Christmas Redux: The month in review - Part 2

Okay - time to break up the chronology a bit. We're heading backwards now.

Mid-way through Christmas, my wife and I took a trip on the Polar Express (as done by the Heber Creeper railroad) It was quite the ride, with cheerful elves, cookies from Mrs. Claus, singalongs and, of course, a visit from the big man in the red suit himself, Santa Claus.

Other highlights of the Polar Express:

The elves telling their jokes - made particularly memorable as the first elf forgot his joke and got it out of order: "Where does a snowman keep his snowbank? In his money!"

Jingle bells handed out by Santa and his elves. They were targeting the little kids to give the bells to, but a bunch of us "adults" pulled an elf by the elbow and got bells, too. We paid good money for this train ride, darn it, we want a bell, too!

The "Ho-Ho-Ho" contest. Our conductor told us that, when Santa boarded the train, we should greet him in his own language. So, to show every how it was done, they invited us to come to the front and give our best "ho ho ho." After a string of kids, I approached the microphone and gave a hearty belly laugh. Emilee tells me that people sitting near her asked if I worked as a mall Santa. I don't, of course, but that doesn't mean I don't have some experience behind the red suit and whiskers . . .

As my father can tell you, our family has a long history with Santa Claus. I'm not sure how it began - perhaps it was that night when I caught Santa filling my stocking - but Santa recruited my father as one of his helpers. You see, many people operate under the misapprehension that Santa can be everywhere at once all the time. In actual fact, as Santa explained, while Santa's magic can keep his workshop running and make reindeer fly, the space/time bending magic is beyond what even he can do alone. Christmas, though, has its own special magic, and when Santa combines his power with the natural magic of Christmas, anything is possible.

In any event, Santa needs helpers to fill in for him during the rest of the year - to be his "eyes-and-ears" as it were. So, men who fit the basic physical profile and have the right kind of heart are chosen by the man himself to fill the role. Men like my father serve as Santa for parties, malls and parades, anywhere that Santa would like to be but can't come to himself.

A couple of years ago, Santa came to me and asked for my help. He told me that I'm a bit young, but that my heart is one in tune with the Christmas spirit, and that's more important than a minor thing like age. I was also recruited as one of Santa's helpers, and have been practicing my Ho-ho-ho for several years. It's an honor and a privilege to wear the red suit and a delight to see the happy faces of children visited by Santa Claus.

New Year's Eve was interesting for us this year. Instead of the traditional "go outside and make tons of noise" thing, we decided to be a little more sedate. We got a bottle of Martinelli's and turned on our Wii. Animal Crossing for the Wii has a great feature in which you can visit other people's towns, including for special events. This was how, all the way from Arizona, we were visited by my brother-in-law Brian and his clan for New Year's. Animal Crossing's celebration includes party poppers, fireworks and special music - it's a lot of fun, especially when shared with friends. On a related note, the Wii Speak makes interacting over Wii-fii . . .err . . . wi-fi much cooler and easier.

I just realized something - I left everyone in suspense a month and a half ago when I went to take my GRE exam! I scored 710 on both the verbal and the quantitative portions, for a total score of 1420. Considering that I'm in a verbal field (literature/linguistics), being in the top 98% of GRE test-takers for the verbal portion is pretty darn cool. I am so thankful, to my parents for helping to give me good academic preparation, my wife for her support and God for the many gifts which went into that score.

This leads me to the topic of graduate school applications - the very thought of which makes me feel depressed and queasy, so I think I'll pass on that for the moment, giving a thank you to my wife for her emotional support as I've been filling these darn things out. Also, a big thank you to my recommendation senders - I doubt any of you will ever read this blog, but thanks anyway.

There's more to share, but this entry is plenty long as is. See you next time!

Earliest Memories of Christmas

Whenever the holidays approach, I get nostalgic about Christmases gone by. One of my very earliest memories (Perhaps my earliest clear memory, in fact) is a Christmas Memory - catching Santa Claus when I was 5.

It's been over 20 years, but I can still remember what I asked Santa for in my letter that year - a big box with all the magic tricks in the world. I don't think I realized just what a tall order that was, but I knew that if anybody could pull it off, it would be Santa Claus.

I loved Santa Claus - I still do, in fact. I wanted, more than anything, to see him and tell him myself what I wanted for Christmas. Letters were nice and Mall Santas could bring him the message, but I really wanted to be a magician, so when Mom suggested that I try to catch him, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get my Christmas wish.

Santa Claus has to fill all official Christmas stockings, wherever they may be, so we put a stocking with a jingle bell on it under my pillow on Christmas Eve. I awoke to the sound of that jingling bell (and a slight shaking of my bed - I guess Santa was having trouble reaching it or something) and opened my eyes to see the jolly man in red himself right beside my bed with a big smile on his bearded face. For some reason that I was too sleepy to question, Mom was there with the camera. When I said we should go get Dad, she told me he really needed his sleep and Santa couldn't stay long.

So then the moment came. After a big hug, Santa asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I told him that I wanted a big box with all the magic tricks in the world inside it. He laughed (bowl-full-of-jelly jiggle and all) and said that he had brought me something even better - a magical book!

Now, I know what all you kids are thinking right now . . . what a rip-off! You asked for cool magic tricks and you got a stupid book! I'll admit that I was disappointed at the time, but let me tell you something. It's been 20 years, and I still remember that book with a smile. Opt: An Illusionary Tale was a collection of optical illusions set in a fantasy kindgom. I cannot tell you how many times I flipped through that book and wondered how it all worked. It may not have changed my life, but it was still a lot of fun.

Would I have remembered a big box full of magic tricks? Probably. But what I really remember was the love of Santa Claus. Jolly Old St. Nicholas invites Santa to "Choose for me, dear Santa Claus, what you think is right." Santa Claus may not have given me exactly what I asked for, but he chose well anyway. Isn't it funny how life works out that way sometimes?