Capricorn Christmas

Tinseltown

I usually dreaded the drive home.  It was five hours from Saskatoon and most of it would be through the dark.  The radio stations at this time of year were heavy on the carols, but I didn't mind.  The black cast Christmas stocking was hanging from my rear view mirror and seemed to be swaying to the beat of there music. 

The route through Moose Jaw would have saved me twenty minutes, but I was feeling like I needed to see the Christmas light down Albert Street in Regina instead.  As I cruised south through the city I was not disappointed.  The beautiful homes that lined Albert were lit up, Christmas trees standing tall in the front windows.  Jared lived just east of here.  He'd be doing this exact same drive in two days time. 

Albert Street slipped away and the darkness of highway 39 opened up and swallowed me into the wide open southern prairies.  The sky was clear but as usual snow was swirling and drifting across the highway.  A swirl of red and blue lights ahead caught my attention.  It was definitely on this highway but still a ways away.  A little pit formed in my stomach.  This highway was no stranger to accidents. 

I turned down the radio as I pulled over to the shoulder of the highway.  A police officer with the collar of his jacket popped up to trying to keep warm approached my car.  He kind of looked like a navy turtle.  "Hi," I said first as he came to the window.  "Just doing sobriety checks tonight," he almost said apologetically.  "Oh ya no problem." I hoped he wasn't judging the amount of snack wrappers on my passenger seat and I silently judged myself in case he wasn't.

"Have you had any drinks tonight?" He was shining his flashlight into the interior of my care.  It he saw the wrappers he never mentioned it.  "Nope."  "Where you coming from this evening?" he asked turning the flashlight toward the ground.  "From my last final - Saskatoon," I added so he didn't think I was going to the U of R.  "Good for you," I could hear that he was happy for me in his voice. "Just need to see your license and you can be on your way then." 

The flashlight reappeared as he took a look.  "Hey you're a Christmas baby!" he said as he handed my license back with two fingers.   "Jesus is your birthday buddy," he said jokingly.  "Yep", I agreed, "Me, Jesus and Annie Lennox."  "Annie Lennox? No shit! Have a Merry Birthday!" He was pretty pleased for thinking of this off the cuff like that.   "Thanks and Merry Christmas to you.  Stay warm."  He smiled and I was happy to roll my window back up.  That wind seemed to be going right through me. 

Two hours later a little cluster of lights came into focus.  There was no one else in the car, but I still said 'Tinseltown' at the onset of lights.  It was my parents' pet name for my hometown.  My hometown was about four streets by four streets and I didn't quite realize how sleepy it was until I moved away.   Living in Saskatoon the last 3 years had made me appreciate my town in a lots of ways, but I also appreciated the new experiences I'd gotten in a bigger city. 

My parents were still awake and waiting for me.  It wasn't late, but it wasn't early either.  The Christmas tree was in the same spot with all of our favourite Christmas ornaments proudly displayed.  As I admired the tree I moved my gold painted macaroni snowman from grade one front and centre.  I did this every year and I wasn't about to stop anytime soon. Traditions are important. 

I wondered where I'd put my new ornament for Jared on the tree, but I decided to leave it safely on my rear view mirror for now.  Besides it was a bit too early to explain who Jared was.   "How did your exam go today," my mom asked.  "Really good," it was a good semester and my mom loved hearing how well I was doing over and over again.  "You probably got lots of extra studying done with your broken ankle," she continued. My cast was really staring to look worse for wear. The top was chipped, my friends had written all over it in white out and I know the white gauze wrap on the inside had yellowed significantly.

My parents went to bed but I was still wired from my drive so I headed downstairs to poke around in my sister's room to see if there was anything worth seeing. I opened her closet first to see if she had left any hidden gems behind flipping though the hangers. Sprayed and sniffed all the perfumes and body mists displayed on her dresser and then moved to the little bookcase under the window. The room began to feel like a time capsule. I'd seen all this stuff before. I knew what was there even before I was looking. Sliding my finger across the spines of Keri's books stopped on the astrology one. I pulled it out and made myself at home on her bed. She wouldn't be home for a few more days and I told myself she wouldn't mind. I flipped open the book and found the section I was looking for, Capricorn: December 22-Jan 19.