I Might Manage a Manger

Now that I’m here at the end of 2020 I find that I’ve not got the usual holiday spirit. The effort of putting up my eight foot artificial Christmas tree seems a monumental task. Hauling the huge bin weighing almost as much as a human body down stairs feels so much more than I want to do. Next I would check out the hundreds of lights and conceal them in the branches, adding garlands of white swags. There are also two large bins containing hundreds of ornaments needing unwrapped and dangled to cover any spot of green. I don’t know if I have the energy to work that hard and have it displayed for such a short period of time.

I know there are several more bins of decorations that could be displayed. I have several crèches that find places to show them. One is a crèche I bought for my grandparents Beck, making the manger for the figurines. My grandmother liked it so much; it resided atop their television all year long. A ceramic set of figurines my wife Cindy made are much larger. Camels, sheep, ox, donkey, and a dog expanded their number with shepherds, magi, Mary, Joseph, an angel and the baby Jesus to be twenty characters. Displayed they cover the mantle of a fireplace. I have several other smaller scenes. One in particular was made in Peru of molded clay. They’re in native dress. The tallest figurine is about one 1 inch. I have a couple others that open like plastic Faberge eggs. All may find roosting places for viewing this year.

Because my son-in-law Eric has an Amish heritage, I made a manger crèche cut from wood and painted to look Amish doll-like for him and my daughter Amanda. I painted no actual faces leaving them blank and had them wearing similar clothing in Amish colors. It included a few sheep and a cow.

Because my son Andrew and his wife Renee were living in Amarillo, Texas at the time, I decided to make their crèche look western. Figurines wearing cowboy hats, sombreros, and bonnets were the figurines. A salesman with a bowler on his head and a trunk at his feet was one of the wise men.

I haven’t decided what crèche theme to make for my other daughter Anna and her husband James. He likes guns, trucks, and John Deere while she likes a wide variety of things. Friends say, “Why don’t you make them and sell them?” Once I figure out how to make something, I lose interest. Only once when I made sled door hangings as Christmas gifts have I broken that rule.