Merry Christmas

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.

I got to be Santa Claus

My wife and I know some people who are involved in animal rescue and adoption. For 5 or 10 years they have been raising money by doing a pet photo with Santa day. Lately they’ve been doing the thing at PetSmart where they set up and split the proceeds – it gets a good crowd and more advertising. The first year, though, they did it at the animal hospital they work out of. And for whatever reason they asked me to be Santa. Just so you kids understand, while Santa can get around the whole world in one night, a lot of us try to help out around Christmas time so that he doesn’t have to be all over the place all at once. So before Christmas, some of us volunteer so he can have some extra time during this really busy time of the year.

So I was asked to play Santa for the pets and I thought it was a pretty cool idea. They told me that they had everything I needed including a Santa suit. But they had one of the cheap ones. I was working, and I wanted to go all out, so I went to a local costume shop that did costumes for professional events (parades and major theater productions) and I rented a really fancy Santa outfit. It was a nice, plush velvet suit trimmed in (fake) fur, a big belt, hat, beard, glasses, white gloves and some makeup to cover the hair I had that wasn’t white. I also got myself some boots and some fiberfill for padding. When I was finished getting dressed I looked pretty good. The animal rescue people set up a little spot in the waiting room of the vet with a chair for me, a nice backdrop and the tree they already had there. It was a nice setup. Of course, I had no idea what I was doing.

The day was well planned. First they brought out all of the animals they had for adoption. They wanted to use the Santa pictures to help find homes for the pets. They had all sorts of cats and dogs come out to have their pictures taken with Santa, including Bullet – the cat that was found living at a shooting range, and Squash. Squash was a cat that was run over by a car. He had his jaw wired shut, bandages wrapped around him, drains and a feeding tube. He was put on a little table in front of me and I wrapped my arms around him in just the right way to hide all of the various bandages. He was a great cat. He didn’t complain and he was kind of cute. He was adopted – by a vet tech.

After the shelter animals, the day was split into cats and dogs. The cats were there before lunch – long hair, short hair, large and small, all breeds. One woman even brought in three Maine Coon cats at one time. I could barely hold all three at once, but it worked. Everyone was well behaved, and the cat photos worked out pretty well. After lunch the dogs showed. Cats are a little hard to get to cooperate, but if they’re calm enough to bring in they can be handled even if they do get a little nervous and maybe get their claws out a bit. Dogs, however, can be more insistent about their resistance. The little dogs squirm and the big ones try to get away or drag you with them. When you’re wearing slippery Santa gloves, that can be a problem.

But it all worked out. I held the little dogs on my lap or in my arms, just like the cats. The medium sized dogs sat next to me and the big ones sat on the floor in front of me and I made sure we were both in the picture. With multiple dogs, you just fit them wherever there’s room. One of the dogs, which actually belonged to one of the techs, was a bit of a problem. She was a bulldog with an attitude, but I’m being redundant. I think I handled her well. She really only liked one person, but she didn’t seem to hate me all that much. I was just careful to watch out for her, um, attitude.

Then there was the dog that just would not look at the camera. The girl taking the pictures, who did a great job, just could not get this dog’s attention no matter what. She made noise, waved things and squeaked toys. I couldn’t just hold the dog’s head pointing at the camera because that wouldn’t look right. So the two other girls who were helping with the animals started to try to get the dog’s attention. Then my wife started waving a toy to get the dog’s attention. When it was all over, there was the photographer waving, two people making noise, my wife waving a toy and a fifth person who went hopping by on one foot making noise and waving her arms. The dog looked up. The camera flashed. We got a good picture. I almost fell over in a fit of laughter. Oh I wish I had a camera. I don’t know how I held it in for the picture because I almost fell on the floor.

Besides all of the animals, there were also some family members who got their pictures taken as well. Not everyone planned on that, but when they showed up, and Santa was there, some of them just decided to go ahead with it. Sometimes it was a family shot with the animal, sometimes just the kids and usually it was people who had dressed up just for the occasion.

Then there was this one kid. He was about 10 years old and he came in with his family – parents and siblings – to get a picture of the family dog with Santa. All they wanted was a picture of the dog, nothing with the family. And they all had fun with it. It was a quiet setting because everything had been well planned and people came in at well spaced times. There was a nice spot with me as Santa, and a tree and presents and a nice backdrop. There were just a few other people around. It made for a very calm environment. The picture with the dog went well and we finished that.

