Dasher and Dancer

Factory outlet shopping

For many people, chocolate makes a very good gift. And I have that virtuous shop-local feeling when I drop by a store so close to home. The US headquarters of Lindt is about 100 yards over the North Hampton border, in Stratham.

Laura helped me shop for chocolate gifts after school today. You pretty much can't go wrong with Lindor truffles.

As we were perusing the gold-foil-wrapped dark chocolate reindeer she told me how 4 or 5 of her girlfriends do not believe in reindeer.

"There's no such thing," they insisted at the lunch table. What!

"I told them," said Laura, "but they thought I was kidding. They didn't believe me about the liger either."

"Bonsai kittens and cabbits are one thing," I said. "But reindeer?!"

"Sad, isn't it."

"I wrote a story maybe 5 or 6 years ago about the reindeer somebody had on a farm in Stratham," I reminisced. "When they walk a tendon in their feet makes a clicking sound so they can follow each other in snow storms."

"Cool."

"Do they believe in caribou?" I wondered.

. . .

Look, reindeer!
Reindeer people, Mongolia
Reindeer people, Norway
Saami, Scandinavia

Gettin' ready: NORAD tracks Santa
Two of Santa's reindeer are named Donner and Blitzen, or are they?

Young Saami girl, Inga-Anna, leads sled reindeer at the start of the spring migration, Kautokeino, Norway

Slate: Winter Travels in Samiland: Why Is a Reindeer Like a Cat?

Comments

[Terry Thornton]

Amy, You've made me homesick for "my" candy store near where we used to live. On the company grounds, this candy factory had a huge outlet store --- free samples! And clerks that only called their customers "Honey" or "Sugar" or "Sweetie" and some other caloric-laden name.

Does your candy store use the same ploy of one free sample and all those sweet-icky names to entice one to buy?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Terry

[Amy]

Samples yes, "sweetie" no. It's a Swiss company and they're a little more reserved with their terms of endearment.