December 14, 1989 - Blackie's Christmas Story, Part IB14 The Suffolk Times • December 14, 1989
Blackielys Christmas Story, Part 1
CHRISTMAS HOUSE —In this little house there Lived a boy and girl
who had a most wonderful Christmas because of the adventures of a
crow they raised.
By Paul Stoutenburah
A long time ago there lived a poor
but happy family in the woods a mile
away from town. The father was a
woodcutter and spent most of his time
working hard but barely making enough
money to keep the family in food and
clothing. Their house was small but it
was warm and snug. The two children
helped their mother with little jobs
around the house when they weren't
playing outside. All the animals and
birds were their friends for they lived so
far away from town that they didn't
have anyone else to play with.
Once in a while the little boy would
go with his father into the woods to
help. He really didn't do too much cut-
ting for that was his Dad's work but he
did pile limbs and branches out of the
way and talked and sang to keep his fa-
ther company. One day the father cut a
tall oak tree down that had a hidden
crow's nest in it. Of course, the father
didn't know that, so when the tree came
crashing down, out fluttered one baby
crow — the others all perished in the
fall. The little boy knew his father
didn't like crows because they always
got into his garden and ate the corn and
peas that he grew. But seeing the help-
less little crow on the ground and how
eager his son was to keep it, the father
let him take it home and care for it as
long as he promised to keep it in the
barn and out of the house.
Glad to Help
Well, when he got home his sister,
who was especially good at playing
with dolls and playing make- believe,
was delighted to see the baby crow.
Now she could help take care of some-
thing really alive, not just a doll.
Together they decided to name their new
friend Blackie. It wasn't long before
Blackie became strong and healthy. The
boy remembered he'd heard you could
teach crows to talk so he started to teach
him one word at a time. His favorite
words were "Hello," "Goodbye." Just
once they brought Blackie into the
house and he knocked over the milk and
flew off with a piece of cake right from
under the mother's nose. That was the
last time Blackie ever went into the
house. The little girl made splendid
crow meals using scraps from the table
and leftovers while the boy often dug
worms and brought all sorts of bugs for
Blackie to eat. Blackie was becoming
one of the family.
When Blackie was very young the big
tomcat that lived in the barn caught him
and there was a real squabbling battle.
Bird Counts Set
CENTER MORICHES —The
Moriches Bay Audubon Society has
scheduled two Christmas bird
counts in the area. The first will
run from dawn to dusk on Wednes-
day, Dec. 27, covering the central
Suffolk area from Yaphank to
Peconic River and Wading River to
the South Shore. For details, call
Jim Clinton at 929 -8370 or John
Ruscica at 924 -6809.
An Orient count has been set for
Saturday, Dec. 30. This count cov-
ers the North Fork, areas of Morton
Wildlife Refuge, and the Sag Har-
bor area. Call Paul Stoutenburgh at
734 -6605 for more information.
Focus on
Nature
Feathers flew and the cat howled when
Blackie pecked him on the end of his
nose. With all that commotion it woke
the old dog, Flicka, who came running
to see what was going on. Of course, as
soon as the cat saw the dog he forgot
about the crow and ran off to hide.
Blackie was a little shaken up; he lost
two tail feathers but was none the worse
for wear. He kept scolding the cat and
calling, "Goodbye," "Goodbye" to her.
From that day on the dog and the crow
were the best of friends. Many times
you'd see Blackie riding on old Hicka's
back as he lumbered about the backyard.
Christmas was Coming
Now winter was fast approaching and
the snow had already fallen, which
meant Christmas wasn't too far away.
This was an exciting time for all in the
family even though they were poor. Of
course, the children didn't have any
spending money for presents and they
wanted so much to give their Mommy
and Daddy a present. They knew Santa
somehow would manage to find some-
thing for them even if they didn't have
anything to give.
It was so close to Christmas that the
father started thinking about getting a
tree. He'd seen an especially nice one
out in the woods and thought it would
be just the right size for their living
room. So one day he got his little
helpers and his big ax and went off into
the woods to get the tree. Of course, old
Flicka had to come along and who else
do you think invited himself? Of
course, Blackie the crow. It was funny,
but Blackie must have known exactly
why they were going into the woods
because when they got to where the
father's tree was, there was Blackie
sitting on the top of it calling, "Hello,"
"Hello," "Hello." That decided it. That
would be their Christmas tree.
After the father cut down the tree with
his big ax, he tied a rope around it and
they pulled it home through the snow.
They put it in a pail of water in the
barn.
As time went on the tree was brought
into the house and set up. The children
could hardly wait for Christmas. Each
day after school they'd add new decora-
tions to the tree. They strung popcorn
to get on the tree and the little girl cut
out paper dolls and animals that were
colored and then a piece of thread was
tied to them and each was put out on
the very end of the limbs. An old box
of Christmas ornaments and balls came
down from the attic and even shiny stars
the children had made the year before
were put on the tree.
It was a busy time for everyone.
Father had to cut extra wood for the
people in the village because everyone
wanted to keep warm and snug during
the holidays. Mother was busy making
cookies and cakes and on one that had
white icing she put big red letters say-
ing "Merry Christmas." Even the chil-
dren seemed to be busy doing extra jobs
around the house. Their rooms were
picked up and their beds were made ev-
ery day. They were being extra good.
Do you know why?
(Watch for the conclusion of this
story next week when Blackie finds a
Christmas treasure.)