As my CHRISTmas greeting to ALL of you, I would like to use your imagination. Please be patient and forgiving, I don't have anything but this phone, and can't find any place that I can write and correct a text file on this thing.
Let's take our imagination on a little trip to that very first CHRISTmas.....
So, the day had been nothing special for Hannah, she had been out in the fields with the flock of sheep her father kept. Since there were no male children in the family, at 9 years old her father had given her the sole responsibility for taking care of the flock. Previously he had taken her with him since the age of 5 to teach her the needs and demands of caring for the animals. In addition to her guardianship of the sheep, there were also 4 huge dogs that helped her guard and alerted her to any danger. As well, there was a stout donkey that was allowed to circulate amount the sheep, but for the most part had been trained to stay close to her to protect the sheep, but also to be available should she need to ride to safety, or to require back-up to the dogs or her own defenses of staff, and a sling and a mace, which she was still learning to use. The muscles in her arms were only beginning to be able to swing the mace or rotate the ball on the end, when she would rotate it above her head, as her father had taught her.
In the field, near her, there were deer and other animals, including some that were quite ferocious. There were large wolves and even the occasional lion, though those were rare this close to the village. The bears, who were also very dangerous were hibernating, so she was at least spared that concern. She watched, as several deer came forward and wound their way through the herd toward the spring that flowed and the clear fresh water where Hannah had settled for the past few days, allowing the sheep to graze and drink in this lush field.
The deer were used to the presence of Hannah and the sheep, so they readily approached and nibbled on the bushes growing by the spring. Hannah also sensed the presence of a wolf, at least one, and the dogs began to growl and warn the creature away from their charges of fluffy sheep. Yet, still the predator skunk on the far outskirts of the meadow, staying within the trees that grew on the hill.
She pulled her robe and furs around her more tightly as she lay on the ground beneath a thorn tree. It was cold tonight, and she had trouble keeping her eyes open because she was so sleepy.... To combat this sleepiness, she built the fire up, but that didn't help, because she got warm and her eyes just could not stay open! She was soon sleeping in a light slumber, which would allow her to awaken if there was any trouble.
As she slept, a huge and very bright star rose on the horizon in the east. She was awakened by the light, but also by voices. Strangely enough, she was also hearing singing. She would often sing to her sheep, but she had never heard voices like these. They were beyond any beauty she had ever heard. As her eyes cleared from the crust of sleep, she rubbed them again, as there also looked to be some kind of people in the air above her and that is who was singing!!
Frightened by what appeared to be some kind of people who were in the air above the Earth, Hannah drew the furs she wore over her head to hide from these strange beings.
OK......this has GROWN to be MUCH more than I thought I would write ...moved it to the member's stories area and will finish later!! WHEW!!
I did manage to fall back asleep after a while, and didn't wake up again until nearly 6am; maybe I'm starting to catch up on sleep after all those years... Hubby just got up a bit ago; he has to get up around 4:30 for the job he recently started so is taking advantage of having today off to get a little extra sleep.
