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Nativity scenes
Dec. 1st, 2005 06:23 amSo, one of the things I remember really well from my childhood is my grandmother's painted ceramic Nativity set. There was a tradition to setting it up, which I haven't seen anyone else use, but it's so stuck in my head that other people's versions just seem wrong.
During the first week of December, we'd set up the little stable and the manger, and over the course of the next couple of weeks, we'd put the animals in, one by one, every time I visited (usually this would be a couple of times a week). The last time I visited before Christmas Eve, we would get out Mary and Joseph and put them in. My family did Christmas Eve with my mom's parents, and Christmas Day with my dad's parents, so the last thing I would get to do before leaving on Christmas Eve was to put the teeny tiny ceramic baby Jesus in the manger.
The Three Wise Men were the pinnacle of the set, being all three dressed in rich jewel-toned robes with metallic accents, and crowns; according to tradition, one of the Wise Men was black. Living in a town with no dark-skinned people, I was endlessly fascinated with this particular figure. Over the next two weeks, until Epiphany, I would get to move them from one end of the side table where the Nativity was set up, closer and closer to the stable. Finally on Epiphany, the scene would be complete, and that night we'd take it down and put it away for next year.
I've been looking for a while for a Nativity scene, but haven't really ever found one I liked enough to justify using the space for. While we may not put up a tree at our house (I find it encourages Iwannas) I wouldn't mind putting up some other holiday decorations.
I commented in a friend's post about the lighted Nativity scene down the street from my workplace, with the American flag in lights and "God Bless USA" picked out above it in lights; I haven't slowed down enough to see if the baby Jesus has a little flag in hand or not, as I'm sure it would just piss me off. It bothers me enough that people set up the scene WITH THE BABY before Christmas Eve. Nativity scenes should not have Jesus in them until the last minute.
When I am Emperor of the World, so it shall be!
During the first week of December, we'd set up the little stable and the manger, and over the course of the next couple of weeks, we'd put the animals in, one by one, every time I visited (usually this would be a couple of times a week). The last time I visited before Christmas Eve, we would get out Mary and Joseph and put them in. My family did Christmas Eve with my mom's parents, and Christmas Day with my dad's parents, so the last thing I would get to do before leaving on Christmas Eve was to put the teeny tiny ceramic baby Jesus in the manger.
The Three Wise Men were the pinnacle of the set, being all three dressed in rich jewel-toned robes with metallic accents, and crowns; according to tradition, one of the Wise Men was black. Living in a town with no dark-skinned people, I was endlessly fascinated with this particular figure. Over the next two weeks, until Epiphany, I would get to move them from one end of the side table where the Nativity was set up, closer and closer to the stable. Finally on Epiphany, the scene would be complete, and that night we'd take it down and put it away for next year.
I've been looking for a while for a Nativity scene, but haven't really ever found one I liked enough to justify using the space for. While we may not put up a tree at our house (I find it encourages Iwannas) I wouldn't mind putting up some other holiday decorations.
I commented in a friend's post about the lighted Nativity scene down the street from my workplace, with the American flag in lights and "God Bless USA" picked out above it in lights; I haven't slowed down enough to see if the baby Jesus has a little flag in hand or not, as I'm sure it would just piss me off. It bothers me enough that people set up the scene WITH THE BABY before Christmas Eve. Nativity scenes should not have Jesus in them until the last minute.
When I am Emperor of the World, so it shall be!
