‘Twas the night before Christmas and over on Bowen
The pond was froze over and the wind was a-blowin’.
The rain pouring down, the backyard a pool
The kids were all home on vacation from school,
And happier young folks you never did see —
Just all hangin’ around, decorating the tree.
Then suddenly, around 3 o’clock,
There came a surprise that gave them a shock!
The power went off, the lights went dead!
When Grandpa came in from out in the shed
With an armload of wood, the house was all dark.
“Just what I expected,” they heard him remark.
“Them power line wires must be down from the wind.
Seems sorter like old time,” and then he just grinned.
“I’ll hunt up some candles and get them alight,
And with the woodstove, I reckon we’ll make out all right.”
The teen-agers all seemed enveloped in gloom.
Then Grandpa came back from a trip to his room,
Uncased his old fiddle and started to play
That old Christmas song about bells on a sleigh.
Mom started to sing, and first thing they knew
Both Pop and the kids were all singing it, too.
They sang Christmas carols, they sang “Holy Night,”
Their eyes all ashine in the ruddy firelight.
They played some charades Mom recalled from her youth,
And Pop read a passage from God’s Book of Truth.
They stayed up till midnight and, would you believe,
The youngsters agreed ’twas a fine Christmas Eve.
Grandpa rose early, some time before dawn;
And when the kids all wakened, the power was on..
“Hydro sure got the lines repaired quick,”
Said Grandpa — and no one suspected his trick.
Last night, for the sake of some old-fashioned fun,
He had pulled the main switch — the old Son-of-a-Gun!
— Author uncertain but provided by a Bowen Islander
Merry Christmas from our home to yours!
The Country Mice 
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