"Santa-Baby..."

"Santa-Baby, slip a sable under the tree for me!"

Ah! But which Santa to ask? Walking along the sidewalk in downtown Washington, DC, this was the sight coming our direction:

I was with two of my cousins (having a wholesome, family-style celebration in the city) when we were visited by these four personages.

Naturally, I stopped them for a chat. Wouldn't you?

It turns out they came down from Pennsylvania (the Harrisburg area, I believe) for Santa-Con, which is short for Santa Convention. The Santa Convention is a roving party which arrives in major cities bringing the Christmas Spirit (*ahem in copious amounts) to good girls and boys wherever it goes.

For instance, there is a Santa-Con in New York:

Santa-Con in the Midwest. Branson, Missouri is shown here:

And an international sort-of boat people version of Santa-Con in Copenhagen, Denmark:

It seems wherever they go, this is what they do:

This was in Baltimore's Harborplace. They seem pretty happy and well, you must admit, they brighten up about anyplace they go.

Lately, it seems that you are curious how I take these pictures. I get a lot of questions about how I get these pictures and you also wonder why people don't swat me away.

I don't sneak up on them. I just like people. I deeply like all kinds of people. In fact, the more different the person is from me in looks, lifestyle, smell or almost any other aspect, the more interesting I find them. Matter of fact, I'm fascinated by them. Life is short; I'm asking all my questions now.

More to the point, I've observed that most people who leave home sporting unusual looks, such as neon-blue-mohawk-hair-and-40-plus-piercings-on-the-subway-in-New York, or perchance a tartan Santa kilt and fur leggings topped off by a Santa Cape walking along in front of the National Museum of American History are the very ones who might welcome some attention. They certainly deserve it, having gone to all that trouble.

So I offer it. Once they sense my harmless intent, they open up and also seem to naturally start posing. I think it also goes to how starved we are as a culture for the idea of a genial stranger being kind to us.

But for whatever the cause, here's today's offering of the very Spirit of Santa in a Stewart plaid:

She says her name is Calamity Jane. (Yes, I know she probably has another name. But just because you show everyone what's under the cape doesn't mean you want them to know everything about you. And that's okay, too.) The leggings, CJ said, were salvaged from Burning Man. That statement right there told me the type of Christmas Spirits visiting us: Free sPiriTs.

This is her escort:

His name is Richard Karn. (There's a toolbelt joke floating around somewhere, isn't there? If you have it, feel free to add it in the comment section.) With a smile like that, you know he's enjoying himself.

Next is Patchouli. I didn't catch whether she smelled like patchouli; I was, um, standing back and, um, admire. In case you can't tell, there is a prodigious amount of cleavage hidden by that bow-tie and gracious! I stood back in awe! Or something close to it.

Three piercings, glued on sparkles around her eyes and my goodness, as one of my friends would say "My Patchouli, what BIG EYES you have."

As I said, whatever a person puts out, I assume they welcome comments, compliments, questions and all manner of attention on that same matter.

Soooooooooo... did you notice the riding crop? What about that leash, which seems to go out of frame and leads to...

Ken. He seemed the shyest of the group and I noted that with some level of respect. Or something close to it.

As one of the cousins said, "So many Santas! This must be awfully confusing for children."

And I heard myself exclaim as they walked out of sight, "Merry Christmas to All; And to All a People-Candy Night!"

(By the way, one "Santa" said something about the next one being next weekend in Philly?)

Pretty DARN Thankful in the 'Burbs

I have recently acquired a new friend who lives half a world away. He's from the United States, but living in Europe with his wife and stepson. I am sure he felt a more than little wistful this holiday weekend.

So I wrote him a helpful note this Monday after Thanksgiving:

Dear Ex-Pat Pal,

How was your Thanksgiving? Mine was pretty good. Pretty DARN good.

I was invited along by a sweet friend from church to her brother's apartment in Springfield. Hoping to alleviate an overcrowded kitchen, I offered to bring the potatoes and was extremely gratified as the host, his wife AND his mother all commented on my thoughtfulness in taking that particularly onerous chore off their hands. It's always nice to feel appreciated.

The dinner was very nice. My friend and her brother each have been married to their spouses for a little over a year. Their parents were present along with an adult brother. Oh, and the turkey was pretty DARN moist.

And bonus! I found out a couple of weeks ago that one of my two favorite Sunday School Teachers is their cousin. He and his wife and their 7 month old boy were there along with his mother and younger sister. So it was a convivial group that included me in their festivities.

I was the odd girl out. Of course, I'm always the ODD girl. Someone needs to put a post-it note on my forehead: "ODD WOMAN OUT... unless you invite her." Or perhaps they already did? That could explain why I never seem to lack for invitations. Because I am, as you may be realizing, pretty DARN odd.

Anyway, the only problem with this jolly gathering (which spent all afternoon playing WII sports and laughing genially at the results--both good and bad) was that someone... or ones... brought NINE PIES to the party.

In case you lost count, there were only 12 adults in attendance. And I refused to be accountable for others' unscrupulous over-culinarizing! I did manage to eat a tiny 1/1 inch sliver of the pumpkin cheesecake, banana cream, chocolate and peanut butter pies. BUT THAT WAS IT! My patience and gastrointesti-nullified space simply ceased to cooperate. My waistband simply refused to rise to the occasion.

Most of the afternoon forward, I sat and played with the 7 month old who amused himself by clutching large handfuls of my blonde stuff to use in pulling himself to his feet on my lap.

I think it horrified his parents more than me. My hair is extremely firmly attached, so no worries: I'm not beginning the week bald. And he had such a big handful that it didn't hurt. As long as the little guy wasn't trying make his escape to the ground, clutching and dragging it with him, we were okay. Seriously... he was just using it to steady himself and pretty DARN fortunately, his mother had cleaned all the sticky butternut squash muck off his hands long before he could attempt that. We had a great relationship---my tiny beau and I... until his Daddy came to collect him. Sigh.

I saw him at church again today, but... alas, he was asleep and in another's arms! Well, ok, the "other woman" was his mother. But I really liked him. And his mother. She was a vegetarian, but not an obnoxious one. I've often thought I could convert, except for I can't give up fish. (Note to self: must try blow fish before next Thanksgiving with my family.) And except for how rude I consider it to show up at dinners and parties to demand the accommodating veggie platter, as I've seen some others do. But she was lovely and not demanding at all. She was pretty DARN cool!

She also brought a huge salad. (Why is there never anything green in my teeth? Because I check constantly!) Anyway, I won the door prize: took the salad and four homemade rolls home for leftovers.

Leftovers: the OTHER Thanksgiving tradition.

So... tell. What did you and your family do? :)

I haven't gotten a reply back yet. But I have the feeling it will read something like this:

Dear Stateside Friend,

We muddled along another pretty DARN French weekend in Paris. No over-sized, dried out roast bird in sight.

Ta!

Some things just aren't fair. But between a bird in the homeland and a two-some plus one in Paris, it's truly a difficult call. I hope you all enjoyed the holiday weekend with those you love.

Disclaimer: I did not take the above picture. If one from the actual gathering turns up, I'll post it. Tonio & Katrina: If you have it, please forward it soonest.