NORTH POLE: Santa may not deliver any presents to children
in the United States this Christmas Eve, it was learned today.
"The US Border Patrol has put such a tight cordon around the
US borders, I may have problems getting into the country,"
Santa said.
Santa, who carries no passport or other citizenship documents,
could easily be detained as an illegal alien under US law.
"It is especially risky carrying a load of toys which have no
country of origin identification," Santa added. "And my sleigh
doesn't have any license plates."
Last year Santa snuck into the US through Canada. "They
spotted me on radar and I thought for a moment I was going to
get shot down by a cruise missile," he said. "Fortunately it
missed."
Sources close to Santa hint that me may go on-line this year
and send all the toys via eSanta.com. "Better hang your
stockings on your computer screen this year," he purportedly
said.
It comes every year and will go on forever. And along with Christmas belong the keepsakes and the customs. Those humble, everyday things a mother clings to, and ponders, like Mary in the secret spaces of her heart.
--Marjorie Holmes
In Portugal, the traditional Christmas meal (consoada) is eaten in the early hours of Christmas Day. Burning in the hearth is the Yule log (fogueira da consoada). The ashes and charred remains of the Yule log are saved; later in the year, they are burned with pine cones during Portugal's thunderstorm season. It is believed that no thunderbolt will strike where the Yule log smoke has traveled.
