We always seem to remember the days when we still believed in Santa.
We were just kids then, & we later scoffed at the idea that someone would visit, only in the dark of night, to bring gifts to every believer in his beneficence. We remember how we were unusually "nice" in the short time before christmas, a quality triggered by the christmas songs on the radio, or the arrival of the Sears or Hudson Bay catalogues, in which the new toys prominently figured, forgetting that we may have been "naughty" for the interval between these triggers. Normally this would be from Jan.15th to Dec.15th.
Please do follow this below that fuzzy orange ball of angel hair
Then later as we had kids of our own or family members did, we perpetuated that belief in these kids.
We even had them help make cookies & pour a glass of milk for Santa`s visit.
But nobody ever saw Santa, no matter how much kids vowed to stay up & listen for him or peeked from up on the stairs. In the morning though, the milk & cookies were all gone, not to mention half a bottle of wine the parents had while secretly arranging the gifts that were to arrive shortly, & all, according to a list, rewritten & revised numerous times, as gift discussions amongst our young friends had us reconsider.
Now, we all grow older & hopefully wiser, but I think some of that tradition of a secret Santa stays with us.
We`ve imagined being able to do for others what we do for our children but in a more adult/child way. We`d love to be able to give the gift of sharing, whether it be clothes for the needy, food for the hungry, hope for the despairing, even though we could never individually provide for them as Santa provides for all.
So we all try & do our little part with the promise of trying to do more, a real heartfelt thought that even a passing smile to a stranger would qualify.
So I try also.
Tonight, as I have done for a number of years, I sneaked around in the dark & took pictures of some of my neighbors christmas decorations. I then download them, print them out & put them in their respective mailboxes anonymously.
I talk to my neighbors & they are excited about receiving these prints.
One neighbor last year, hinting that he knew I had done this told me how much his wife appreciated "my" gift, but I always remain dumb on the matter.
So now, the denouement.
While I was skulking around the neighborhood taking shots of people`s home decorations, someone sneaked into my house. An anonymous benefactor & bearing a gift no less.
A subscription.
I never saw it coming.
I was blind-sided so to speak, but my excitement was no less than that of that kid I was so many years ago.
There was even a note, but not one that might identify the donor, wishing me Happy Holidays.
I Thank You very very much, but I also want you to see what I was up to when I missed my Santa by thiiiis much.
This one a 6 shot composite. (click through for a larger size)