tonight i met a man who raises reindeer here in huntsville. and i petted an eight month old reindeer and its mother. i asked him all about the animals. and i learned some really interesting things. they loose their antlers each year. when lined up in santa-sleigh formation, the babies are stood next to their mothers for two years in order to learn the proper way to stand in line. they eat plain old reindeer mix. and, here's the shocker -- they don't like carrots!! they prefer a banana, as a matter of fact. and to think all those poor carrot sticks that go wasted at xmas time.

which brings me to my favorite xmas story: how i found out the truth about santa.

i'd left out my note with cookies, milk and a carrot for santa and rudolph and headed for bed. but for some reason i came back through the den one last time -- and to my surprise found my brother standing over my santa goodies, with pencil in hand. he was responding to my santa letter! and to make it authentic looking, he says, he squiggled the lines to his letters to forge the effect of santa's cold, shaky hand. i don't remember the year or how old i was, but i'll always remember finding my sneaky brother trying to surprise me. maybe he's just santa.

oh and here's some stupid, random note: huntsville was shown on the national news tonight. since the south has been pelted with this weather storm it was mentioned. but randomly huntsville was shown as proof or something -- we didn't get much of anything. just some flakes and icy patches here and there.