The Story I Want to Believe

 "One word, Ma'am," [Puddleglum] said… "One word. All you've been saying is quite right, I shouldn't wonder… So I won't deny any of what you said. But there's one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things— trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one…. That's why I'm going to stand by the play-world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia…. We're leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland."

This Week: Christmas Traditions, Sickness, and Landmark Lasagna

Mikko is always excited to visit Santa!

As all my friends know, December is always my busiest time of year: finishing up the teaching semester while entertaining thousands of people on weekends, Wednesdays, and Fridays. My delightful friend Mikko the Scandinavian Elf is appearing for her 12th season (and my 14th) of St. Charles Christmas Traditions, and she is crazy and hyper as ever! Our cast and crew this year are truly amazing, and even though the work is physically exhausting, my heart feels full after spending a day with these beautiful people. If you're in the area, please come down and visit! (Check out the link here.) 

Other random stuff we've been up to:

Getting sick. I have gotten sick not once but twice lately, possibly due to the aforementioned interacting with thousands of people every weekend. I've been sipping bone broth, chugging cold-kicker remedy (apple cider vinegar infused for a month with garlic, onion, horseradish, cayenne, sage, rosemary, and turmeric), and getting lots of rest, which has helped… but my body is definitely telling me that I need to wash my hands more and build my immunity better.

Making this lasagna. I went on a clean-out-the-freezer kick and unearthed some nettle we'd foraged and tomato sauce we'd grown in 2018, and it was begging to be made into a lasagna. So I made foraged-nettle béchamel sauce, homegrown-tomato sauce, and from-scratch noodles, and baked it together. I was so ridiculously happy about all that this lasagna signified: I have learned so much in the past couple years! This was a very tasty way to celebrate my progress.

Christmas sale for my cards! A few of my card sets are on sale at my Single Candle Card Productions shop— please click on the link to check them out!  I was happy with the way these chickadees turned out, since they are one of my favorite birds.

