The battered old truck slowed to a stop in front of the snow-dusted building, the site of so much festivity, and a woman got out. She quickly untied the ropes securing the tree in the truck bed, and began pulling the giant fir up the walk. She paused for a moment at the doorway, fishing under the welcome mat for the spare key, then unlocked the door and pulled the tree inside. After a brief episode of grunting and cursing, the tree finally rested in its stand. Granted, it leaned a little to the left (or if you stood on the other side, it leaned a little to the right) but it stood proudly. The woman grinned to herself as she fluffed the branches. "With a politics like that, you'll fit right in here, my friend!" she thought.

On her next trip outside, she stopped by the Mudcat Mailbox, and carried the handful of letters in, along with the box she'd retrieved from the truck. A cursory glance to the mail showed numerous subscription renewals for the Mudcat Calendar, and a letter from Bert's credit card company. "Well," she thought to herself, "it doesn't say FINAL NOTICE, and it's not ticking, so it looks like we're still in business!" She placed the letters at the end of the bar and turned her attentions to the battered cardboard box she carried. One by one, she took out the items, each on it's own bit of ribbon, and placed them on the tree. There was an avocado, a miniature pair of iron underwear, a green tea bag, a little jar of Vaseline, various bits of possum chow, and some tiny little glittered squirrel cages.

The woman stood back for a second to admire her work, then fished around in the bottom of the box for the finishing touches: a small garland of tulips and sunflowers, and a shiny new potato peeler. "That will do for now." she thought, as she went behind the bar and poured herself a pint. As she made her way to her favourite back booth, she flipped the breakers and listened as the jukebox came to life with Condolezza Schwartz's Holiday Hits. The lights above the jello pit and the bowling alley glimmered and reflected off of the tavern windows as the woman sat down.

Welcome all friends old and new. Happy holidays from the Mudcat Tavern.