Nutcrackers…

…are they naughty or nice?  My husband can’t stand German Christmas nutcrackers.  In his mind they are akin to the clown in the Stephen King book IT, or any clown for that matter.  As a result, I have one pathetic little nutcracker that someone gifted me.  My neighbor has a huge collection of them and Teddy would run shuddering from her house.  He doesn’t like their mouths and won’t accept the logic that they are NUTCRACKERS!

We live in a German area of Texas so nutcrackers are just a part of holiday life, much like scary tree roaches in the summer.  To my joy, I noticed that our village (the Township is divided into villages, each with grocery stores, cafes, doctors, dentists and other essential stuff) had new holiday decorations.  We are now guarded by giant silver Nutcracker soldiers.  It is a big upgrade to the ancient ‘doves’ which look like pigeons or geese or some other mutation.

Early one morning I went down to our Market Street and saw this window display, above.  My friend forwarded me a article from Saxony, in Germany, where traditional Nutcracker makers have created a new Virologist with mask. 

Do you see what he is standing on? Let’s stamp this Corona virus out!! The woodcarvers are struggling like many other businesses. Click here for the article – Saxon Woodcarvers.

This is my tiny nutcracker and tiny tree and tiny elf. Teddy hasn’t noticed him yet… On a brief segue, I read the book IT many years ago and have never felt the same way about clowns/bridges. At the time I had to trek through our very dark hamlet in northern Scotland to the school at the top of the hill. I crossed a railway line and then a wooden bridge across a stream. One very dark morning a heron flew out from the bridge just as I was crossing. There were some choice words directed at the poor heron.