Through the air wafted the holiday scents of warm sugar cookies and peppermint hot chocolate. The pine tree was expertly trimmed and carolers wove a wonderful melody while Mrs. Claus paged through Martha Stewski’s magazine Cookie Living. It was tea time at the North Pole. Joe and Juniper Jingle, two elves from the Lego division, snuck outside the toy factory and quietly raced behind the reindeer barn.
“You got it?” Joe asked. Juniper pulled out the papers she had absconded with and smiled slyly.
“Yep,” she winked. “Got it.” They huddled together as Juniper unrolled the papers.
“So who are we reading about today?” Joe asked anxiously, trying to peer over Juniper’s shoulder. Santa was a stickler for not wasting electricity at the North Pole, which meant entertainment was mainly limited to watching reindeer games and playing hockey. Joe and Juniper were bored of both. They decided they should drum up a little fun of their own. So the two had hacked into Santa’s computerized “Naughty and Nice” list to read about the lives of the faraway people who awaited annual judgment by the red-suited man.
“Let’s see. Today we’ve got… some folks from Cloquet, Minnesota” Juniper said.
“Wow! They’ve got potato sausage and lutefisk there!” Joe said. Joe’s dream was to live in Minnesota and pursue his Nordic culinary ambitions. “I bet this one’s gonna be good!”
Juniper’s eyes skimmed the paper. A frown spread across her face. “Sorry. Don't think so. Doesn't look too exciting.”
Joe’s face fell. “Well, might as well read it anyway,” he shrugged. “We don’t have anything better to do.” He leaned against the red barn and stuck his tongue out to catch the plump snowflakes that had started falling.
“Let’s see,” Juniper murmured. “John, Emily, Isobelle and Victoria White are their names. Isobelle and Victoria have a few marks in the Naughty column, but they still have a Nice rating.”
“Darn. Nice people are always so boring,” he complained.
“Well, it’s not all bad,” Juniper rang. “Says here that they took a few trips this year – the annual Renaissance Festival, camping in Jay Cooke State park with their dogs, a trip to Lake George in Rhinelander, WI with Emily’s brother Stokes and his family, their dad Andy and step mom Mary Jo, and of course the big cruise John and Emily went on. Florida, Belize and Mexico. That was Emily’s first trip out of the country. She had to get a passport.”
“Hey, that’s not too bad. What else?”
Juniper’s eyes continued down the page. “They also got a new dog. She’s a one year old chocolate lab/springer spaniel they named Joony. They still have their dog Sam and cat Vinny. He’s a little crotchety about it all. Joony ate his beloved catnip monkey of 9 years the first day she arrived!”
“I’m sure Santa will bring him a new one,” Joe encouraged.
“Isobelle turned nine this year, started horseback riding lessons, loves reading Goosebumps and got her purple stripe belt in Tae Kwon Do. Victoria turned 7 in April, got her first short haircut, and lucky for Santa, still loves Judy Garland,“ Juniper winked.
“They started sharing a bedroom this year. It’s going very well, which earned them a few more checks in the Nice column. Both girls started piano lessons this year too.”
“I only know jingle bells on the kazoo,” Joe blushed.
Juniper gave him an incredulous look and continued reading. “Seems John was pleased his whole family came to Cloquet for the first time since their wedding 8 years ago to celebrate his 40th birthday. And Emily went cross-country skiing for the first time very early in the year!”
“What?! ” Joe yelled, forgetting all about catching snow on his tongue. “How else would you get around in the snow?!”
Joe went back to his snowflake catching.” I guess these people aren’t as boring as I feared.” He leaned his head way back to catch a snowflake and his green elf hat plopped into the snow with a soft jingle from the bell on top. “What else?”
"They got a new car - a diesel Volkswagen Jetta that gets 45 MPG! John is converting it to run on vegetable oil! He also went kayaking, packed in frequent sailings on the Great Lake Superior with Emily’s Uncle Bruce, built a new deck and installed a pond, solar powered.”
Joe raised his eyebrows. “Santa would approve,” he offered.
“He’s still doing blacksmithing too! He’s making a sculpture for his mom Cynthia’s house in Maine. Umm…Looks like Emily’s raw food restaurant didn’t happen, but it seems she is still teaching raw classes and has started selling Sunrider natural products.”
Joe looked sideways at Juniper. “What’s that?”
“Organic raw, live-enzyme foods and health care products,” Juniper read. “She also put together another CD of original songs, won “People’s Choice” for a local songwriting competition, is still doing web design, including one for John’s metalwork and is enjoying her last year in her twenties. Emily has some vague health problems. Mostly being really tired. Wow! She’s met a lot of doctors this year! Seems her symptoms are like Lupus, but they can’t say for sure. They figured out she’s gluten intolerant (flour) and lactose intolerant (milk) and should avoid sugar. Tough break!”
Joe took a breather from trying to catch snowflakes and looked at his watch. “Hey! We better get something to eat before we get back to the toy factory.” They were hoping for a 2nd degree sugar buzz to get them through the rest of the day, because the workload had tripled due to the holiday rush.
“Anything else before we grab some grub?” Joe asked.
Juniper skimmed the list. “It also says Emily lost an aunt this year - her mom Sheila’s youngest sister, Aunt Kim. They all really miss her. But it looks like they’re going to have another relative join the family - Emily’s brother Stokes, his wife Anne and their children Cadence and Liam are getting a new baby boy sometime next year. And speaking of next year, the White’s plans to put their house on the market in the spring. They want to live in the country. They are also looking into home-schooling! Oh! Says here they have a Christmas wish list, but otherwise request a charity donation in their name.”
“Makes our job easier.” Joe swiped at one more snowflake with his tongue. “Hey June! You think you can get another list tomorrow?”
“Sure. No problem. Santa will never know.” Juniper and Joe turned and headed off to the magical North Pole Cookie Kitchen to get some almond milk and fresh gingerbread cookies.
They never even saw the man in the red suit who was quietly adding their names to his Naughty list.
This seasons greeting is for the happiest of all holidays from the White household to yours.
We wish you all the joys of a great Holiday Season, a festive Solstice and the very best for the
coming new year.
John, Emily, Isobelle & Victoria
THE WHITE FAMILY
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