Also, our housemate Eddie being cute: You're welcome.

~~~

The Greener Year Challenge: Celebrate Sensibly (December)

Christmas is well upon us (it comes earlier and earlier every year), so this is a good time to talk about how we celebrate special occasions. Many people mourn the excesses of the holidays, and yet, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Americans continue to create 1 million tons of additional waste. That's 2 billion pounds of food, gift wrapping, unwanted gifts, and so on, which contain an outrageous amount of embodied energy, only to end up in a landfill. By some calculation, 18% of gifts are unwanted, and 4% are thrown directly in the trash. We can do so much better than this!

We need to contemplate how we hold celebrations, and whether the way we celebrate helps or harms the earth. I invite you into a holiday season that is not only good for the earth, but good for your mental health as well.

Instead of dividing this post into "Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced," I've decided to group it by category. Pick what feels right for you.

GENERAL:

Don't compare. When planning any celebration, from a Christmas potluck to a birthday party to a wedding, it's tempting to get caught up in what you "should" do, often to the detriment of both the planet and your sanity. Fussy goodie bags, extravagant gifts, pop-culture-referencing plastic decorations, and huge meat-heavy dinners are bad for the environment; a hospitable attitude, long walks, foraged decorations and a simple meal with meaningful conversation are good for the environment— and for you. 

Remember what's important. Focus on the purpose of the celebration: spending time with family, congratulating a particular person, having a good time with friends. Gratitude and focus help you to let go of the unnecessary (and again, get off the hamster wheel of keeping up with societal norms).

Incorporate nature into your celebrations. From the Christmas tree to the Easter bunny to the pumpkin pie, nature is in the background of most holidays, and I like to honor it with foraged decorations and seasonal food. Put some twigs or wildflowers in a vase, learn what's in season in your area, and if possible incorporate a nice walk or some open windows to keep you in tune with what's going on outside.

Celebrate the seasons. I wrote a whole blog series about this! I have come to enjoy observing the solstices, the equinoxes, and the waxing and waning of the moon. Celebrating the rhythms of the earth helps remind you that you're connected to nature, not apart from it, and what happens to the earth happens to you too.

EVENTS:

Say no to disposables. If at all possible, focus on using real rather than disposable items: tablecloths, dishes, silverware, glasses, and/or napkins. Offer to bring the dishes and clean them up afterward. Carry a reusable kit with you (a plastic plate, some silverware and a cloth napkin, and a small mug) when you go to a party.

Choose sustainable food for your gatherings. If you're in charge of the food (even a single dish), try to make it as eco-friendly as possible. See Finding Earth-Friendly Food for ideas of how to do that. 

Combat food waste. Food waste is a huge problem this time of year (it's a big chunk of that 2 billion pounds of waste!). Check out this previous Greener Year post if you need a review of how to prevent it. 

GIFTS:

Have a conversation with your family about presents. If you're reading this in December it might be a little late, but better late than never.  I'm lucky to be from a family who have low expectations about gifts, but in many families, the season begins with a fevered pitch of anxious one-upping. This is bad not just for budgets, but for the millions of new items that will quickly end up in a landfill. Again, remember the embodied energy: one of the most helpful things we can do for the planet is to consume less— including gifts! Here are some tips for heading off an influx of gifts. 

Give consumable gifts. Eco-friendly gifts are those that don't become trash the instant they break. Think food, package-free body care products, candles, art supplies, and so on. Consumable gifts are easy to make homemade, too: bread, any sort of dessert or baked good, homemade candy, caramel corn… the list goes on. Think of how much plastic, embodied energy, and unnecessary packaging you're saving!

Give non-material gifts. Also think beyond material goods, using your creativity. For instance, you need a last-minute gift for your niece and your niece likes Frozen, so clearly you need to buy her an Elsa doll, right? But that doll is likely made in a pollution-belching factory in China (often by a worker who is not making a living wage) and is made of polyester that will never biodegrade. This is where creativity comes in handy. For instance, instead of a doll, you could give her a card inviting her to a Frozen party where you and she bake snowflake-shaped cookies, then make a "ice castle" blanket fort and watch Frozen while eating cookies and loudly singing along to all the songs. (Actually, that sounds awesome, invite me too…) Other common non-material gifts include trips to a museum or swimming pool, tickets to the theater or a sports game, or simply an offer to make dinner for someone.

Go gift-free. This isn't for everyone, but it can be a great way to reduce stress, refocus the season— and help the environment! If you're intrigued, explore more here. 

Use reusable or secondhand gift wrap. There are dozens of ways to wrap presents without using wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows that get tossed (or at best, somewhat recycled) in January. Litterless has some great ideas for doing this in a classy way. 

Which of these challenges would you like to take on this month? What would you add to the list?

~~~

Previous posts in this series: 

Getting Started

Celebrate Biodiversity (April)

Optimize Energy (May)

Eat Your Leftovers (June)

Curb Your Trash (July)

Find Earth-Friendly Food (August)

Move Beyond Cars (September)

Green Your Home (October)

Rebel Against Consumerism (November)

50 Ways to Celebrate Buy Nothing Day

Black Friday (or, increasingly, Black Thursday, because Thanksgiving just didn't have enough commercialism trying to eradicate it) is looming. And while there is nothing inherently more wrong with buying something on that day as opposed to any other day, it's still a "holiday" worth protesting. If Thanksgiving is the last struggling survivor against the wave of consumerism, Black Friday is its evil twin: a symbol of everything wrong with how we buy stuff. 

Aside from the obvious problems such as people trampling each other, Black Friday glorifies our global-industrial trade of cheaply-produced goods that exploits and endangers workers, pollutes our planet, and crowds our landfills. And while these ethical concerns are going to exist any day of the year, Black Friday is an unashamed frenzy celebrating this destruction.

This is where Buy Nothing Day comes in. Founded in 1992, it is an international protest against consumerism, an alternative to Black Friday. It can be as dramatic as going to a protest or as simple as opting out. There are endless ways to celebrate it! My standing tradition since I was 17 is to spend the day after Thanksgiving at my Christmas job, bringing magic and fun to people in historic St. Charles (packing my own lunch, of course), but since that's not widely-applicable, here are 50 ideas to get you brainstorming. Enjoy!

1. Go for a hike.

2. Have some friends over to swap clothing, household goods, books, or anything else!

3. Watch a movie or play a video game you already own on a device that you already own. Invite some friends over to join.

