I hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Year!

Here is a picture of my best present this year, a watercolor painting my daughter (age 17) gave me, showing Santa delivering presents to beluga whales (and you can see that one of the belugas is wearing a Christmas hat):

Santa delivering presents to beluga whales might seem like an unusual Christmas present, but my daughter and I have been in love with belugas since we visited Chicago when she was 9 years old, and we encountered beluga whales at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium. Here are some pictures I took on that trip that help explain why we love belugas:

Again, Merry Christmas!