There we were, driving to Best Buy to pick up the Xmas Wish List item of a new TV to replace one so old that the technology is cutting off the headlines and football scores - when we saw Santa riding atop a fire truck.

At first, he was just one of many stuck at a traffic light on Route 9, headed through Wappingers, and then his fire truck turned left down a side street. A car in front of us turned after him.

My toddler was sleeping in his car seat. It was why we were driving up Route 9 in the first place: to guarantee a car nap. My 7-year-old was also in the car, and not napping.

”Should we follow him?” I asked my 7-year-old.

”Yes. No. I don’t know. It might be weird,” he replied.

”The car in front of us went. I don’t think it’s weird. I think we should follow,” I declared.

We turned left, and followed the Santa-topped fire truck down the side street. Two little girls came to their house’s front door and waved to him, incredulously.

Other cars followed us too. Eventually the fire truck turned down Church Street and then took a right down Route 9 to head back through the center of the tiny town that is Wappingers Falls. When the fire truck pulled right past the cute little Ground Hog coffee shop, we veered left back toward Poughkeepsie for our destination.

My 7-year-old exclaimed: “Every time, I don’t want to go with you on these trips. And then every time, something amazing happens. I see a friend. Or we find a lollipop. Every time.”

Errands are magical, yes. You never know when you’ll stumble on a Christmas miracle.