MAS XMAS!!!

two christmases?
obvi.
i got harvest and maple to take care of,
and then, cali, cohen, embry, and breezy, too.
yeah.
two individual holiday scenarios.
for now, anyway.
in the future, who knows what'll be the norm?
not me, but i'm moving forward in time and space, in an effort to find out.
that's no joke.
the thing is:
that's a LOT of christmas, man.
and all these kids have grandparents,
and multiple families set up in separate sections of several states.....
neighbors, the modern archetype of christmas is like a map of the london underground.
it's complicated, and it's convoluted, but it's also very effective.
that's a balance that needs maintenance, which is totally worth it.
i couldn't hep but feel a pang of pain as i packed up all the presents for my oldest two,
and brought them down to connecticut for the first time ever.
yup.
we'd had XI-mas for fifteen years, one louder than X-mas, and one day after.
now, here we are-
celebrating early, and down in my old hometown away from the woodsly goodsly
Folk Life & Liberty Fortress and all the fixin's that follow our trio's traditions.
we did early crimbo, bro-
before they go off on their own, to do all their own grown-A* teenage girly things,
for winter vacation wild'n out, without their weird old dad around.
ugh!
i'm officially the father of big adult kids.
damn.
i still piled up their presents for a picture tho-
rules is rules.
teleport:

yeah.
we had a good one, but we always do.
are those packages crisp-edged in metallic foil thicccness?
obvi.
did i dominate the wishlists?
of course.
did i then double all the everything, so they'd have even MORE?
guys, too much is the right amount,
and presents are what i DO.
here's the thing-
we had a whole other 'nother ON-CHRISTMAS christmas,
for the little-littles, who wake up to see if santa came an' that.
yep.
and we blended up our whole family, including their dad, naturally,
into one big three-adult three-kid brady bunchy matchy-pajammie-jamin' big morning.
yep.
MORE christmas, for six people,and it looked just like THIS:

DAAAAAAAAAAMN!!!!
that's wild, right?
i know!
it definitely went to 11, even though it was destined to put the DMX in Xmas!
whaaaaaat!!!
hahahaha.
everybody had big fun, and everybody got what they wanted.
that's pretty much the only way how you make it expert.
and we made it SO much so,
including gluten-free panniecakes and real maple syrup.
that's right.
we did it the way you're s'posed to.
-
all-inclusive.
that's the plan, for me and mine.
that means my old-A* big-A* kids,
and my teensy-weentsie step kids,
and their mama who happens to be my sweet little baby mama,
and those little kids' father, richard (who is terrific btw).
all of us, everybody, whenever, and always- invited and delighted and welcome to all of
the interactive participation of this weird wild wonderful woodsly life of mine;
as much as they want, as often as they can stand it-
everybody is welcome to span time and space together.
that's important.
that's called family, i hear.
i saw all my remaining people in coonecticut, and we had a great time-
and i saw the core group of people in new hampshire, and we had a great time, too-
next year,
i'm sure we'll overlap even MORE grandies and aunties and everybody.
but, make no mistakes: this was one heck of a good start.
i'm grateful for the overloaded overdose of dopeness that we concocted for all these kids.
i'm grateful for the blood and the mud and the interlocking intersections of spirit and memory
and family and togetherness that have created the last whirlwind week of warrior poetry
and city-livin' and forest-dwellin'.
i know i lucked out, and i appreciate every last second;
never quiet, never soft.....