Tuesday, December 25, 2007
It won't be a white Christmas, like the magical mystical snowfields of our beloved Michigan swamplands. But as far as spirit, goodwill and cheer goes, the Nugent family Christmas in Texas is as good as it gets.
Texas is our home sweet home now, and we feel a deep, spiritual kinship with the good families of this fine Republic as if we were born here.
RECENT COLUMNS BY THE TEXAS WILDMAN
- 11-16-08 Ted Nugent: Obama's victory is sad vote for state of dependency
- 11-09-08 Ted Nugent: The few, the proud
- 11-02-08 Ted Nugent: America needs real change, not Obama's fantasy drivel
- 10-26-08 Ted Nugent: Grateful celebrity celebrates going silver-haired
- 10-19-08 Ted Nugent: Let's emulate my tap-dancing grandma
And in many ways, we were. We were born of freedom, decency, of doing unto others as we would have them do unto us.
That defines the glow of our new home in the great Lone Star State, and for that we are most thankful and appreciative to feel so welcome by so many. God bless you all.
Our neighbors and friends are great Americans. When anyone is in need, Texans come together and help out no matter what.
There seems to be a charity event every week around here, and there is never any shortage of generosity and love.
Texans helping Texans is a way of life, and we are very proud to be a part of such positive energy.
I don't think I have ever witnessed a stronger sense of statehood anywhere else. It is a proud heritage.
Our son's school is a warm, friendly place where we feel a sense of oneness for the purpose of education, guidance and direction. Dedicated professionals give us hope for the future of America, and we salute them all.
Back in Michigan, we always planted coniferous trees each spring, upgrading the environment and wildlife habitat while beautifying the land with groves of pine trees.
As the beautiful green-needled trees grew each year, eventually we found ourselves in a huge, towering forest, hand-planted by a simple family driven to put more back into nature than we take.
Our Christmas dinner often would come from these forests, bringing a deep, abiding sense of harmony with the precious gifts of sustenance thus provided.
As a hunter, trapper and steward, one learns quickly that God's creation indeed is a gift of sustained-yield productivity, and hands-on is the ultimate way of performing our duty to take loving dominion and management over the land and creatures.
Each step beyond the pavement is a prayer for the wild things, and cleanses the soul.
There aren't many pine trees in this part of Texas, and certainly no one is going to actually go out of their way to plant the ubiquitous ash junipers, locally called cedars.
In fact, these vermin of the botanical world are more often a blight on the wild grounds than otherwise.
But leave it to a Texan to make a purse out of a sow's ear. We may just partake in the ritual of cutting down one of these sweet, green aromatic tree-weeds, put it into a Christmas tree stand in the corner of our Waco living room, water it and decorate it with festive ornaments just to put as much "Tejas" into our holidays as we can. Maybe even brew us up some jalapeño grog.
Bottom line is, we wish all our fellow Texans and Americans a most joyous, holy Christmas and Happy Hanukkah.
We hope you have a safe, loving family celebration on the birthday of Jesus Christ, and that you all take a moment to give a little extra joy to the homeless shelters and soup kitchens of the area.
We will join thousands of great Texans who will give a little extra to the heroes of the U.S. military of the region to say "thank you" for their unbelievable sacrifices for our freedom and American dreams.
Nobody needs a new tie or a wallet, but some families of soldiers, sailors, seamen, airmen and Marines could truly use a helping hand and a gift of thanks this Holiday season.
For those who give so much, we can all give a little more. From the Nugent family, a merry Christmas and happy new year in Texas.
Ted Nugent is a Waco-based musician and television show host. Communicate with Ted directly at tednugent.com.
