Rhonda got me an early Christmas present yesterday. She brought home a collection of holiday stories including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer—on DVD.
Rudolph was a very awesome character in the cartoon-human world as I was growing up. He taught us how it is good to have tolerance, how we must embrace our differences and how by accepting them we are able to lift one another up.
I know, I know.
How do you get that much out of a cartoon?
For me, it was not like a cartoon. Bugs Bunny was a cartoon. Daffy Duck was a cartoon. Porky Pig was a cartoon.
Then you had actual humans in all the rest of the other shows that were on TV.
Rudolph and his fellow cast of characters were like cartoons meet claymation, for me back then. It was also during the period when our family still had black and white television; and yes, black and white was good enough especially since you don’t know what you’re missing if you haven’t experienced it.
So, the experience of watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on black and white television was definitely something new and wonderful. The movement of the characters as well as the speech was different from say a Warner Bros. or Hanna-Barbera cartoon character, and I was quite drawn to them. It didn’t hurt any that the story of diversity, being accepting of differences and forgiveness was all part of the takeaway, too.
On Saturday mornings, my favorite cartoon character was Bugs Bunny. My younger brother and I would yell, “Bugsy pal!” when the familiar Loony Tunes theme for a Bugs Bunny short would come on indicating it was Bugs Bunny time.
Rudolph was a once a year story and I liked that there were songs and singing in it, too. I always felt I should have pursued something in the form of stage endeavors, but at least I have this blog and with it, the world’s a stage, is it not?
Where else but Rudolph could you have Burl Ives as an animated snowman singing “Silver and Gold” to put you in the spirit while a story of love and acceptance was going on all around you?
I know it was cold this past weekend like the North Pole (or Christmastown) in some parts of the country. We only received some rain here and it was a close enough form of precipitation that it made us feel like it was time to go get a tree. So we drove the truck down to our local Christmastown, I mean, tree farm.
The tree farm featured fresh-cut trees that were just in from Christmastown. Surely Rudolph and his friends had seen a few of these trees while they were playing reindeer games. It wasn’t long before we picked out our tree—a nice five-foot green one (I know, I can’t remember the actual name of the kind of tree it is).
Rhonda threw a strand of lights around it after we got it in the living room and situated in its new home in the corner adjacent to the fireplace. We enjoyed a hearty meal that Miss Rhonda lovingly prepared and settled in with dinner next to our tree, in front of the color TV, to watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Color really makes Rudolph “pop.” I mean, after all, how can you see his red nose without it?
Now that Rudolph’s story is once again fresh in our minds and hearts, it’s beginning to feel a lot more like the spirit of the season is upon us—rain or snow or nothing at all precipitation-wise.
At work, play, home or the office, we are only as strong as our perceived weakest links. The true mark of greatness and teamwork, whether on the athletic field or in the boardroom is how much better the superstars make the perceived lesser players around them.
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