Santa's In Produce

The other day I was in the grocery store and said to my youngest son, “There’s Santa.”

Paul looked at the rotund, white-bearded man in Produce, but wasn’t too impressed. Maybe that’s because Paul is sixteen. Okay, he’s not, but the reason Paul wasn’t thrilled at seeing Santa was because Santa lives in our town. Truly. This man, whose legal name is “Santa Claus,” we see year-round. Sometimes he’s shoveling snow off the walk at St. Patrick’s church, other times he’s walking to the library. Anyway, I realized I wanted to talk to Santa about an article I’d been considering writing about him. So after we’d picked up milk and eggs and were rolling toward checkout I asked Paul, “Where’s Santa?” Paul pointed ahead and said, “Santa’s in the frozen section.” How perfect, I thought. Right where he belongs.