Rusty Saber: The irrational, the overblown, and the real thing

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Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury University.|ret||ret||tab|

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Before the holiday festivities fade away, I must clean up some accumulated seasonal odds and ends. |ret||ret||tab|

In the midst of the Christmas season it isn't good form to question anything about the Santa Claus story. Flying reindeer carrying a fat guy in a sleigh across the world with gifts for kids everywhere is a Christmas notion not to be doubted. I can, under certain circumstances, go along with Santa going down chimneys with gifts. Assuming fireplaces have no fires in them on Christmas Eve and no closed dampers, the laws of physics would allow Santa to go down the chimneys. He would be covered with soot before the night was over, but he could make it down. |ret||ret||tab|

I must draw the line with Santa getting back up the chimneys. |ret||ret||tab|

Wouldn't the same law allowing him to drop down the chimney keep him from getting back up? I can suspend belief only so far.|ret||ret||tab|

You folks who decorate your home for the holidays may agree that indoor and outdoor decorations are more fun to put up than to take down. While putting them up, you are filled with the spirit of the season. Sure the strings of perfectly organized lights become hopelessly tangled on their own, but you hum a happy holiday melody and keep at it until the lights and decorations are in place and the tree has been trimmed. Alas, taking it all down in January can be a less-than-joyous occasion. The tangled strings of light are no longer stressful encounters easily overcome by visions of sugarplums dancing in your head. A live tree must be disposed of; an artificial must be crammed into a box and stored. When finished, holiday closure is achieved.|ret||ret||tab|

Did you receive Christmas cards containing printed family messages? Some of them actually bring friends up to date about the family's activities. However, some stretch the truth to the maximum in boasting about accomplishments of family members. You can't tell who the writer is; every family member is glowingly referred to by first name, with nary an "I" to be found. Of course none of you would send such boastful messages in your Christmas cards. (I hope that gets me off the hook). |ret||ret||tab|

Let's call the family the Smirdley's. The first mentioned is the husband: 'Ralph continues to make more money that we can spend. We expect him to be called on at any time to advise President Bush on handling the economy." |ret||ret||tab|

Next comes the eldest child: "Ralph Jr. continues to be the brightest high school student in the state. His teachers have announced there is nothing else he can learn from them. He is trying to decide which Ivy League college to attend. All have offered him scholarships." |ret||ret||tab|

The daughter: "Bunny Lee remains the most talented and beautiful child in her middle school. Although she could go now to Hollywood to star in movies, we want her to wait until she has graduated from high school before becoming a Hollywood mega-star." |ret||ret||tab|

The mother: "Martha continues to be absolutely perfect in everything she does. She expects to be called on to replace her namesake, Martha Stewart, if things go badly for her in court."|ret||ret||tab|

It's unfortunate that the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers successful flight came on Dec. 17. The hectic march toward Christmas didn't allow the event to be properly acknowledged. Think of how important aviation is today, and how far the technology has come in just 100 years. |ret||ret||tab|

In order to get up to enough speed to take off, the Wright Brother's airplane had ropes attached to each end of the lower wing and pulled by two men running at top speed. Compare this image with a jet airliner filled with passengers, tons of luggage and hundreds of gallons of jet fuel, speeding down the runway and rising into the air. |ret||ret||tab|

Although the original airplane wasn't much more than a kite with a crude engine attached, all the marvels of aviation since are based on the techniques used by the Wright Brothers a century ago at Kitty Hawk. The world needed to have paid more homage to the anniversary of this event.|ret||ret||tab|

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