Hello, my lovely readers!  I hope that you’re all doing well and enjoying the season.  This is such a wonderful time of year for so many of us, but I know that it can also be a hard month for those who are away from loved ones or struggling with other issues.  I hope that whatever your circumstances, you’re able to find some measure of joy, however small it may be.

Last week, I wrote about my hometown’s Christmas & Luminary festival.  One of the big attractions for this event was seeing Santa and having Joe sit on his lap.

We (Chris, Joe, myself, Mom, and Valerie) hopped in the car and headed to downtown Yorktown.  There was a live Nativity scene, Kettle Corn stand, Salvation Army bell ringer, and a horse-drawn carriage complete with red bunting, garland, and jingle bells.

Santa and Mrs. Claus were inside one of the large community buildings, set back beyond various Christmas shops, stalls, and stands (a clever marketing tactic, I’m sure – making the parents and children walk past all of the candy, roasted nuts, and homemade gifts).

The line to see Santa was long.  Joe was passed from me to Mom to Valerie and then to Chris, who walked him around the market.

Memories of visits to Santa were still fresh in my mind.  I could recall standing in long lines waiting to see him, but Chris wasn’t so lucky.  Or unlucky?  He didn’t realize how popular Santa would be, so he was less than impressed with the long queue of people wrapped around the candy-cane dividers…

It was worth it in the end.  Joe was a bit unsure of Santa at first:

He warmed up to Santa in the end, though 🙂

Merry Christmas!