T'was the eve a'fore Christmas
And there in the night,
The desert was quiet
Not a rockhound in sight.
Our socks were all hung
By the fire's ruby glow --
In the hope that Mama
Would sew up the toe.
The kids were all stacked
In their warm little bunks
With visions of agate --
Slabs, boulders, and chunks.
Me in my long johns
And Ma in her sack,
Had jumped into bed
It was cold as a tack.
From out in the sage brush
Came a hullaballoo;
I sprang to the window
To throw out a shoe.
I strained my eyes
'Til my brow was a furrow
Along came a geezer
A-leading his burro.
By the size of his belly
And his face full of hair,
I knew it was Santa...
Or a grizzly bear.
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"Go Rudolph, go Rudolph
You stubborn old mule,
Get moving there Rudolph
You lop-eared old fool."
Then quick as a polecat
I heard him on top
That durn red-nosed burro
Goin' clippity clop.
Santa's trip down the chimney
Was something uncanny,
The fire was burnin'
And scorched his poor fanny.
He was dressed all in denim
From his head to his shoes
And his nose was all red
Like he'd drunk too much booze.
He has a middle age spread
That just wouldn't quit,
And a rock bag so big
It was already split.
He spied my old trim saw,
The one that was broke.
"By golly you're rockhounds,
You're my kind of folk."
He sat down at the table
And we both had some java
And threw bull about agate,
And opal and lava.
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He told me of old times --
Of Horse Canyon agate,
Of the good times at Boron,
Of jasper from Daggett.
He told of deliveries to
What are now ghost cities --
Of Bullfrog and Bodie
They're dead, what a pity.
Then from out of his pack
For me and for Ma,
What did he pull
But a big slabbing saw.
There was a hammer for Dougie,
And a black light for Ginny,
And a bag of rock candy
So we wouldn't get skinny.
Then lookin' at the fire
And feelin' his sore
He decided it was best
To leave through the door.
But I heard him exclaim
As he fell in the mine,
"Merry Christmas, you rockhounds
And Auld Lang Syne."
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A NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS