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

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.

Christmas Day: It's gone now, but I remain stuffed and full, blessed with wealth, even in tight times

The preparations had been going on for quite awhile by now, but I had not been ambitious enough to take a picture. After Margie baked these cookies, Charlie did some artistic decorating. Lisa was amused.

Out in the living room, the good black cat Jim stepped into the shadow to eat tinsel and study the gifts that waited under the tree.

Charlie takes a picture of his cookie artwork as Melanie, Lavina and Margie keep on cooking.

As I take a picture of Charlie's artwork, Jacob reaches in to begin destroying it.

Kalib is impatient and tugs at his mom. No, they did not stay here last night. They drove out in their pajamas.

Many gifts were given. Lavina gave Jacob a new electric razor.

I gave Lisa a framed picture of her buddy, Juniper.

Margie gave me the pig. I gave her the salt and pepper shakers. We were both very pleased.

And here is a camera that Margie and I gave to Rex. He is going to Seattle next week to hang out with his buddy and he will need to take some pictures.

Charlie with a little, cast-iron, bird that I gave him.

Caleb got some tires with snow studs for his bike.

Kalib opens up a gift from his Uncle Caleb. Uncle Caleb was born with a magnificent artistic talent, but he has never come around to harnessing it. A good uncle teaches his nephew, so maybe they can help each other.

Charlie blessed the food. It was an unconventional blessing, but he said he was glad to be part of this family. We are glad, too. I took no more dinner pictures after this, because I was too busy eating.

Kalib feeds turkey to his buddy, Royce.

Later, we came back to the table to eat pie and fruit goup.

As good as it was to be together, to exchange gifts and to eat, the day still came pierced by a huge hole. If it is a little hard to read at this size, the words on Rex's shirt say, "Table for one."

It is still a big and painful mystery to all of us why Stephanie up and walked out, but she did and there is nothing to be done about it. Rex has asked us all to think of her kindly and lovingly.

Rex left first, to go meet his buddy, Eddie, who now lives in Seattle but is also in Wasilla to visit his family.

I never stepped outside today. Just before they all left, I laid down upon the couch and was soon covered by a cat blanket. I normally step out onto the porch to wave goodbye to everybody as they leave, but I was too sleepy and these cats felt too good.

So, one by one, the departers came to the couch to give me a hug, then they all went out the door and drove away. I stayed put on the couch for a very long time.

Guess what? Kalib turns two December 26 - hey! That's today! - so, after we get some sleep, we will all gather together again.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, from Wasilla, Alaska

The day of Christmas Eve has been a mighty busy one and I took several pictures that I thought I would share, but I have been going non-stop, day and night and then the next day and night and the day and night after that. I am exhausted and if I don't get to bed right away I will die and then Santa Claus will not bother to visit me.

"What's the use?" he will say.

So, I am just going to post this picture of a Nativity scene that goes up on the shore of Wasilla Lake, every Christmas season. It's not a great picture. It's not even a good picture, it's a crummy picture, but it is what you see as drive by and it was put there by someone who wants to share the spirit of Christmas. I took it as I passed by so that you can see it just as you would have if it had been you passing by instead of me.

Have a Merry Christmas or a happy whatever kind of holiday it is that you celebrate this time of year.

I will be back before Christmas Day is over, with Kalib, and all of us up here, in the hope that we might bring you a little cheer.

Margie bakes Christmas cookies but there is no little boy here to eat them

Here is Royce, lying around listless, missing his buddy Kalib, who he has not seen for four days now. If you are a cat, four days is like two months or so.

We have not gotten into the Christmas spirit here at all. We have yet to send out a Christmas card and we have done no shopping. When the kids were all at home and growing, every year, well before this time, I would pick up the saw, we would head out the back door, hike across the marsh and then keep going to this certain place where there were many trees of just the right size, but, being Alaska trees, most of them were kind of thin and sparse in the branches - but we always knew that if we looked hard enough, we would find the right one. 

The kids would fan out and everybody would look for that special tree.

Once the candidates were chosen, we would gather around and compare and, amazingly enough, almost always everybody would agree on the same tree. Then we would cut it down and tromp back through the snow, everyone getting their turn at helping to carry the tree home.

One year, Royce followed us to and from. The snow was way too deep for him to wade through, but he would hop about in our footprints.

The experience seemed to please him greatly.

Then they made Serendipity and that ended that. In each year since, I have been amazed to find a suitable tree in our own backyard. Last year, I was certain there was not a single one left that would make a good Christmas tree, but Caleb found one right on the fringe, headed into the marsh.

It was the best Christmas tree that we had ever found, period.

