Santa Claus Came to Town

I had been reading about it over the last two weeks. Santa Claus rides around in a fire truck throughout the neighborhood. I was trying to figure out when we could expect him in ours - because we saw him out of nowhere a few years back. It said he makes the rounds during the first week of December, but I still couldn’t pinpoint when and what time. A couple of nights ago we heard a commotion and ran to the balcony - only to see the tail lights of the fire truck sail past about a block away, only to continue on away from our building. It was a bit disappointing - especially because this time of the year we always close the blinds when it gets dark, and Santa shows up at night. I thought that was the end of it. Then last evening when we were preparing dinner, my husband said he thought he heard commotion again. So we ran to pull up the shade and ran to the balcony. This time the fire truck was coming towards us and Santa was waving to us. The next door dog was barking with excitement. The fire truck made a few little siren blasts - just to get people out of the house to look. There was just something about catching a glimpse of Santa. I’m glad we didn’t miss him after all. 

Christmas Window Display on Pennsylvania Avenue

It feels like we were just looking at it. The old fashioned Christmas windows were up and running in the Coldwell Banker storefront on Pennsylvania Avenue. They were setting it up a couple of weeks back. It’s got to take quite a bit of time as there are four good sized windows with many different tiny moving parts. There is something magical about it - probably because it looks like decorations from my childhood and in a very traditional style. The large variety of colorful ornaments hang from the ceiling by wires, lights and ribbons. The snowmen soldiers stand at attention as Santa Claus heads out on his sleigh. The reindeer are festively dressed and dance with the penguins. One of the windows is very specific to Capitol Hill and the neighborhood landmarks - Folger Shakespeare library, Hill Center, police and fire station, Splash car wash, Nationals park. Ice skaters, snowmen, trains, and all things Christmas are showcased in the fourth spot. I could stand there for a while watching and observing all the interconnected pieces. We will need to walk this way again before the year ends.