In the interlude: Santa drops in on his next-door neighbors, sees some "folks dressed up like Eskimos" gets a high five and leaves a bit of good cheer behind
Thursday, December 9, 2010 at 3:00PM 
In the evening after the gathering at Warren Matumeak's house and the night before his funeral, I heard that Santa Claus had hopped over to Barrow from his nearby home at the North Pole. I dropped by the North Slope Borough building, where the Mayor's and Law offices were holding their office Christmas party for staff members and their families.
Other offices and departments would hold their own parties at the times and locations of their choosing.
I entered to the sight of excited children charging in ahead of their parents as classic Christmas Carols played on the sound system - the standards, such as "Silent Night," "Jingle Bells" and "The Christmas Song."
In one of those odd coincidences that Mel Torme could never have pictured in all of his imaginings, I took this picture of little Leila Sundai just as he sang these words:
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos...
I'm not making this up. That's just how it happened.
When you sang, did you even begin to envision such beauty, Mel Torme?
The parka was sewn by Leila's grandmother, her Aaka Nora Snowball.
As they waited for Santa to arrive, children posed in front of the tree.
Everyone waited in nervous anticipation, not quite certain what was about to happen. Then, suddenly, we heard the clatter of tuttu hooves, alighting atop the roof. Next, a big, fat man man stood at the top of the stairs laughing so hard that his belly shook like a bowl full of jelly.
To be quite frank, this scared the heck out of me. I was about to throw my camera away and to run screaming into the cold of the Arctic night when I saw little baby Kylen, held in the arms of Jordan Ahgeak, boldly gliding up the stairs toward Santa.
She drew back her little hand as if maybe she was going to slap him...
She didn't slap him. She gave him a high five! After I had witnessed such bravery met only with good will, my own courage returned. I did not throw my camera away. I did not flee screaming into the Arctic night, I stuck around to take pictures and eat cake.
Soon, little ones were filing by to get their gifts. Leila Sundai got hers.
;)
As did little Ka'eo - whose blood is a beautiful mix of Iñupiat, Hawaiian and Asian.
As his proud grandfather, North Slope Borough Mayor Edward Itta cheered him on, little Noah Itta accepted Santa's gift.
Kapono Texeira, brother to Ka'eo, received a Buzz Lightyear action figure.
Sisters Melissa and Madison posed by the tree.
Lily Brower and Leila spent some time enjoying the new friends that Santa had brought to them.
Reader Comments (4)
Oh so nice! Thanks Bill!
All the pictures are delightful, but, oh my!, that first one of Leila is a heartwarming wonder.
Shouldn't that boy's shirt read NorthPole instead of SouthPole?
That fellow with the belly that shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly? He used to scare me. Now I'm old and my dearest friends all have bellies that shake when they laugh like a bowl full of jelly. Come to think of it, most of my friends have whiskers too. Even some of the women.
great pictures :)