We were going to meet my brother's family for dinner yesterday - a birthday dinner for their youngest. We were on the road already when they called to say they were having car problems and were running very late. We were far enough from home not to want to go back there, and not sure how to kill enough time. So we played it by ear, deciding just to drive around the little town where we were meeting. In the back seat our daughter fell asleep.
Then we passed a little outdoor ice cream stand, where there were floodlights, and people dressed as elves, and an enclosure with candy striped stanchions and reindeer. Real live reindeer with enormous antlers. We stopped and woke our daughter up. I wonder what that is like, to wake up to such a magical situation - Santa's reindeer in the parking lot of an ice cream stand.
We had our picture taken in a little red sleigh, with a reindeer and an elf. Then we had an ice cream cone. And then we headed to dinner. What a wonderful way to while away some time.
