Santa Claus may be coming to town, but how are you going to know when? Turns out there's not one, but two prominent trackers for jolly old St. Nick's progress on this upcoming Christmas Eve: one from Google, and a second from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). But with two competing Santa trackers, how do you know where to go to get the most up-to-date information about Father Christmas?

Why is this merry fellow advertising about tuberculosis? He's on a 1924poster for that year’s "Christmas seal,"a stamp-like thing that folks could buy to stick on their mail during the winter holidays. It wasn't a postage stamp; you still had to buy that separately. It was entirely decorative, but the proceeds went to tuberculosis treatment and research centers.

With just a few days left until Christmas, my tree is barely holding on - to its needles, to its stiffness, and to its dignity. It was an early tree this year, the result of the earliest possible Thanksgiving, but it was more than that. There was something about this tree that made it dry out quickly, and make it less likely to keep its thin needles. It is a Fraser fir, Abies fraseriis, so this was a surprise to John Frampton.

With just a few days left until Christmas, my tree is barely holding on - to its needles, to its stiffness, and to its dignity. It was an early tree this year, the result of the earliest possible Thanksgiving, but it was more than that. There was something about this tree that made it dry out quickly, and make it less likely to keep its thin needles. It is a Fraser fir, Abies fraseriis, so this was a surprise to John Frampton.