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Mountain Musings with Uncle Mott: Mele Kalikimaka

Dec 24, 2025 | Uncle Mott

Merry Christmas everyone…Ho, Ho, Ho. Here it is Christmas on the mountain again, and it’s freezing cold…Brrrrrr. Sure do wish I was in Hawaii, where it’s sunny and bright on Christmas Day.

Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day. That’s the island greeting that we send to you from the land where palm trees sway. Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright, the sun to shine by day and all the stars at night. Mele Kaliimaka is Hawaii’s way to say Merry Christmas to you. (Mele Kalikimaka – Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters – 1950)

I have fond memories of waking up on Christmas morning and finding a Lionel train set, with  a steam engine hooked up to a coal car, boxcars, passenger cars and a little red caboose, with three-rail tracks encircling the Christmas tree. There were no cheepo two-rail tracks like you find on the HO scale train sets you could get at K-Mart. This puppy was from Macy’s. It also came equipped with a water tower, train station, a tunnel and a transformer you could use to adjust the speed.

Mom even bought me a real train engineer’s hat like the one with blue stripes on it that Engineer Bill used to wear to cover his bald head. Only problem was my jealous brother caved in my tunnel and broke the transformer so the choo, choo couldn’t go no more. (Please excuse the poor grammar, I was really upset.) All he got was a Lincoln Log set.

Do you think my jealous brother got in trouble? Heck no. Why, you ask? Mom always liked my brother best. Well, I’ll tell you what – I got even with my ruffian brother by putting termites in his Lincoln Logs.

Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day. That’s the island greeting that we send to you from the land where trees sway.

 

Keep it flyin’,

Uncle Mott

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