Last night we had a visit from Santa. He didn’t arrive in quite the usual way. You see, all our lovely snow melted and he had no choice but to arrange something else. So, he got a little help from the local fire department. His sleigh was borne in fine style on a flatbed trailer pulled by the fire department instead of the usual reindeer. As he went by the fire engine sounded the siren and had all the whirling lights going. Quite the entrance for the dear old man.

In case you think I jest, I do not. You remember Fire Truck Santa from years past, right? This time we have a new fire department covering our area and instead of sitting on the front bumper of the fire truck as he usually does, this Santa had his own sleigh. So darned cute! Sorry, it was dark when he arrived and I could not get a photo of the little parade. Trust me when I tell you it was magical. It made my day. 

We saw the light from the living room first, then when we realized what was happening we quick ran to the door to turn on the outside lights (which we had yet to do), opened the front door and stood in the doorway. As he went past he yelled “Merry Christmas.” They turned around in our cul-de-sac and started back our way. We both had our slippers on but mine are sturdier with a good sole, so Rick handed me a $20 bill and I took off jogging up the driveway. They stopped for me and rolled down the window of the truck that was pulling Santa and I handed them the money. They thanked me very graciously and continued down our road very slowly, hoping for more donations.

It’s a lovely custom and I can only say that had Santa come by my house when I was a child I would have been over the moon! Heck, it still makes me feel like a child again. Silly, but true.

Today has been dark and rainy. I am not surprised anymore by this kind of weather at Christmas. If I look back in my archives of the blog, or even just over on the sidebar under “On This Day” I was always lamenting about the lack of snow, and most years since we’ve lived here it has rained. At least we had some snow last week, and tomorrow night there is even a chance of an evening snow shower in the forecast. I won’t be holding my breath though. At least it will feel more like Christmas with temperatures in the 30’s instead of the 50’s.

I may be one of the few that doesn’t pine for a white Christmas.  I guess growing up in San Diego will do that to you!

How fun to have Santa drive right by your place.