I'm not talking about executions, or global warming, or conspicuous capitalism gone wild.
No, I'm talking about those stories where the dog pulled the turkey off the counter minutes before dinner. Or when Grandma drank so much egg nog she passed out face first in the pumpkin pie. Or the time cousin Melanie decided to demonstrate her talent at pole-dancing.
Inspired by this story on All Things Considered today--and in need of working off some post-Christmas stress, not to mention having to gear up for the next round on December 31--I'm asking you for your help by sharing some of your holiday disaster tales.
My contribution after the flip...
One Christmas, my sister decided to give our brother-in-law (husband of other sister) a little book on local myths and legends to make him feel more a part of the family. (Other sister had participated in what sociologists call "out-marrying," i.e., he was from a different tribe.)
We were all in the post-Christmas feast stupor, when one of the nephews (said BIL's son), started running around screaming about a huge, black moth that was in the house.
The Blackburn Sphinx moth has a wingspan of up to 7 inches
BIL ignored screaming child; we kept trying to ignore BIL ignoring screaming child; child kept screaming for daddy to kill the big bad moth.
Finally, BIL hauled himself up off the couch, went over to the screen door where said moth was perched, rolled up some newspaper, and gave it a THWACK!
My sister, without looking up from the magazine she was reading said, "Guess you didn't read that book, yet, huh?"
From Texas Entymology
In Hawaii, Black Witch mythology, though associated with death, has a happier note in that if a loved one has just died, the moth is an embodiment of the person's soul returning to say goodbye.
