Every year the Chicago Transit Authority has a holiday train that ferries Santa around from station to station. It’s a nice tradition that gives kids and shameless adults (ahem) a chance to see Santa and have their picture taken for free.

I realized that this year’s photo with Santa may be the last Polaroid I ever have taken. The film for these cameras isn’t made any more and stocks are being depleted fast. I’m not going to miss the streaky, white-framed snaps, but I am concerned about replacing the technology. It would be a shame if the photo with Santa tradition were lost. It costs money to replace cheap and easy Polaroids, and whatever replaces Polaroids has to be mobile and print quickly — something that they were well suited to.

Have digital options caught up? Will Santa’s crew need to have a laptop and printer on-hand to ride with the sleigh? I don’t know. I only hope that I’ll be able to have my photo taken with Santa next year. It’s important to have a record of our time together.