Super Santa

It was as if I was revisiting the opening of Wal-Mart when I made my way through the new Kroger. Little clusters of people standing in the aisles with carts in tow carrying on conversations with no regard to anyone else in the store. Others were walking around as if they did not live in the 21st century and had never seen a new full-service grocery store; mouths agape, eyes wide; like children at Disneyworld. Once past the gossip groups and looky loos it became evident that the new Kroger is some store. In the deli section I was most impressed by the olive stand that included pickled baby artichokes and the bulk section right next door. The produce was beautiful and there were things in that section you used to have to drive to the Fresh Market to find; baby bok choy, mushrooms in bulk were among some of the choices. It could be the time of year but even though the store is huge the aisles are packed with stuff making it a little difficult to maneuver. I also found some really good prices and some not so good prices however, if you take the time to walk around there are some excellent specials. All in all the new layout takes some getting used to and if you get the chance to go when there are fewer patrons, it is worth the time it takes to walk the aisles and find all the goodies.
When I was a little girl the approximate population of the U.S. was 149,188,130. The world population was approximately 2, 556,000,053. Eliminating those that did not celebrate Christmas and the fact that at that age my world consisted of Georgia with a vague understanding of the U.S., it seemed a simple task for Santa to make all of his rounds on Christmas Eve. At that age the scope of the miles he had to travel or the number of families he had to visit was beyond my understanding. At that age I probably did not care whether he made it to anywhere else. Think about it now. The population has more than tripled. Although the miles are the same the number of houses to visit each year are monumental and Santa is really old now as are his Reindeer; so how does he do it? It has always been unclear if he and Mrs. C had children that took over the family business but we know that Santa has emissaries all over the world. Not those street corner guys; they don’t fly but they do, in most cases, take what they collect to those who do and in this economy Santa needs all they collect. Santa reserves his flying for special events and has his emissaries do the rest. And if you still think the scope too big don’t worry, Santa has provided super sonic jets and giving people all over the world. However, he has reserved the most generous caring group of emissaries for North Augusta. They know who they are; they know the wonderful thing they did and all I can say is from the bottom of my heart; Thank you.