Christmas Spirit in the Desert

Yesterday we were twice rewarded with displays of the Christmas spirit.  It was a lazy Sunday morning at our house and at about noon, I was still wandering around the house in my PJs.  I heard a bunch of noise coming from down our ordinarily quite street and thought “I wonder what the heck is going on.”  As the noises got louder, I detected a honking horn, rings bells and shouts of “Ho Ho Ho.”  It took me a second to recall that one of the service organizations (and I apologize for not knowing which one – Rotary, lions, APEX ???) cruises town this time of year on a Sunday morning, with Santa in the back of a ute handing out icy pops (popsicles) to kids.

Since I was in my ratty PJs, I rushed Dave and Dennis out of the house to chase Santa down the street.  It was well worth the effort, because our little Russian bounced back to the house with eyes as big as saucers and grinning from ear to ear.  We couldn’t figure out which excited him more – seeing Santa or getting the Icy Pop; either way it made his day. 

Later in the afternoon, we went to the home of friends to share some holiday cheer. Dave and I both wanted to partake in the consumption of liquid cheer and because our status in the country comes with a zero tolerance for legal infractions, plus we have that whole responsible parent thing going, we didn’t drive ourselves to and from the event.  As we often do with this group of friends, the hosting couple picked us up and we took a cab home. 

As we ventured home in the cab, Dennis began to ohh and awe at the Christmas light displays along the way and the driver slowed down for the little guy to get a good look.  As we got closer to our house, the driver flipped off the meter and announced that there were some really good ones just a little way out of the direct route home.  I think the driver had as much fun as Dave and I did watching and listening to Dennis exclaim his delight at all the lights. 

In a world that just keep getting more jaded, hectic and impersonal, it was heartwarming to encounter a stranger that was willing to commit such a simple act for the sake of bringing joy to someone’s day.

Thank you Mr. Taxi Driver.