T'was the Cruise Night before Christmas ...
And Dad, Grand-Pa and Junior too
Were left alone in the house
While, Grand-ma, Mother and Little Sister too
Did their last bit of Holiday shopping
Down at the mall.
Well, Grand-pa and Dad and Junior too
Sat drinking noggin and talking,
Watching the tree lights flicker
Talking about what they'd like to see
Come next morning under the tree.
And they talked about custom bikes
And they talked about vintage cars
And they talked about hot rods and rat rods too
And they taked about tools and custom paint
And they talked about building
And of course they talked chrome.
Yes ... all the things that folks talk about on Christmas Eve.
Or at least the things folks talk about on Christmas Eve,
On the Hot Rod Side of the street.
Then all of a sudden what should they hear
Photo by: The Peddlar aka K. Peddlar Bridges.
But, a set of fine tuned glass packs
coming rumbling down the road
On what they could believe
Was a fine built street rod.
So they ran to the porch to see
Just what this fine tuned street rod might really be ...
And then just what pulled in the yard
But, a '40 Ford Pick-Up Truck
Painted Cherry Red
With eight tiny reindeer
Riding in the bed.
And as the engine ceased it's rumble
The eight track played the last few chords
Of the Beach Boy's ( Little Saint Nick)
And out jumped from the cab
A little man so quick
All dressed in red,
With black boots on his feet
And a flyer's cap on his head
With that he said, with a gleam in his eyes.
"Tell me Boys ... what would you like for gifts, this Christmas Eve?
... Don't think small boys, reach for the skies!"
And Junior said, "I'd like a Harley Sportster
With bobbed fenders and a custom tank,
High-rise handle bars, and forward controls,
And custom paint."
And Dad said, "I'd like a Chopped '32 Coupe
With a Merc Mill with Offenhauser Heads,
With Chrome Acorn nuts
And with three Chrome Deuces
With three Chrome Bonnets.
And Grand-Pa said, "I'd like a '56 Olds with a new paint job,
Cruising skirts, and spinner caps, and glass packs;
Just like the one I had when I dated Grand-Ma.
And with that the little man spun in a circle three times ...
Chuckled and laughed and giggled to himself
And said with that gleam in his eyes,
" It's all right here boys, before your eyes."
And the little man cast his hand around the door-yard.
Pointing toward Junior's spray-canned Sporty
And Dad's half-built 30's Coupe
And Grand-Pa's rusting 50's Olds
And said, "Follow me Boys."
And the Boys started to head for the house.
And the Little man said, "Hey! I said follow me Boys.
It's all in the Garage, not under the Tree."
Photo by: Panhead Josh aka Josh Griffith.
With that the little man popped the garage door open.
And they all stepped back in surprise!
For he wasn't fooling when he said,
"Boys Reach for the skies!"
There stood a six-foot tool box stuffed with tools
With a tag that read: "To Junior!"
And there was a stack of custom parts
With a tag that read: "A Merry Christmas For All."
And there was a new air compressor
With a spray paint kit and a top notch welder ...
With a tag that read to Dad:" Happy Holiday's ... Saint Nick."
And there was a stack of Hot Rod Mags covering every year
And a bunch of Hot Rod Movies and "How To Do" books ... labeled:
"How To Chop" ...
"How to Customize" ...
And "How to Paint" too ...
All tagged: "To Grand-Dad."
"Yes, it's all here Boys," the little man said, "All you have to do is build."
And with that he stepped back to his truck,
Tossed open the door and threw one leg in
And turned and grinned with that glint in his eye said,
"I'll be back next year Boys ... to see what you did."
And with that he jumped into the cab,
Turned on the key, and the eight track
Began to play a Beach Boy song,
And the glass packs began to rumble
As he rode off the line
And as he rolled down road
You could hear him snap shift through the gears
And between the crackling and the wrappling
Of the glass packs, you could hear a voice call ...
"Merry Christmas and A Happy New Cruise Season To All!"
1963 Ford Ranchero Interior owned and driven by Raymond Lamb of Maine.
Story by ... K. Peddlar Bridges,
Hot Rod Poet ...
And Editor of Roadpoet eMagazine.
Lead Photograph by ...
Cherie Simpson aka the Pic-Chick.
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