Born in a Manger

No Christmas is complete without a "Nativity Scene"/"Manger Scene"/"Creche" showing the baby Jesus resting in a manger, and, at a minimum, Mary and Joseph in attendance. Most include angels, shepherds, wisemen, and lots of animals (it is in a stable). The figures follow the most familiar version of the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke, but over the centuries the scene has been embellished to include many additional figures.

As I write this, I'm also struck by how French this is: creche is French for cradle or crib; nativity has Latin roots, added to English through French; and manger in French means "to eat" and in English is the food trough for animals in the stable. Thoroughly French!

Here are photos of our four versions of the Nativity.

A very traditional scene set in a rustic stable.

A close-up of the Holy Family.

A porcelain Nativity set that was "collected" over about 10 years. (Lenox china knows how to keep you coming back each year.) It really deserves more space, but we managed to squeeze all of it on top of our fireplace.

Again, the Holy Family.

A Nativity carousel. The Holy Family is in the center, and when the candles are lit, the hot air moves the the vanes at the top, and the angels, shepherds, animals, and wisemen rotate around the center.

The figures are rather toy-like.

And finally, a modern stylized rendition made by a member of Lon's mom's church. This one is made from walnut. I liked the way my flash added a nice Christmas star in the background!

Pittsburgh's South Side

We're spending Christmas with our son and daughter-in-law in Pittsburgh, so here are some views of and from Pittsburgh's South Side neighborhood.

View of downtown Pittsburgh.

Carson Street has many restored turn-of-the-20th-Century buildings.

18th Street steps up to Pius Street.

The steps are even more impressive at night.

A roof-top Christmas tree.

A rather creepy scarecrow in a park.

Pin oak (Quercus palustris) "skeleton".

Sandstone curb

All the South Side street drains go directly to the Monongahela River.

Home at Christmas

We spent yesterday decorating for Christmas. While modest as Christmas decorating goes, it's what we want (and like).

First step is to go out in our woods to find a suitable tree. Here Lon is carrying two potential selections -- a white pine and a Virginia pine -- up to our house. In the end, we found a third tree (the top ten feet of a 14-ft tall Virginia pine) that we liked better.

Once we decided on a tree, we brought it into the house and started decorating it. From left-to-right: bare tree; multicolored lights added; lights and ornaments. The tree isn't as full as one from a Christmas tree farm, but we like it because it came from our woods, and the open spaces show off the ornaments better.

We have collected hundreds of ornaments over the years. This is just a small sampling.

We have to rearrange furniture to make room for the tree. Sadie (our temporarily adopted dog) approves of the changes. Her favorite sleeping spot is behind the sofa.

Sadie thinks the tree's water supply is her personal water bowl.

The railing on our loft is decorated with 38 red bows -- one for each Christmas that we've been married.

Our masonry fireplace with our large nativity scene ("creche") on top.

A closer view of the creche.

Merry Christmas!

Two Dogs

While our younger son is deployed to Afghanistan, we are taking care of his car (a white Subaru Impreza affectionately known as "Snowball") and his dog, Sadie.

Sadie has taken over our recliner chair, so we gave in and covered it with her blanket.

Our dog, Dakota, spent the last 2 1/2 years with my sister and her family in a suburb of Chicago. The two dogs got together in early December. Now they're BFFs.

Dakota and Sadie inspecting our "backyard".

They love to run and chase each other.

And then it's time to take a sunny nap on a cold day.