Santa Next Door

 As every child knows, in the weeks just before Christmas, Santa Claus leaves the present packing to his elves and wanders the world meeting and talking to children. This is because on Christmas night he is far too busy to stay and chat and also because he has a great heart and wants to make the world a happier and simpler place where generosity, love and kindness rule.
In our lane we are very lucky indeed because Santa is great friends with my next door neighbours and comes every year to meet those very youngest children of the village and set them on the road to  believing wholeheartedly in the miracles of the season. 
Rob decorates his garden with lights and transforms the shed with frosting and a flickering fire so Santa can sit in comfort. This year, to make it more like the Arctic, he set a snow blower going as well! Then. as it gets quite dark, there is a shuffle of feet slithering on the cobbles and soft voices explaining to the little ones who he is and how far he has travelled just to be part of this village for an hour or two. There's no real plan, just a few families arriving at intervals. Teresa lets them through the gate and they  walk up to the shed to enjoy the company of an old, white- bearded man dressed in red, with an open hearth and heart. He thinks it more than worth the effort to see little faces lighting up with a mix of trepidation, wonder and happiness.   Strangely, considering the time he has put in to create this magical space, Rob is no-where to be seen. 
Then, as the cold starts to bite and fog drifts up from the river the children are bundled up securely in hats and gloves again and trotted back home for tea, bath and bed. Santa locks the shed and does the same.
This year he has stayed a while longer with Rob and Teresa because every day he goes up to Whinlatter Forest to exercise his reindeer and let them have a good graze on the lichen and moss there. Invariably, they get themselves lost  and inevitably he ends up at the Yurt to ask the groups of school children he finds there to help him call them back. (it's rather a forlorn hope!) Then he stays with them for a while to have a yarn about Lapland and what it's like to get stuck in the chimney and answer all the other tricky questions kids have.
For a couple of gentleman, not in the first flush of youth, Santa and Rob are certainly putting in the hours, albeit shared, and I, along with the hundreds of children visited, believe absolutely in the Spirit of Christmas, and Santa Claus.