huh. where'd that come from?

I just got a wistful feeling of missing the times when we were living in Spearfish. About this time of year I got involved in the whole Xmas festivities, by playing a pretty cool rendition of Father Christmas. I got to do storytime with kids and be in the night parade and stuff. it was cold. But it was also pretty neat. Spearfish is basically the most beautiful town in South Dakota and they do a nice job with throwing a small town event. The costume they had was really classy looking with a long robe and trimmed hood. I had to wear my own boots, but they had chaps that covered them and they looked pretty decent.

I'm fairly proud of Santa's character, too. I was the 217th Father Christmas, acquiring the vocation after the previous Santa had retired. (sometimes I like to imagine that we traded the role in ritual combat) and I told stories about me and the other Santas thru history. Like the Santa who discovered the formula for making reindeer fly with a special combination of Andean and western native grasses. And how Rudolph's bright nose was not actually the most important bit, rather he was a very innovative reindeer who spent a lot of time watching weather reports and plotting careful routes. And how the elves actually made toys in a kind of magical process involving shaping music and christmas wishes... well frankly it was kind of a hallucinatory state but I don't think the kids noticed.

Oh, and there was money. They paid ~$600 for less than a dozen appearances, if I recall correctly.