"My life is a monument to procrastination, to the art of putting things off until later, or much later, or possibly never." ~ Craig Brown, Satirist

Good morning. You caught me singing along with the White Rabbit from 'Alice In Wonderland', "I'm late / I'm late / For a very important date. / No time to say 'Hello, Goodbye'. / I'm late, I'm late, I'm late." Being Santa makes it somewhat difficult for me to say that Christmas has slipped up on me. However, I'm feeling just a bit bewildered by the runaway clock that stops for no one. Translation: I still have many things to get done before the 25th. There. I've said it. It's Monday, December 19, 2016, and at the present moment, I'm still stewing over which excuses for the situation I'm in makes the most sense. I'll get back to you when I come up with some good ones. Many of you know that I am a reader of obituaries. I read maybe a few dozen on most days. I love those that do a good job telling the story of the person's life. I also note interesting tidbits. Having just celebrated the 52nd observance of our wedding date, this interesting line from the notice regarding a 93-year-old lady jumped out at me, "Bessie is survived by her husband of 76 years, 5 months, and 2 days..." Now that's what I call a long run and a precise way of stating it. I assume they adjusted for leap years. That is a joke. Just trying to add some levity here. Now back to where I started, based on all that I have before me, I know this to be true, Christmas can't be far away.

I'm sure my wife thinks that Mr. Brown, the fellow I quoted in today's title, was mixed up when he wrote that about himself. In her mind, if Mount Rushmore was dedicated to procrastination, then my face would be on all four sculptures. I will assess more of her thoughts on this subject, either at a later date or when I get around to it. Here are some observations I found on the subject of procrastination: ~ "If and When were planted and Nothing grew." (Unattributed Proverb) ~ "When there is a hill to climb, don’t think that waiting will make it smaller." (Anonymous) ~ "After all is said and done, more is said than done." (Anonymous) ~ "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow." (Mark Twain) ~ "Someday is not a day of the week." (Unknown) ~ "Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week." (Spanish Proverb) ~ "The worst form of procrastination is reading a procrastination quote, feeling the guilt and not doing anything about it." (Unknown)  ~ And, my personal favorite, "Warning: dates on this calendar are closer than they appear." That one was also written by that Anonymous individual. I sure see that name in a lot of places. Very prominent. Trust me on that one.

I know that some may get a little tired of my Santa stories. I can't apologize because they reflect not only my own reality but they also reflect a huge amount of my time during the holiday season. The picture above was made in the professional photography studio. For each sitting, we did a minimum of nine different poses. The one depicted in the picture is where Santa and the child pray before enjoying milk and cookies. This particular photo got a lot of play on Facebook and the mom wrote this as the caption, "Our family believes in Santa and we believe in the power of prayer. Our Santa is also a believer and knows the real reason for Christmas!" (I left out the family name.) I've been taking photos with that youngster for several years now and what a blessing it is to see these kids grow and develop. You know. From Santa's unique perspective. The photographer always asks if they pray before they eat before shooting this one. Often the children pray like they do at home. Doing these photos is a high pressure, high dollar venture because of the associated expectations. However, the kids are really something. They make what I do doable, with joy, I might add. The wife and I get the message loud and clear, we do make a good Santa and Mrs. Claus. We get that. Yet, in many ways, we are props because the real characters in the story can be seen in the responses of the children. I've heard my wife say time and time again that her favorite thing is to see a child light up as they approach Santa. She might not be proud of my procrastinator ways, but, she loves what I do for children of all ages when I'm wearing the Red. Take care and have a great rest of the day. May God bless each one. Amen. ....More later.