Spreading comfort and joy — and trees — by bike @BostonGlobe
DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF Jimmy Rider pedaled through Boston toward Copley Square with a Christmas tree in tow. Rider has delivered 200 trees this season. BROOKLINE — Sitting on the floor after setting up the bushy balsam fir Christmas tree, stand and all, in an apartment with a view of the Boston skyline, Santa Claus leaned back on his hands. Looking up at the ceiling, he emitted a satisfied sigh. Jimmy Rider, decked out in a red suit and hat, the cotton ball at the tip poking through a slit in his bike helmet, had just traveled from Somerville to Boston to Brookline by bicycle, lugging the six-foot tree in a trailer behind him. He was spent but still full of cheer. The real Santa has a sleigh and reindeer to do the hard work of bringing presents to people’s houses. But for Rider there’s no Prancer, Dancer, Donner or Blitzen. And there’s certainly no Rudolph to light the way. [Keep reading at Boston Globe]