Leaving town

That's Sen. Max Baucus, who played a key role in the battle for health-care reform, headed out barely an hour after the Senate's passage of the legislation. That vote came at 7 a.m. on Christmas eve, after Republicans and Democrats had pretty much worn each other out in round-the-clock maneuvering.

Unless you're trapped in a house fire, you'll probably never see a group of people so happy to get out of a building as they were leaving the Capitol that morning. Still, the senator, who'd spent two years in what often appeared to be a losing battle for this legislation, had time to stop and wish me a Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays!

Official Photographer for the Big Guy

I was at a holiday party thrown by a union in Baltimore over the weekend, and they had a problem. Santa was there and so were about a zillion kids. But Santa's photographer was missing. Could I....?

You bet! When am I ever going to get a chance to play official photographer to a mall Santa again? And it was a blast. The kids were all adorable, all zillion of 'em. Of course, there's always a few who look at the Big Guy in the Red Suit and say "No Way." It's an understandable reaction. But it seems their parents still want that photo.

And if I think about it, these photos are going to be held onto long after everything else I shoot this month is history. Even if some of my subjects were less than enthusiastic.