Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

By Francis P. Church, first published in The New York Sun in 1897.

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

Dear Editor—

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Well, okay then

There's a shift happening within me that is very new and very big. Quite unexpected as well. You see, it seems as though I've suddenly veered off my current path and now find myself on another path, which is mostly uncharted territory:

I think I'm a vegetarian.

Maybe it's not such a crazy new path. My eating habits have certainly changed a fair amount in the past five years or so. I haven't had soda of any sort in a couple of years - not that it was ever a huge part of my diet, but I did drink it occasionally. Fast food isn't really on the menu for me, other than a soup or sandwich from Tim's or a slice of pizza now and then. The husband and I had burgers from DQ a year and a half ago, in a moment of road trip desperation, and we were both SO sick that the very thought of going back makes me feel ill.

(Obviously I'm talking savoury food here. I have definitely eaten more than my fair share of fast food baked goods from Starbucks and Tim's, not to mention ice cream from DQ.)

I've been thinking of myself as a flexitarian for a while now, since reading In Defense of Food. I can easily go a few days without eating meat. But then, about a week or so ago, I read an article that led me to this book.



Okay, don't laugh! I know it's written by Cher from Clueless, but it's very well-written and informative. Alicia Silverstone has been full-on vegan for some time now and the book is well-footnoted, citing various studies and the like.

But I'm not here to defend it. I'm here to tell you that it got to me. That her descriptions about how animals are treated made me cringe and feel rather sick to my stomach. It's not that it all came as a huge surprise. I wasn't walking around thinking that all of the cows I have eaten had long, happy, peaceful lives in big grassy fields and then, when they were done enjoying the sunshine, they fell over dead naturally and then became my hamburgers. To be honest, I didn't really think about their lives. And when I did come across happy-looking cows in a field, I didn't think of hamburgers.

I buried my head in the sand a bit. Not all the way, but it was definitely lodged securely.

Now that I've read this book, I can't seem to put my head back in the sand. So I haven't touched meat in about a week and a half. And I'm cutting back on dairy, too. And I can't say for sure if this is going to stick, but it seems like it might.

Don't worry though! I have every intention of reading more books and thoroughly learning about this new lifestyle choice. If you have any hints or suggestions - send them my way!

Aaaaaaaannnnnnd....Action!

Here's the thing - I didn't even want a wedding video. I'm not sure why, exactly. Maybe I was imagining a big old camera and a boom mic? Maybe I was just in cost-cutting mode. But when the Husband's good friend offered to record the day on his digital dvd cam (he's in the film business) at the last minute, I said, "Why not!?" Still, I didn't think to much about it and it wasn't really on my radar.

Until all the pomp and circumstance (and laughter) of the day was done and then I couldn't wait to get my hands on it, so I could relive every moment from a different point of view.

Well, the Husband finally got it last night and we watched it over dinner and beyond. Not only do we have the whole ceremony - including the amazing speeches that were included within - but we also got all of the rest of the speeches from the night. And we were both almost in tears while watching, both from the overwhelming emotions of that night and from laughing at our crazy friends (who were totally making fun of us).

THANK GOODNESS for good friends who have hindsight on their side and know that those are moments you're going to want to keep for a long, long time.

You've got to have friends

At one point, about a week before the wedding as we were finalizing the seating chart, we realized how incredibly talented all of our friends are. The small crowd at our nuptials included writers (both of books, television shows and movies), editors (book and magazine), actors, singers, directors, visual artists, interior designers, seamstresses, poets, aerospace engineers, carpenters, producers, photographers, teachers, gardeners, musicians and more. In fact, we came to the conclusion that we were probably the least interesting people at our own wedding!

But it's probably good to surround yourself with talented people, right? Keeps you motivated to be the best that you can be.

Anyway, I bring this up because last night we went to see this guest in The Messiah. She was the soprano soloist in a gorgeous burgundy gown and the whole show came alive when she stepped up to sing. I have known her since I was 15 and she was a gorgeous 14-year-old. (At 15, I was not so gorgeous...) We both wore overalls a lot and her talent, even then, blew us all out of the water. I get SO proud when I watch her perform. (Well, I'm pretty crazy proud of all of my talented friends' accomplishments!) Want an idea of how good she is? Watch this:

A snippet of history

The Olympic Torch ran right past my apartment tonight. I almost watched from the balcony, but instead chose to be part of the action. And somehow I picked the perfect spot to stand:

8 days to go!

A little view of Christmas chez moi. As the day itself draws closer, I've confirmed something important about myself—I cannot live in a house with large amounts of Christmas baking. I'm looking forward to bringing a bunch of it to the office on Friday and sending some more with the Husband to his office. Then we'll STILL have some, which we'll bring up north next week. And then?

A baking moratorium. For at least a little while.

Oh, I'm monkeying around with the blog a bit, which you've probably noticed. This isn't the final form, but I like the more neutral template for the moment. We'll see what 2010 brings. Another new look AND a baking moratorium.

The Gingerbread Forest

The Husband and I devoted some time this past weekend to creating our very own gingerbread woodland creatures.



Check out the moose! He's our favourite:



And a whole forest full of yummy, yummy animals:



Ready for Christmas!