Christmas time is magical with the Christmas superstitious advice, "You better watch out, you better not cry, better not pout, I'm telling you why..." It is a belief in goodness and the hope Santa can see goodness in each of us. The main point of the season in my family is the birth of Jesus. But we also enjoy Santa.
As a child I understood the birth of Jesus, but to me the Santa story had to be taken entirely on faith. It was true that things you wanted at times mysteriously appeared. As a child I started my lifelong superstition that I somehow had control over things that were beyond control.
This fall I have a dilemma. My windshield wipers are just barely working but I have a good reason to not change them. No, I am not cheap, this is more important. It has to do with the bountiful rain we are receiving this fall.
It seems there are two types of people: those who confess to being superstitious and those who won't admit it. How the day begins Monday morning sets the tone for the week. Spill coffee and look out. Check comes in the mail, whoeee!
In my everyday life if I hit all of the lights red then I start to wonder superstitiously what I, yes I, did wrong. I went back that third time to the buffet. Of course I do understand the line of red lights were more my mistake of moving to a town that makes part of its revenue inciting citizens to violate the law.
Yep, the little slice of heaven I live in wants people to be frustrated so that they will run yellow lights. Those scofflaws then can be fined and the fines can support the police and even let them seize cars, the Holy Grail of making money off citizens. So my town synchronizes the lights to frustrate drivers. It was a sad day in city hall when the courts threw out their Red Light Cameras.
At other times great fortune happens and I try to do all the same things that got me on the good streak. I identify with a scene in the movie, Bull Durham when the character played by Kevin Costner says, "I told him that a player on a streak has to respect the streak... You know why? Because they don't happen very often."
Like everyone I have good days and challenging days. When I have two good days in a row I am on a streak and I try to remember how I got on the streak. It is like when out of the blue I take my dog Conrad to Sonic to munch fries. No, they are not good for him or me, but occasionally he gets a truck ride and a few fries.
Conrad, the dog thinks, "How did I do that? Let's see, I wagged my tail, but I am always wagging my tail and I smiled but I am always smiling... how did I get him to take me to Sonic?"
So my windshield wipers are really worn out. I still see to drive in the rain but normally I would change them in a heartbeat. But months ago I noticed they were marginal because, surprise, it rained. Know this: I did not need to see the rain personally, I have seen rain before but it was nice for youngsters to finally see rain.
The superstitious part of me noticed when it rained two days in a row. I knew I should go put on a new set of wipers but gosh that rain was sure nice. So for all of these months the windshield wipers have languished. But the rain is wonderful.
I might get help from Superstitious Anonymous, but it is still raining. When the rains stops as we know it will, then I will have new wipers. I park when it rains now. No Santa, don't bring me wipers, we are on a streak. Merry Christmas.
Email for Dr. Michael Swickard: michael@swickard.com
