One of my favorite Christmas movies is The Santa Clause starring Tim Allen. While the movie is comedic and endearing, it features some of the coolest animals around – the reindeer. As most people know, the story is that the eight reindeer (or nine if Rudolph joins!) pull Santa’s sleigh around the world as he delivers presents to all the boys and girls. In reality, reindeer, also called caribou, were domesticated by humans several times over our history, and have served a greater purpose.

Human populations living in some of the coldest parts of the world depend on caribou for food, clothing, shelter, and often transportation. People in sub-Arctic cultures often hunt caribou for the meat, hides, and antlers, and use tamed caribou for milk. People living in the Siberian wilderness may own hundreds or thousands of reindeer, breeding them for their fur and meat. In some Scandinavian countries, you can buy reindeer meatballs in a can, or reindeer sausage at the grocery store. In Asia, antlers are often powdered and sold as a medicinal supplement.

While the reindeer is the only successfully domesticated deer species on a large scale around the world, there are many wild populations remaining. However, there are only thought to be two genetically pure wild populations in Europe, with semi-domesticated reindeer in other parts of the world breeding with wild populations. In North America, in the wide-open spaces of Labrador, herds of caribou migrate the farthest of any terrestrial mammal, often traveling over 3,000 miles a year. Yet there are also sedentary populations, specifically those inhabiting the boreal woodlands.

I’d love to say that I can confirm that reindeer can fly; while I can’t, they can run at speeds of up to 50 mph and can travel up to 34 miles a day during migration. Newborn calves, quick on their feet soon after birth, can run faster than any Olympic sprinter by the day they are 24 hours old. During migration, small groups join together, forming large herds numbering 500,000 strong. Amazingly, reindeer are also excellent swimmers, often crossing large lakes or wide rivers during their seasonal movements.

Sadly, caribou numbers are declining across the world. The International Union for Conservation of Nature classified the species as vulnerable because global populations have declined over 40% in the last 25 years. There are three extinct subspecies of reindeer now, with at least one wild population replaced by domestic reindeer.
We also have to assume Santa’s reindeer are fully domesticated, in order for them to pull his sleigh. Over the years, it also appears that Santa started with one reindeer, but according to the 1823 “Twas the Night Before Christmas” poem, Santa current has eight well known reindeer traveling with him around the world.

For those of you who celebrate Christmas, take a moment to think about not only the reindeer we know and love from the many stories, but also the wild reindeer that are so important to so many around the world. Reindeer are an iconic species for many people, and have been appreciated by humans since prehistorical times. Be sure to keep an ear out for the prancing hooves on your roof this holiday season!

Photo credit: Alexandre Buisse (Nattfodd), CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Who would ever think that Joseph, a carpenter from Nazareth, would become foster father to the Son of God? And a long six days’ journey away from home? In a stable! And with a manager for a crib? Too much to comprehend!
Mary and Joseph were childhood friends. But, when he began thinking – really thinking – about Mary, he knew he had better marry her before someone else did! The arrangements were made, and they announced their engagement.

Then Joseph notices that Mary is acting a little differently – and she now wants to visit her elder cousin, who some were saying was expecting a baby. Mary was gone three months and when she returned her eyes were flashing, her smile was radiant. The character and purity that had drawn him to her were more evident. She wore her goodness gracefully!
From her pure lips, Mary confessed that she was pregnant! How? He heard some story about the Holy Spirit overshadowing her, which made no sense to Joseph! Divorce was the only legal way to end their engagement, but he would have to expose Mary to the town elders, who would take her to a cliff, make her jump or push her off, with the town’s men waiting at the base of the rocks to throw stones at her until all life had ebbed from her body! Joseph could not stand that thought! With little money, he would have to make extreme sacrifices to hire a great attorney to divorce her privately.

Then Joseph has a dream – not a thought – but a true dream, where an Angel appeared to him and told him it was okay to marry Mary, because her story about the Holy Spirit “overshadowing her” was in fact a fact! Not sure if this was wishful thinking or reality, Joseph was more perplexed than ever! But, being a man of faith, his crumbled world was rebuilt. As quickly as possible, he went to Mary: “Now I know; now I understand.” Mary must come to his home and become his wife.

Suddenly the bad news came. Caesar Augustus had decided he was being cheated out of taxes because of the inadequate census. The public order stated that every mother’s son alive would take his family and return to his ancestral city to register for taxation. Would he have to take Mary? He pleaded with the city elders to allow him an exemption since Mary was “great with child,” but none was granted.

Five days of hard traveling got them to Jerusalem, but they had to go on to Bethlehem. Bethlehem was small and now extremely overcrowded. The manager of the inn was kind and truly was not listening to their plight, but said, “We have tents pitched in the alley and even cots on the roof,” all of which would not work!  “But we also have a cave out back where the animals are kept if that would do!” Maybe Joseph had not heard the Angel correctly! God would allow His Son to be born in a barn? Is not God a proud Father? Ceasar’s palace would be the only suitable place!
Then the silence! It was quiet, and yet there was music. It was the music of life being played from every cloud in the heavens. And there was light in the distance, in the hills of Bethlehem. Shepherds were directed to “our cave!”  How?

Maybe Jesus came into this life under these hard circumstances because God never intended His Son to be coddled or served, but for another reason altogether. Maybe we have come to this Christmas season to allow God to show us He is willing to get into this fouled-up life, not just with His birth but with Himself, to face our hardships and fears, and temptations, and maybe even our deaths. Then we would know He knows what it is like here and what it will take to salvage us! And maybe we can know what He is like and what we can expect from Him.

Can we possibly understand why Christ arrived incognito, just like you and me? Not in Caesar’s palace, not in Herod’s halls, but quietly, in a cowshed with a lowly, confused carpenter for a Foster Father!

Congratulations to Port O’Connor School’s November Students of the Month for the Character Trait of Gratitude: Birdie Griffith-Pre-K; Jagger Tubbs-Kinder; Skyla Thumann-1st Grade; Ashlynn Austin-2nd Grade; DilanTovar-3rd Grade (not pictured); Kevin Gutierrez-Martinez-4th/5th Grades.

Congratulations, Seadrift Students of the Month – These students showed gratitude throughout the month of November.
Back row – Brynlen Eure, Lailah Machado, Felicity Waghorne, Jaidyn Banda Hernandez, Tyler Saylors and Daniel Bernal. Front row – Mason Matej, Brooklynn Vasquez, Juliette Morales, Brynlee Cunningham, Bryson Guthrie and Cole Talbott.

While learning about Thanksgiving, Alex Guiterrez, Bobbie Smith, Jagger Tubbs, and Adalynn McCabe made a Pilgrim hat to wear and ate a Pilgrim hat snack.             -Monica Peters POC School