Watching Santa

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Even before I was a dad, I got a great kick out of NORAD's annual Santa watch. Maybe it's being an Air Force brat, maybe it's because my real soft spots are when something nice is being done. It's just a few more hours to launch time right now. In fact, I'm such an excited nerd about this, that I've set-up the media center in the living room to follow the Santa track on Google Earth and the girls will be able to see the Santa Cam updates through out the day.

I especially love the story of how this all started. How a simple typo in a Sears ad turned out ringing the emergency ops desk in what was the nerve center of the cold war. Kids from all over the area were calling to talk to Santa, only to get an initially irate, quickly confused, and then rather smart commanding officer.  Col. Harry Shoup, who answered that first call, passed away earlier this year. But not before having a chance to see an accident, turn into a 58 year tradition (59 years tonight) of keeping us informed on Santa's whereabouts.

This is actually a picture of the Colonel and his grand daughter from a few years ago.

For a great article on the story, check out this CNET story published this week.

Thanks for the legacy, Col. Shoup! And Merry Christmas!

ps. Santa, we re-arranged the living room some, but the girls think you'll find it easier to get to the tree now.