code: def get_node(name, merged=False):
      
      if merged:
          node_path = os.path.join("data_bags", "node", name.replace('.', '_') + ".json")
      else:
          node_path = os.path.join("nodes", name + ".json")
      if os.path.exists(node_path):
          # Read node.json
          with open(node_path, 'r') as f:
              try:
                  node = json.loads(f.read())
              except ValueError as e:
                  msg = 'LittleChef found the following error in'
                  msg += ' "{0}":\n                {1}'.format(node_path, str(e))
                  abort(msg)
      else:
          print "Creating new node file '{0}.json'".format(name)
          node = {'run_list': []}
      # Add node name so that we can tell to which node it is
      node['name'] = name
      if not node.get('chef_environment'):
          node['chef_environment'] = '_default'
      return node
docs: Returns a JSON node file as a dictionary