Small Texas towns are waitin’ for Christmas
By David Werst 1992
‘Tis the week before Christmas and all through the town
The lights are a shinin’, it sure does look grand.
It’s a small Texas town, kinda far from the city,
All the folks here pitched in, and made it look pretty.
There are lights on the courthouse and down the main street
The stores are fixed up and they all look real neat.
It’s a West Texas town that’s near ready for Christmas
Here’s hopin’ St. Nick will know where to find us.
‘Cause Real Texas is big, expansive and wide.
Roads go on forever, he might need a guide.
You go past Fort Worth where they say the west starts
And just keep on driving ‘till your bones ache and smart.
It’s a long way to somewhere out here in the West
But St. Nick should still find us if he gets enough rest.
He can look for the lights all the folks here put up
Those lights that are shining right on our hilltop.
From the air the lights shine out for miles and more miles
And when he gets to West Texas he’ll see the big smiles.
Out here folks are friendly, it’s yes sir! And yes ma’am!
“You bet!” is still said if you need a helping hand.
Everybody is somebody out here in the west
Your money can’t buy you what we know is best.
Just ask those who’ve been here, they’ll tell you the same
“The people are great there!” you’ll hear them exclaim.
No matter your station in life or your cause
We hope he can find you, that old Santa Claus.
We have lights on the windmills, the storefronts, and fences;
They shine from the windows, the doors, and the benches.
I saw some on saddles and a few on mesquite trees
It’s the bright spots way out here, we hope he can see these.
The lights down the main street sure make us feel proud
We all pitched in together and put ‘em around.
It’s the Real Texas cities that we hope he can find,
Dots of light from our small towns will guide Santa down.
Yes, West Texas is home to the antelope and deer
And farmers and ranchers and the oilfields out here.
Folks who work outside in the winter and wind
Will be first to see him when he starts to descend.
An O’ when he gets here what a greeting he’ll get,
Even though he’s no stranger, there’s cookies and milk
Set out by the children in this wide open land
Who look forward to Christmas and that bearded old man.
It’s a long way to get here, and we hope he can find us
Out here in Real Texas where people don’t fuss
In the small Texas towns…
….that are waitin’ for Christmas!
David Werst – RealTexasBlog.com
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Do you remember the “Village” shopping center in San Angelo? It may still be there, for all I know. They used to have the greatest Santa’s elves in a store window. All mechanized, all the time. Someone wrote about it once a few years ago, and I do remember it well.
I remember the parade we used to have in Big Lake and Santa threw candy, but my all-time favorite Santa was in the window at Martin’s. He was so real!
Yes I do remember the “village” shopping center and the Christmas displays! It is still there and plenty of good stores are still there. Seems like the mechanized Santa and Elves were just about eye level with little girls. Unfortunately, Martin’s Dept. Store is no longer there….the store is now something like “Craig’s New York” of all things. New York? In Big Lake? Pretty funny stuff, but the old time memories are still the greatest. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
That’s a mighty fine rendition of that classic Christmas poem David! Good job!
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
The Impulsive Texan
Good job, David….I love small towns-Texas style. I’ve lived in Decatur, Big Lake, Boyd & Van Alstyne. Decatur is bigger now, but at the time I lived in them, these were all communities of 1500 to 3000 folks. Of course, I was mostly reared in Altoga (Rt. 3 Mckinney). A Baptist church, country store, & a 1-teacher school with grades 1 thru 6. Post office was a long row of mail boxes across from the store…If you needed stamps or to mail a package you could meet the postman (drove a Jeep due to some mud roads) who had scales with hime to weigh packages! Bottom line: the best thing about small towns is the lack of traffic jams….(it does take 3 to 5 minutes sometimes to get out of the parking lot after a Friday night football game). Sorry, I’ll SHUT-UP NOW!
Oh, one more thing. David, were you REALLY born on December 25th??