I'm sure those of you in colder lands wonder how we manage to get in a Christmasy spirit when the weather is warm enough to wear shorts. I've polled some of our friends and I think the secret is decorations.My original plan was to skip the tree this Christmas due to Caleb's new monkey-like skills, but in the end I couldn't resist. Our tree is a little fiber-optic tree and I stood it on an end table just out of Caleb's reach (for now...).
This picture doesn't accurately portray the beauty of twinkling fiber optics, but if you can imagine this tree in a glittery swirl of changing colors, you'll get the idea of how it looks for us.
The shopping center nearest our house holds a Christmas "parade" every year that features "Elves on Stilts".
We took Caleb and I think the thing he was most impressed by was the free butter cookies the hobby store was giving away.
The Dickens Carolers kind of amused me - they sang just fine and were dressed in Victorian period clothing, but Dickens Carollers? I have read a lot of Charles Dickens and I can't remember a single group of carollers! Even if there are carollers in A Christmas Carol, they are far removed from the central theme.
Well back to Santa...Santa made his appearance on a horse drawn carriage and then handed out candy canes to the children. He was good humored and obliging, but there was a man in regular clothes who had a more authentic beard and belly!
Santa was accompanied by his...uh...wife.