And then we got a very touching question. The parents asked if they could get a picture of just their son with Santa. This was a pet photo session, so they weren’t sure if it was something they should ask or not. We were in a vet’s office, and they had only paid for a pet photo, so they hesitated a little. It was just that the son was really happy and excited to see Santa. There are plenty of places to get a picture of a kid with Santa in a mall or a big store. But malls are noisy and bright and crowded with lots of kids and parents and shoppers and lights and decorations. That was all just a little too much for this boy, though. He was autistic and that sort of thing made him very upset. He was too afraid to ever go to a mall to see Santa. But this was different. This was just his family and a few other people in a calm setting and his dog was there. The boy was excited to see Santa yet calm and his parents wondered if maybe they could get a picture because they just never had an opportunity to do that with their son. Of course the answer was yes.

So I got to be Santa for a boy who would never have had a picture with Santa any other way.

You know, all I did was sit there. Oh, I acted the part and I talked to him in a quiet and friendly voice, but it really isn’t that much to do. But if I ever wondered about the money I spent on that costume when I rented it…

It’s been years since this happened, and I’ve been Santa since then, but I am never going to forget that moment. I was very lucky to be there that day and be Santa for that boy. I don’t know what I did to deserve that, but I am very grateful.

Oh, and if you were wondering, I did get peed on - just once, by the last dog of the day.

Happy Merry

My posts got a little messed up earlier, I hope all remains stable now.

The posts below are deliberately short. I just wanted to wish all well and leave you to your own traditions. I like to take notice of the Solstice because I believe that we all need to be more aware of the world around us and taking note of celestial events is a way to do that. Modern rhythms are not natural, the world is – though our celebrations aren’t necessarily. It’s a bit of a paradoxical way to see the world, but it’s mine.

Chanukah is not a celebration in my family tradition, but I hope for those of you who it is that you have a great time with your family and friends and community. I believe that keeping our own traditions and celebrating is very important.

We need to keep connected. The days of the year mark the moments we use to keep ourselves grounded within our traditions and our lives.

When I have a similar simple post as those below in a few days, it is meant to convey the same message. I try to use this time of year to reestablish something that I really can’t describe. Lately I haven’t been doing too good a job of it. Life got away from me. I want to gather it back in again. So I wanted to mark dates for myself, and for anyone else who wants to try to do the same thing: grab ahold of a day and use it to build meaning in your life.

I think I’ll make a goal for next year of figuring out exactly what I mean by all of this and distilling the essence out into a simple statement.

Happy Hanukkah

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Hanukkah.

Winter Solstice

Here’s wishing everyone a Happy Solstice.

Reconnecting, momentarily

All evidence to the contrary, I did survive the weekend party. It was great fun and well worth the depth of exhaustion that followed. I have made it through the week and am almost back on my feet. It will take longer to recover, but I don't care. Sometimes you just have to say screw it and push your limits.

I had a lot of fun, saw friends that I see far too infrequently (and that is an understatement of massive proportions) and just had an all around good time. There are other friends that I haven't had a chance to see, and I want to correct that as soon as possible. Logistics are sometimes a problem.

I hope that everyone else out there has been able to have at least one day of fun this holiday season. And I use that word in the inclusive nature it was used for when I was young.

More posts about Santa to come, but first some more rest.

Ho, ho – ouch!

You may have seen a news story this past week about the volunteer Santa who got bit by a large cat – a very large cat. The animal is supposedly a type of domesticated cat cross-bred from a house cat and a bobcat. It’s a gorgeous animal, but apparently it got nervous and bit the guy playing Santa. Now, I know that the real Santa would not have had a problem, but sometimes the people who help out do have some problems.

I imagine that a cat with a big bite really hurts. Whether such a large cat should have been there or not, that is one of the risks. I’ve done it myself – played Santa, not bitten one. The last couple of times (before I got sick) were at a PetSmart for a charity, just like this guy. At one point I had a very large bulldog who was friendly, but did not want to stay on the bench with me. I was pretty strong at the time, but it was a little tricky. The dog eventually cooperated some after I became more insistent. At least I didn’t get bit. I did get peed on by one dog, but that wasn’t at a PetSmart. Then there were the guys who brought their five chihuahuas, all of them dressed up for their photos. That was a riot, and it worked out just fine.

