<div dir="ltr"><div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)" class="gmail_default">
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">Who Was that Reindeer I Saw You With
Last Night?<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">(St. Entropy Throws Over the Reins)<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">December 2025—Number
XXXVI<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Narrow",sans-serif;color:black"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">‘</span><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">T</span><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">was the night
before Christmas (or so we’d been told);<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">The museum, after
hours, was now dark and cold.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">Some stockings
were hung in dioramas, no less,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">But no creatures
were stirring (that would be a mess).<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">All the
collections were shut down and quiet,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">After the annual
staff holiday riot.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">The curators were
nestled down somewhere, I think,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">Wherever they’d
gone for their holiday drink.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">The conservators
field-tested the punch in the bowl,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">And were singing
an odd blend of blues, chant, and soul.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">With the museum
now deserted, with my bottle of port,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">I had just
finished taking a midwinter snort.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">When out on the
lawn there arose such a clatter<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">I lurched to my
feet to see what was the matter.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">Away to the window
I flew (okay, stumbled),<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">And tore open the
shutters as I started to mumble.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">Then, what to my
wondering eyes should appear<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">But a miniature
sleigh and what looked like reindeer.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">With a little old
driver so quick and so quaint,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">I knew in a moment
it must be the Saint.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">(Every year, about
this time, he comes down from the Pole<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">Making the season
a little more droll.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">And we needed some
droll in this year, that is true,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">As well as some
courage to see the year through.)<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">On up to the
rooftop the coursers they flew:<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">The Saint and the
sleigh and all reindeer, too.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">And then, in a
twinkling, I heard on the roof<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">The punctures
being made there by each sharp little hoof.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">As I pulled in my
head, hitting it with a bump,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">Down the chimney
came something that fell with a thump.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">It was the dear
Saint, now all covered in soot,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">Who just sat there
blinking, with a big bag of loot.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">He got to his
feet, then snorted and spoke,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">Which left me
wondering just what he had smoked.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">“I’ve come down
from the North Pole as usual,” he said,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">Which soon gave me
to know we had nothing to dread.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">But hark! What was
that? A loud knock on the door?<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">Then migration
agents swarmed in on the floor.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">As the room filled
with tear gas and tactical gear,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">I counted more
visitors than we’d had all year.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">The Saint was
surrounded by agents demanding<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">His papers and
visa and proof of his standing.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">I tried to
explain, without being coy,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">That he’d come
from the North Pole to spread seasonal joy.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">Then I had to
explain that the “joy” was a feeling,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">Not a potion or
substance that he had been dealing.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">The agents were
sure they’d found someone they’d sought,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">But I realized
there was one way that they could be bought.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">The punch in the
punchbowl was starting to glow,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">And I knew in an
instant what the way was to go.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">I asked all the
agents (even those on the roof)<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">To tell me if the
punch was of illegal proof.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;font-weight:normal">That’s all it took. Once they
tested the potion,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;font-weight:normal">And their eyes started making
a rotary motion,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;font-weight:normal">The agents decided that the
Saint, in their view,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;font-weight:normal">Was a traveler in transit,
just passing through.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;font-weight:normal">They needed to inspect what he
had in his sack<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;font-weight:normal">But all were in need of a
drink and a snack.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;font-weight:normal">They decided the museum was
just no place to party,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;font-weight:normal">And, arm-in-arm, all took off,
backslapping and hearty.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;font-weight:normal">“But what of the reindeer?” I
asked, in vexation,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">And was told we
could keep them all for our collection.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">So</span><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:rgb(238,0,0);font-weight:normal">,</span><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal"> the reindeer and
I, on the roof, in the snow,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">Sat and opened the
presents, then decided to go.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">I sat in the
sleigh and took hold of the reins,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">And the reindeer
sprang up as if freed from their chains.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">And I heard me
exclaim, as the museum shrank below,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">“Happy Christmas
to all! Now how fast can we go?”<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal"> <span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><i><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;color:black;font-weight:normal">(Sally Shelton and
John Simmons wish you a magic sleighride of your very own.)<span></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:107%;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;font-weight:bold"><i><span style="font-family:"Aptos Slab Light",sans-serif;font-weight:normal">(Shirley Shelton provided edits. Once an English
teacher…)<span></span></span></i></p>
</div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)" class="gmail_default"><br></div><div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)" class="gmail_default"><br></div></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">John E. Simmons<br>Writer and Museum Consultant</span></font></div><div dir="ltr"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">Museologica<br><i>and</i><br>Research Associate, Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum & Art Gallery</span></font></div><div dir="ltr"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">Penn State University</span></font></div><div><font size="2"><span style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif"><i>and</i></span></font></div><div dir="ltr"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia<br>Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima</span></font><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>