CHRISTMAS IN JULY

My son is currently teaching children in Greenland on a special program from Georgetown University. The areas are remote to say the least. Many times it is difficult to find food there. Often as soon as the boat comes in with supplies, they are gone in a flash. There are no grocery stores as we know them. He is a vegatarian, which limits his food sources there even more so. Most of the innuits there live off the land.....killing seals, reindeer, and an occasional polar bear.

If you are able to find the food you want, it is extremely expensive. Examples: an apple-$1.00 each, eggs-$12.00 for three, a candy bar-$1.00, etc. My son does a lot of baking....his own bread and pastries, but is lacking in the staples needed to survive there. So we have devised a system where he can "shop" in the USA so to speak. This is his second year/rotation there and now has the system down pat. He sends me the money, I purchase the items, and ship them to him and this arrangement is actually cheaper that trying to buy food and supplies there.

Today I went shopping for his supplies, armed with his "grocery list". I hit the Dollar Store and had a ball!! What fun it was to go up and down the aisles and just throw things into the cart at random. Every time I picked up some trinket or teaching aid, all I could think of was what the reaction would be on the children's faces when my son gave these to them.

I bought tons of school aids and small gifts and then headed for a grocery store. Once there, I was going up and down the aisles like I was on some game show, picking things up and tossing them into the cart. WOW! Just like Christmas time. In both stores, people were looking at me like I was some kind of hoader and were rolling their eyes when they were behind me in the checkout as the sales clerk was looking to hide when she saw my full carts. I didn't care.........I was having a great time.

My son has told me that when he receives the packages, it is like Christmas...........he has an idea what the contents might be, but, like a kid, he rummages through the package, looking for some special treat I might have sent him. With the arrival of each package, it is Christmas over and over for him. For me, it was like Christmas today...I love to shop and felt like I was some kid running through the candy store with no restrictions.

So Ho Ho Ho............now I know what Santa must feel like!!!


ANSWER TO LAST TRIVIA QUESTION: What was the name of Carolyn Kenndy's pony? Macaroni
TODAY'S TRIVIA QUESTION: What were the singing siblings, Kathy, Diane, Peggy and Janet known as?
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: With old age comes wisdom and a senior discount.