Whew. By the time you read this, you’ll have but hours to finish your Christmas shopping. Hopefully, you’re already finished, and settling in to bake cookies and chill the eggnog. Maybe you’re looking for a moment of solitude to sneak under the tree and shake those presents with your name on them. Don’t do it.

Growing up, my family gathered on the sofa Christmas Eve to read Christmas stories together. My brother and I took turns each year reading “The Night Before Christmas” and “The Littlest Snowman”. We carefully prepared a plate of cookies and glass of milk for Santa, and of course a couple of carrots for the reindeer. We then were sent to bed early, much too early for me to be sleepy, of course. I was sternly warned that if I got out of bed and wandered the house, I might run into Santa. This would be bad, as Santa, if discovered, would simply go back up the chimney without delivering my presents.

I would lie in bed, wide awake, hearing mysterious sounds from all over the house. I swear to this day I once heard hooves clattering up on the roof. Eventually I would fall asleep, while visions of sugarplums danced in my head.

WAKE UP! Now, I never actually heard that admonition from my parents. They were always still asleep, recuperating from whatever they did on Christmas Eve while I was trying to fall asleep. My internal Christmas morning body alarm clock went off sometime between 5:15 and 6:00 AM. Problem was, my parents’ bedroom was on the other side of the house.

In order to wake them up, my brother and I would have to cross through the CTZ (Christmas Tree Zone), which was off-limits to us, probably heavily mined and surrounded by barbed-wire-like tinsel.

Sometime after the sun had come up, my parents would come to usher us into the CTZ, and the wonderment began.

My wife’s family opened all the family presents on Christmas Eve, so when our children were growing up we took to opening one present on Christmas Eve, then let Santa do his thing before opening the rest on Christmas morning. My kids alternated reading the traditional family stories, to which we added the Bible verses describing the First Christmas. Whatever your family traditions, and whatever your family celebrates during this season, I hope you can spend the time with loved ones.

Now, on to technology. Although this might not be the “warmest” of family Christmas Eve activities, I found something fun you can do with your kids and your computer on Christmas Eve. Point your browser at: http://www.noradsanta.org. NORAD is the bi-national U.S.-Canadian military organization responsible for the aerospace defense of the United States and Canada. It’s housed deep inside Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs, Colorado. For the last 50 years, while monitoring the skies for incoming bad things, NORAD has also been using their sophisticated satellites and other technologies to track the fastest vehicle the world has every seen (Santa’s sleigh) and its progress on Christmas Eve. You’ll want to visit the site before the big night to make sure you have the players and plug-ins for the big show, which are easily downloadable.

At the site you can also learn more about NORAD, more about Santa, view some celebrity Christmas messages, listen to Christmas music from Great Britain’s “honorary Santa Tracker” Ringo Starr and the United States Air Force Academy Band (my alma mater), and view special “declassified” photos of Santa, past and present.

Have a wonderful weekend. See you back here next week.

© 2004 Peter F. Zimowski