by A horseback rider in Oklahoma City asks how Santa was invented, what Tornado Alley is, and about the Oklahoma Land Run
A Letter to Santa from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Dear Santa,
Hi Santa! My name is Aubrey and I am 8 years old. I live in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in the wide, windy heart of the country where the storms can be wild. I love horseback riding and watching the big sky. My question is: how was Santa Claus invented? My geography question is: what is Tornado Alley? And my social studies question is: what was the Oklahoma Land Run? Thanks, Santa!
Love, Aubrey (age 8)
Santa’s Reply
Ho ho ho, hello Aubrey! A horseback rider under that big Oklahoma sky asks a fine question. I was not invented all at once, the way someone invents a gadget. Instead, I was pieced together slowly over many centuries. I began with a real, generous saint named Nicholas. Then a Dutch tradition added to my story, an old poem from 1823 gave me my flying reindeer and sleigh, and friendly artists drew my round, red-suited shape. Each generation added a little something, until the jolly Santa you know was finally complete. I am a happy invention of many hands over a very long time.
Your geography question: Tornado Alley
Tornado Alley is a nickname for a stretch of the central United States, including your own Oklahoma, where powerful tornadoes happen more often than almost anywhere else. A tornado is a fast, spinning column of wind that reaches down from a storm cloud. People there learn to watch the sky and stay safe when storms roll in. Read more at National Geographic Kids.
Your social studies question: the Oklahoma Land Run
The Oklahoma Land Run was an exciting and chaotic event long ago, when settlers lined up and then raced off, by horse, wagon, and on foot, to claim plots of land to call their own. Whole towns sprang up almost overnight. It is a famous and dramatic chapter in the early story of your own Oklahoma. Explore more at Britannica Kids.
Ride well under that big sky for me, Aubrey. Yours warmly from the North Pole, Santa Claus.
