Greetings! Today at the North Pole is when we have what we call the shortest meeting of the year.

Santa gathers his senior elves in his office to review how Christmas Eve went and to discuss very briefly the calendar for next Christmas. Then Santa declares a period of time for rest and recharging, usually a period of about four or five days.

He then sets his launch time target for next Christmas and says he is going on.

I’ll let you know if he deviates from this but he never does. The day-after Christmas meeting is as regular as any tradition of Christmas and you know how Santa can be a stickler about Christmas.

I did talk to Santa last night. I stopped by his house to drop off a late Christmas gift. He was up, after a nice nap, eating a little meal. Santa was as he always is — very gracious.

He asked me to tell you this morning “thank you” for all your kindness this year. Thank you for your letters, your cookies and your hugs. Santa said he had a great Christmas and that he cannot wait to do it again.

Like nearly everyone else here at the North Pole I will be taking a little break. But I’ll be back before too long.

I thank you too and wish you all a Happy New Year!