"A Peripatetic Christmas" by Cole Parker

[Rutabaga]

Santa has brought a bagful of new stories this morning -- hope he didn't have too much trouble squeezing down the AD chimney!

Here's what Cole dropped in our stockings:  A Peripatetic Christmas.  12-year-old Daniel has a roller-coaster experience leading up to Christmas.   

My laugh-out-loud moment came with this remark early in the story, while Daniel's cousins are visiting:

I hadn’t done what they were doing yet, and hearing them, I wasn’t sure I wanted to. Sounded painful.

I suspect he will find out the truth very shortly.

R

 

[Camy]

Thankee Cole!

I've been watching Santa's progress on both the Google Santa tracker and the Norad Santa tracker. The last I saw he was heading for the Falkland Islands from Greenland.  He's a busy chap. 

I don't like long bus journeys at the best of times, so I heartily commiserate with Daniel. I also don't think I'll ever be visiting Idaho. 

[Altimexis]

14 hours ago, Camy said:

I also don't think I'll ever be visiting Idaho. 

Although Idaho isn't on the top of my list of places to visit in the U.S., it's not at the bottom either. A lot of people don't realize that the western boundary of Yellowstone National Park is in Idaho and visitors to America's first national park who use the west entrance will pass through Idaho. The view of the Grand Tetons from Idaho is also unique and worth seeing, and Idaho has its own national parkland - Craters of the Moon National Monument, which was formed by an ancient volcanic lava bed. Personally, however, when it comes to American lava beds, I'd rather visit the rather active ones on the Big Island of Hawaii. Boise has experienced substantial growth in recent years as disaffected Californians look for more affordable places to live that aren't plagued by earthquakes and fires - not that Boise has enough water to support expansion. Finally, the Spokane Valley extends to Cour d'Alene, Idaho, along the I-90 corridor. Spokane is in my mind one of the most picturesque cities in America - perhaps the most beautiful city in America that no one visits. That whole region is quite beautiful, including most of Idaho. It's too bad Idaho's populated by some of the least tolerant people on the continent.

[Merkin]

Idaho is justly famous for its potatoes, grown in volcanic soil which because of its lightness permits the growing spuds to expand and achieve great size.