{"id":1150,"date":"2019-12-17T19:59:09","date_gmt":"2019-12-18T02:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/?p=1150"},"modified":"2019-12-17T19:59:09","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T02:59:09","slug":"santa-comes-to-the-capitol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/?p=1150","title":{"rendered":"Santa Comes to the Capitol"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Santa\u2019s sleigh circled the dome and found a safe spot to\nperch. Santa stretched his legs, swung his big belly out and planted his boots\nin the crusty Boise snow. He patted Dunder\u2019s and Bitzen\u2019s flanks and circled\nback for his bag. The starry night showed no light in the east as he called to\nthe team, \u201cTake a break you all. This finishes off Idaho, then we sweep down\nthe West Coast. You know the drill.\u201d Knowing there was no chimney, he took the\nstairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He slipped a little on the marble floor; the bag on his back\nshifted and a box toppled out and over the rail. He followed it\u2019s fall and\nlistened for breakage. It dropped to the main floor and thudded. Santa\nharrumphed, \u201cMust be those socks for Speaker Bedke,\u201d he muttered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stopped outside the JFAC analysts\u2019 offices up on the\nfourth floor. He knew from the book they\u2019d all been nice, none naughty, so they\nwere all getting new sharp pencils. He gave the one in charge of the prison\nbudget a red one, just as his little joke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Down the winding stairs he first dropped the big box of\nchocolates for the Senate staff. Then in front of the Majority office he had to\nplace his finger by his nose and ponder. He had a couple lumps of coal to give\nout, and the Treasurer had suggested the Speaker and Pro Tem in her letter to\nSanta, but he didn\u2019t think he should pick sides, since they had both suggested\nthe coal (or worse) for her. So, he picked his smallest slightly wrinkled\nWashington apple, left it there and then strolled over to the Minority side. He\nleft them a bright new dog leash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His bag was half full as he swung east to the House side and\nhe offloaded the bigger box of chocolates for their staff. On Speaker Bedke\u2019s\ndesk he left a note to look downstairs for his present. On the Minority side he\nleft a small bag of peanuts, honey roasted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second floor was easier as the bag got lighter. The\nSecretary of State got boot polish, the Attorney General a new tie (black and\ngold). The Lieutenant Governor got a small pink purse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time he got to the west Governors wing on the second\nfloor the lumps of coal were banging together in the bottom of his bag. But his\nbook said the governor\u2019s staff had been very good, so they got free Boise\nparking passes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Governor Little had also been good, the book said, so the\nlumps of coal stayed in the bag. It was against his good judgement but he left\na Copenhagen can top with the Idaho seal on it for the chief executive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as he was leaving the Governor\u2019s office he heard\nfootsteps behind him. The security guard called, \u201cHey!\u201d and Santa swung around.\nHe was holding Bedke\u2019s crumpled package. \u201cYou drop this?\u201d he asked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy yes son, I did.\u201d Santa reached out and took it from the\nyoung man. \u201cThank you,\u201d he said and twinkled his eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou about done \u2018cause I gotta lock up this wing?\u201d the young\nman asked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust a couple of lumps of coal to give out.\u201d Santa sighed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet me, I\u2019m doing my rounds, just tell me where.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santa flipped through his book. \u201cWell, I guess it will be\nfor two of the Senators or Representatives down in the basement.\u201d He said still\ncounting all the tally marks. As he took out the coal from his bag he fumbled\nand they fell to the floor, breaking into many pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh dear.\u201d Santa pouted his rosy lips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s OK. This way I\u2019ll have enough for everybody.\u201d The\nyoung security guard smiled as he collected the shards. \u201cAnd don\u2019t you worry.\nIf I run out I know how to make more. That\u2019s how we do things around here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMerry Christmas son.\u201d Santa smiled. \n\n\u201cAnd Merry Christmas to you.\u201d\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Santa\u2019s sleigh circled the dome and found a safe spot to perch. Santa stretched his legs, swung his big belly out and planted his boots in the crusty Boise snow. He patted Dunder\u2019s and Bitzen\u2019s flanks and circled back for … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1150"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1150"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1152,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1150\/revisions\/1152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}