Mostly you get a good a range of cats and dogs of all sizes, including some very small but cute dogs. Sometimes the animals come in costume. Some of them cooperate, some don’t want to sit still, some of the little ones you have to hold and they can get squirmy. But nothing really strange happens. Though there was an unusual (for a Santa picture) animal the last time I was Santa. These events are advertised in advance so people have time to make plans, and someone really wanted a picture of their pet with Santa. So they brought their horse. Yep, their horse.

They parked right by the door and just brought their horse right into the store. It was pretty cool. It was a small horse, probably best described as a pony. I stood next to it with my arm around its neck, and even though it was a little nervous about being in the store, it was well behaved. A little fidgeting, but no biting. I think once it figured out that I wasn’t trying to do anything, just stand there, and that no one else was going to do anything too weird, it settled down. It even looked at the camera. I got a kick out of it – OK, poor choice of words – it was cool. I was really glad that I got to be the Santa for the pony.

Playing Santa can be a lot of fun, even if all you do is have your picture taken with pets. It can also be very gratifying as some people and some families are very involved with their pets. Getting that picture of their pet with Santa can be a big deal, and not just for the kids. And I always did my best to be in character as Santa since there were children in the store.

But there can be more than that. If you’re lucky enough to be Santa in the right place at the right time, you can have a really rewarding experience – and I’m going to leave that as a teaser for another post to come very soon.

Running on empty

Sorry about being gone for so long. My wife has been having a bad time of it lately, and both of us have had quite a few doctor appointments to go to. Because of that I have been hitting the wall that I run into whenever I do anything for any length of time.

If I have two or three appointments in a week, I can use the next few days to a week to recover. If I do something two or three times a week for two weeks I will reach a limit and need longer to recover. If I do that for more than two weeks I start to go downhill. Whatever rest I get no longer counts towards recovery, at best it just maintains me at my depleted levels. After three or four weeks of this, or if I have a day where I really exert myself, I just keep getting worse. Every day of activity takes me further down. At that point I need to do absolutely nothing for a while and take the time to recover.

I am, however, coming up on an event that will count as one of those major exertions. I know better than to push myself past my limits like this. I’ve done it before, out of necessity, and it hurts. Of course, I’m still going to do this one thing. It’s this coming Sunday, and I will do my best to appear to be a normal person – well, what passes for normal with me. I will talk, and laugh, and let loose my sick sense of humor, and move around too much and I will enjoy myself to no end.

I will suffer for it, but it will be worth it. This is an annual Christmas party that I attend. It is a large gathering of many friends. Three years ago I made it to this party when I had been out of the hospital for less than three months. It was an important step for me. It took me a month, maybe more, to recover, but I would not have missed it for the world. That just happened to be the 20^th year that I had been going to this party with these people. It was fantastic. It went a long way towards making me feel better and like myself.

Damn straight I’m going this year.

Look, up in the sky - or not

Looks like my advice about watching the skies should be ignored. Apparently the Moon will be far enough away from Jupiter and Venus tonight to make it all less impressive. If it's clear enough I'll check myself to see if it was only worth looking at last night. If so, I was mighty lucky.

Still working on November

Well, since NaNo ended on the 30th, I meant to post this yesterday and I'm barely making it today as it is. But yesterday my computer's hard drive started making some very interesting noises. So I spent most of the day first trying to get the machine to start, then making sure that everything was backed up. Such fun. I did have much of it backed up, but it wasn't until that sound started that I realized there were some other things that I really needed to keep.

Today I had to get a few things done, including getting some x-rays. On a good note, as I left the radiology shop, I saw the crescent Moon and Jupiter and Venus. I only got a few moments look because the clouds moved in, but if you get a chance take a look. It is an amazing sight. Of course, on the way home my glasses broke while I was driving and my left lens bounced onto the floor. I had to drive home in the rain with one eye closed. I have glasses that have a nylon cord on the bottom to hold the lenses and it broke so I couldn't just pop the lens back in. Luckily, the less than a year old America's Best Contacts and Glasses near home was open and they fixed it for me for free. Lucky them - I need new glasses so they'll get my business.

On to yesterday's news. I won NaNoWriMo. I now (yesterday) have just over 50k words of gibberish. Pay no attention to any word counts you may see, apparently the NaNo word counter interpreted some of my more esoteric punctuation as extra words. But I do have just over 50k. I said that I expected to have a Draft -5 completed, but now that I am done I would have to say that this version is actually Drat -7.2. Now the task of turning this into something presentable.

Now I have to catch up with some of the things I wanted to get done in November.

Remember to get a look at the astronomical sight, it really is pretty cool.