Now, Margie is saying that this year she is just going to buy one.

I feel kind of bad about that, and I hate to see a Christmas tree go onto a credit card, but that's what happens in life, I guess.

Margie does want to get the Christmas spirit going here, so she decided to bake some sugar cookies. And look - there, jammed into the cabinet door above her - baby Kalib, in a picture that I took while he was still brand new.

And further over - a picture of Kalib on a book marker, courtesy of his day care center, and another of him and his buddy Lafe, when they were tiny (and yet, even when he was tiny, Lafe was large). You have not seen Lafe in this blog for awhile because he has moved out of state.

Margie with the first batch of cookies.

But there is no little boy here to eat them.

So Margie eats a Christmas tree cookie by herself. Above her hangs one of Kalib's earliest pieces of art. Perhaps his first piece of art. I am not certain. Certainly, his first piece of art to be framed and hanged.

There is a chance that we might see Kalib today. Jacob is home now. I know he is exhausted from his two weeks training in Washington, DC, but he is going to get lonesome for Muzzy pretty soon. He will have to come and get him and Martigne, too.

Maybe that will happen today.

Kalib golfs, vacuums, gets under the weather, goes to the doctor, reunites with Royce; Various and insundry Wasilla scenes

Ever since Kalib moved out, the house had been a quiet and empty place. After he returned, he resumed his golf game. This made life in the house much better.

And then he vacuumed the floor. It really needed it and we were grateful.

Kalib and his vacuum cleaner.

It was a foggy day. I took only a very short walk - not because of the fog, but because I left at 11:45 AM and I had a phone interview scheduled at noon.

I hated to take such a short walk. I guess I should have left earlier.

After I hung up the phone, I wanted out. Caleb was awake to watch Kalib, so I took Margie to lunch. Along the way, we passed by this guy walking the shore of Wasilla Lake.

Regularly readers will instantly recognize this as the intersection that provides an excellent view of Pioneer Peak above the maddening traffic of Wasilla's main thoroughfare. But you couldn't see the mountains today.

We ate our lunch in the car, as these ravens flirted with each other nearby.

As we ate, this was the view through the windshield. The tower rises out of the Wasilla Police Station. I was a little worried that someone might come running out of there, think we were someone else and try to arrest us, but no one did. 

The radio was on and a restaurant reviewer was talking from Cleveland. He had moved there from the East Coast, where he said he had been a food snob and had not expected to find any good food in the Midwest.

Boy, was he wrong, he said. The dining in Cleveland was the height of gourmet sophistication. Not even New York City could beat it.

I thought maybe I should start doing reviews on all the sophisticated, gourmet, dining to be had right here in Wasilla, Alaska. I could start here, in the parking lot alongside Taco Bell.

So... Taco Bell has a new item on the meno called a cheese roll, or something like that. It is a flour tortilla rolled around a glob of melted cheese. I bought one, tore it in half, gave half to Margie and ate the other myself.

"What do you think?" I asked Margie.

"It's okay," she said.

"I find it quite excellent myself," I told her. "Nice, sophisticated, piquant, gourmet taste."

She said nothing more at all.

I also had two original crunchy tacos. Indeed, they crunched very well and, after I squeezed a packet of mild and another of hot sauce into each one, had just the right touch of spice to add a decent kick to the meal.

I also had a bean burrito with green sauce.

These are superb when done right, but this one was too damn salty.

The Pepsi was just right - not too sweet but pleasantly carbonated, so that I could be assured of a little burp later, the flavor of which would remind me just how excellent the meal was - except for the bean burrito, which could have been better.

Back at the house, Margie sits with Kalib, who was once again feeling under the weather. While we had been out, Caleb had observed something that frightened him terribly, as Kalib seemed to be disoriented and frightened. Kalib had reached for Caleb where Caleb wasn't even standing. Margie called Lavina at work in Anchorage and she made a doctor appointment for Kalib here in Wasilla at 4:30, but we were advised to bring him in a bit early.

We left the house at 4:00, but stopped to go through the drive-through at Metro Cafe to get Americanos. No, I don't buy Latte's and Mochas everyday.

We continued on toward the doctor's office. As you can see, Pioneer Peak was now visible in the twilight sky.

Lavina had driven up from Anchorage and was already there to meet us.

The rest went inside, but, as I had much to do, I headed back here to my office, slightly worried but pretty confident that Kalib was okay. Lavina would bring them all home.

This is what the Talkeetna Mountains looked like as I drove home.

I passed by a fence decorated with large, candy canes wrapped in green and red lights.

Kalib was fine - but better to be safe. Here he is, reunited with his buddy, Royce.