It was a chilly evening. I had one small camera to keep me company as I walked down the darkening street. And all of a sudden....

 Santa Claus. On horseback. Getting his horse a cappuccino at Jo's Coffee...

(The horse didn't really have a cappuccino. I made that up).

I was out walking around sunset because I wanted to soak in the cool air and also see what one of my favorite locations in Austin was doing in preparation for the holidays. I had on a new windbreaker and it was keeping me right in the temperature sweet spot. I had the Leica DLUX8 over my shoulder, on a strap, and two small batteries for the camera in the front, top pocket of the jacket. I was prepared to be out past sunset and into the night to see if there were interesting lights and characters. But I wasn't expecting to see a person dressed as Santa Claus, riding a white horse and having the horse step to the ordering window at one of my favorite coffee shops. How fun. 

Santa and his horse were being shadowed by a videographer from the local PBS station and we politely shot around each other. Parents passing by were amused. Their small children were amazed... captivated. 

I shouldn't have been so surprised with the sighting. After all it wasn't long ago that I posted some images from the middle of Summer when two people were riding their horses down the same busy street. One was dressed in traditional cowboy garb but the attractive woman on the other horse was wearing a bikini --- and, of course, cowboy boots. 

The folks manning the espresso machines at Jo's are pretty much unflappable and take all horse and Santa sightings in stride. It's a fun little corner of Austin. Nearly a last bastion of "Keeping Austin Weird." I'm happy I was there to see this and document it. Then I moved on the the light show at the Austin Motel...

NPR camera person/journalist in the foreground.

"Happy Trails to you...until we meet again!" 

Yes, this is the spot where one checks into the Austin Model. 

Strange and happy lights...

The backside of Jo's Coffee, which always reminds me of the Hemmingway story, "A Clean, Well-lighted place".  From the web  Especially after dark, on a chilly evening near the holidays...

And...the street facing side.

What's my favorite camera?

The one I happen to have in my hands at the time.

But the better question is:

What is my favorite coffee shop?

That's harder to answer. 

The DLUX 8 did a really nice job considering that some of the images here were shot at 3200 ISO and the like. The I.S. works well and the metering is better than average. And it's small and light.

Journalist's camera?