We took our new dog to the vet this afternoon and the office was decorated with a small Santa Claus.  This prompted my youngest child to ask, "Does Santa bring presents for pets?"

I did a quick tally in my head and figured that a couple of chew toys and some catnip from PetSmart wouldn't break the budget so I assured my little one that Santa would be rewarding the animals in our house.

Instead of comforting her, this information prompted her to scream, "Mike Green will try to eat the reindeer!  Tell Santa not to bring them!  Tell him to put our presents somewhere else!"

It was nearly dinner time and my day had already been a little too long.  I said the first thing that popped into my head.  "Santa's reindeer aren't afraid of dogs.  They are magical and can stop Mike Green from barking and jumping."

To which my four year-old replied, " Then we should get a reindeer.  Tell Santa that's what I want instead of an American Girl doll."

Tomorrow, I'm going out looking for Santa at the Town Center.  He owes me a reindeer if I find him.

Wednesday 10:30 a.m.

Last year there was a website.  He didn't just make a quick visit to Lake Anne on his magical barge.  He had a location and a schedule and prices for the various photo packages.  But this year Santa is not staying in Reston and RestonSanta.com is a sad reminder of the blessings of days past.

Why have we been overlooked?  It could be because we have elected to "cull" deer in our public parks and, in the words of a Patch reader known only as Rudolph@NorthPoleWorkshop.org, "the reindeer what flies ist not liking the idea of giving the bows and arrows a clear shot."  The guy in the red suit needs transportation and we're threatening to shoot out his tires.

Maybe he's skipping the stand-alone location due to economic factors.  Leasing commercial space may be cheaper than it used to be, but landlords are digging deeper into the financials than they did in the past.  Does Santa have a social security number?  Does he pay taxes anywhere?  What kind of passport does he hold?  I can imagine he isn't too interested in having people pry into a business model which seems to depend on a labor force of magical creatures.

It could just be that Santa is hiding from us.  Between the internet and the 24-hour news channels, our celebrities have a hard time preserving their privacy.  Due to the fact that Reston is sort of famous for having people who can keep secrets, Santa may be here but undercover.  In fact, I'm thinking of taking a little About Town field trip tomorrow and looking around for Santa. 

He may be good at keeping himself hidden and sneaking around the globe at a rate greater than the speed of light, but I know that damn Town Center.  If he's there, I will surely find him.