the local gentry  in the gaiety of  fancy period dress.

Playing the race card  is not an issue here ; infact there will be at one
point in the evening spirituals sung in the outdoor gardens surrounded  in
Spanish moss by a black choir whose church will made benefit by their
willingness to attend.
These Balls even in their day were akin to the Scottish country dancing
"Celli " that are still held all over Ireland and Scotland .

By invitation you can wear  normal evening clothes ; but the opportunity to
play Rhett and Scarlett in fancy dress under the magnolias is too tempting
for most.  .

Ive lucked out ;while on business found a rental of an grey Edwardian morning
coat
and cut away tux not quite period, but  19 cent ; and  whose keeping score
anyway?

The Mrs. through her networking has acquired a black silk hoop dress and a
"boostier" with ample cleavage combined with  a sleeveless gown.
                                           Wow


Peanut sits wild eyed listening to all this then announces adamantly..
.                       .I ..am ... Going..
 Ma Ma rolls her eyes ...  and while we discuss baby sitters in spell  CODE
 as she .scampers off .... Tappidy Tapiddy Tat da Tat
to rummage her room in a series of  quick  drawers opening and doors closing
in lighting raids for apparel
...Only to appear before us
 announcing........TA_DA. !.....
   with a baseball hat and a see thorugh  raincoat; exposing her tweety bird
pull ups and stuck out belly button
sporting  little red  rubber boots.
                        Wow
We are sppechless....I need to sit down
Mary never knew what a Ball was ;except maybe  BASEBALL;
This is it .....She has us weeping   and  splitting  our sides trying to
explain its not baseball... ..but a Dance.!!!.peanut.!!!.and your not invited
!!!
That was it ..
Suddenly.a great unpleasantness   settled over the land
there was weeping and  gnashing of teeth with  rumors of war
I am toast in these negotiations; nothing doing she says ......
turning her over to the sitter was un-negotionable;
 our choice   was unholy suffering for the remainder of the day and a bad
start for the New Year or .
.PUNT
and capitulate and "just bring "Peanut" hoping she will sleep on a bed with
all the coats.

Now as "Brave men run " in my family I stood my ground and did the manly
thing .
 with my best Brodrick Crawford scowl
The result?.
 Peanut is now  practicing her twirls among the leaves on the porch  .
heaven help us .....Peanut  is Going..
.To the Ball..   .
Pyrate








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