… and boy did I get an earful. It seems El Nino’s been wreaking havoc with his holiday season.   The reindeer are acting up and the elves are uneasy. He told me Mrs. Claus is freaking out, pointing fingers in every direction in an effort to rein in what appears to be (and I quote) “an atmospheric disturbance of outlandish magnitude!”

While I was still processing his outburst, he continued. “And something is trumping the sound of the sleigh bells! No matter how hard we make them jingle, there’s an incessant cacophony that is drowning out the spirit of this holiday season!”

Wow. I had no idea that Santa, out of all the illusionary characters I know, could be so easily rattled.

“Something is actually trumping the sound of the sleigh bells? Have you hooked up all of them? With Dasher and Dancer? Prancer and Vixen? Comet and Cupid? Dunder and Blixem?” I asked.

Santa sputtered in anger. “Well, naturally I hooked them all up! I even brought out Rudolph to egg them all on. But no matter how worked up they got wearing all those sleigh bells, that god awful trumping noise was still louder. Where’s it coming from? THAT’S what I want to know!”

Whoa. “Have you asked for Mrs. Claus’s help? Maybe she can figure it out with you,” I gently suggested.

“Of COURSE I did!“ And then in a perfect Mrs. Claus voice, he mimicked ‘WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?!’”

Holy moly. If it weren’t so astounding, it would laughable.  I mean it could be fodder for Saturday Night Live, not to mention every talking head on every network.

Oh.   Wait.

Ok Santa. Here’s my advice to you (and all your colleagues of different faiths): Get yourself some earplugs and shut out the peripheral noise. Tune it out, completely. Because time is precious. Focus on what’s important; those you love and those who love you. Because you can’t change what already is. So, rather than get caught up in all the frenzy, take a breath, revel in your memories of years gone by and dream about those memories that are yet to come.

But whatever you do, Santa, don’t lose hope. Because when hope is lost, so is all that is good in this world.

Wishing you and yours a new year ahead filled with peace, prosperity, good health, and much love. May you find comfort and joy in the coming months, and the stomach to weather the political storm that continues to bluster from all directions.