“Dinosaur Bones” for Christmas
My neighbors Parker and Patty are always telling me how proud they are to be a part of Port O’Connor, Texas. They say it is a great community and so friendly.
The week before Christmas, youngest grandson Payden came to POC for a visit. He loves to stay with his grandparents, and always has a long list of POC activities he wants to do. Fishing, beach comb, eat at Cathy’s and Josie’s in the same day, drive the boat, and the list goes on and on. This year he definitely came up with a new one. Payden began telling his Nani and Pop that he wanted dinosaur bones. He looked for them at front beach and then had another idea. He wanted bones for Christmas and was sure Santa would bring them to him.
Pop Parker scratched his head on how to make this wish come true. He was sharing the story with his friend Bobby at church, and the two came up with a solution sure to please any five year old. Parker and Bobby are hunting buddies and had seen some bleached and weathered cow bones on the land where they hunt. They scheduled a trip to the farm, harvested the ‘dino’ bones and wrapped them up in cute paper with a card from Santa. They sat under the tree for several days before Christmas morning.
On more than one occasion the dogs were sniffing the box with great interest. Parker had to firmly tell them the chewy bone was not for them. Finally the morning came and young Payden opened the huge package. He squealed with delight to find his much anticipated ‘dinosaur’ bones under the Christmas tree. He exclaimed with delight that he knew Santa would bring them. He asked his Daddy with the faith of the young that Daddy knows all, “What kind of dinosaur is this bone? Neither his Daddy nor his Pop missed a beat as they both replied, “A giant hunterosaurus.”
Payden buried his bone in the garden bed and rediscovered it on an official archeological dig. He washed and dusted the bone and pointed out pits and fractures to his Nani that showed it was ‘really old.’ He happily told his great-grandmother of the amazing dinosaur who originally walked on the bone, and drew pictures of the fearsome beast. Never did he doubt the gift. Ah, the simple faith of a child.
When the time came to return home, Payden’s dad threw the bone in the bed of the truck. The boy was indignant that his Daddy would show such disrespect for the valuable bone. It rode home in the back seat next to Payden’s booster. When Nani and Pop called to check on the trip, Payden tearfully reported that he could not find his big ‘dino’ bone. Dad later reported that the family dog had snatched it out of the back seat and when it dried out from the chewing it would miraculously reappear tomorrow in Payden’s bedroom. Indeed the next telephone call was to report that the treasured artifact had been recovered by the boy.
I hope if Payden goes on to a career in archeological science he will forgive the elaborate deception of the Christmas ‘Hunterosaurus.’ In the meantime he is still young enough to enjoy the whimsy. Childhood is special like that!
