Last night it was down right cold at 29°. I think it was as cold as it has been, but tonight will totally top that though top doesn’t really fit. Maybe bottom out is better. It will get down to 17°. The dogs will be in and out and back again in a flash. Their fur always feels cold. Nala even gets under the quilt when we go to bed. She keeps me warm.

When I was a kid, I never questioned the existence of Santa Claus. He just was. I had the common questions, but my mother had all the answers. How did he get around the world in one night? Her answer had to do time around the world, and it made sense to a young me. Today was yesterday in some places. I never doubted flying reindeer. After all, there were flying squirrels so why not reindeer. I knew Santa was chubby and plump from all those cookies he ate, even if he only took a bite to be polite. I expected I was always on the good list, but I did wonder who squealed on the naughty list kids. It never occurred to me to wonder why Santa gave us presents. In our house, Santa presents were never wrapped, and that made sense too. I figured making toys for all the kids around the world took so much time there wasn’t any time left for wrapping. I remember walking down the stairs and looking over the railing and seeing all those toys around the tree. It was breathtaking.

The best Santa was at Jordan Marsh in Boston. We went just about every year. We used to say we were going in town, and everyone knew we meant Boston. If we had said up town, we would have meant the square. Back then the square was filled with stores but none had a Santa. At Jordan’s there was always a line. It slowly snaked around the Enchanted Village. I remember all the scenes with mechanical people dressed in Victorian era clothes. They were moving, working, in village stores, and in houses families were decorating the tree. It was, as the name, described, enchanting. This was in the 50’s. Later the village was closed, but it reappeared every now and then. One Christmas my sister and her family came from Colorado. We all, including my mother, went to Boston to see the Enchanted Village. It was in City Hall Plaza. Without question, it was old fashion, and the movements were simple, repetitive, just back and forth, but that didn’t matter. It was as I remembered it. It was still enchanting.

This entry was posted on December 4, 2025 at 11:07 am and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Christmas, Holiday, holidays, Santa, Santa Claus