Away in a manger

In 1989 during my first visit to the US I ended up in Durango, Colorado. We didn't stay there very long, but long enough to visit the Christmas store. I remember the sign said they were open and celebrating Christmas 364 days of the year - except on Christmas day. To me, it was magical - this little store up in the mountains spilling over with gaudy and glittery Christmas décor. Naturally, I wanted something to take home to remember it by, and it had to be something small and unbreakable because we still had a long way to travel, and we needed to travel light.

Cue this miniature nativity scene.

It stands about a phalange tall (to circumvent centimeter and inch confusion) and the donkey has a crooked leg. I have the odd habit of buying things that come out of the box broken, so the crooked leg and subsequent falling over didn't phase me. Besides, what was I going to do? Fly all the way back to Colorado to exchange it?

I love that 23 years later, and even less religious than I was back then, I still have it, AND that I have brought it back to the country it came from.

I did not love the fact that while taking this photo I had to put the donkey back up about 12 times, nor that it tried to take down the ox as well. Plus, I was brought up in a household where baby Jesus would lie in the sugar bowl in the cabinet until Christmas Eve when he was transported into the manger, so having him stuck to his crib also feels wrong.


One more day of work! That is, if the world doesn't end! We had a sewage emergency today which I hope will be resolved tomorrow otherwise I'll have a short day! Which, come to think of it, would not be such a bad thing! Look, many exclamation points! I must be very excited!