4. Volunteer at a local food pantry.

5. Read one of those books on your shelf that you've been meaning to read for ages but haven't.

6. Bake some cookies and bring them to a neighbor.

7. Sit down and write an old-fashioned letter to one or many people. Tell them how much they mean to you, or a fun memory you have of them, or what you've been thinking about lately.

8. Be happy about how much you're saving by not buying anything.

9. Forage some acorns, autumn leaves, or interesting-looking branches to make an indoor decoration.

10. Take the money you would've spent on buying something for Black Friday and donate it to a charity. A monthly commitment is even better: steady income is one of the greatest needs for any nonprofit. 

11. Spend all day at the library— ours has all sorts of reading nooks, a fireplace to curl up, and endless magazines, books, movies, video games, and music!

12. Learn how to gift-wrap without using disposables. 

13. Find a Buy Nothing or Freecycle group in your area, and if there isn't one, start one!

14. Read poetry aloud.

15. Do a house project that you keep putting off.

16. Invite some people over and teach them a skill that you know, or ask someone else to teach you. 

17. Meditate.

18. Sit down and think about what you want your holiday season to look like. Set intentions so you don't get swept up in it all. 

19. Make use of a public area: a park, library, beach, hiking trail, historical site, or free museum. 

20. Use the Thanksgiving turkey bones to make broth.

21. Sit down and really listen to some music.

22. Rearrange your furniture to make your space feel fresh and new.

23. Take a long bath. 

24. Clean out your pantry and figure out a creative meal to make with the items you already have. Invite some people over to make a clean-out-the-pantry party!.

25. Take a slow walk around your neighborhood. Notice little details and take joy in them.

26. Find a place to volunteer. Invite some friends to do it with you!

27. Learn how to make something that you would normally buy, anything from salad dressing to dog toys to chairs. (The Internet is your friend for learning this kind of stuff!)

28. Think back to what you enjoyed doing when you were eight, and do one of those things today. 

29. Challenge yourself to use up, freeze, or give away all your Thanksgiving leftovers.

30. Get lost in one of these awesome anti-consumerist blogs: Zero Waste Chef, Polly Barks, Litterless, New Dream. 

31. Do something nice for a retail worker you know. Cook a nice meal or put together some snacks from your pantry and a couple bucks for a movie rental. Give it to them as a surprise.

32. Declutter your house. Make a huge "donate" pile. Post the most interesting stuff on Freecycle or the Buy Nothing Project.

33. Draw, paint, make music, or otherwise create art— just for fun.

34. Start your very own sourdough pet with the flour that's sitting in your pantry.

35. Have a post-Thanksgiving potluck— everyone brings their leftovers and trades them!

36. Learn origami.

37. Dress up in your fanciest clothes, including any jewelry that you never wear because it's "too nice," and break open that special thing you've been hoarding for a special day (chocolate, wine, a fancy tea that your sister-in-law gave you last Christmas). The special day is today!

38. Talk to your family about Christmas presents. 

39. Invite some friends and neighbors over to help you pick up trash in your neighborhood.

40. Light a candle, pick up a journal, and write down your thoughts and reflections.

41. Offer to babysit someone's kids for free.

42. Play board games you already own.

43. Exchange back rubs with a friend.

44. Get a bunch of $10 bills and randomly give them away to people.

45. Do yoga or exercise using YouTube videos.

46. Take a nap.

47. Learn about mindful eating and start practicing it. 

48. Try some sort of needlework using stuff you already have on hand: crocheting, knitting (use two sticks), embroidery, mending, etc.

49. Learn to identify birds and take a bird-watching walk.

50. Take joy in the world you've been given, and keep that Thanksgiving spirit going. 

~~~

This Week (Fresh Air and Kale. Always Kale.)

My life.

There is nothing like feeling better after being sick for several weeks. Although a slight sniffle remains, my energy is back! Zach and I celebrated on Monday by taking a proper walk— not just the 3.5-mile loop we walk every night in the dark, but a meandering journey down the Katy Trail, along cornfields, through neighborhoods to the library, back home for a quick quesadilla, then over to my parents’ house for a visit. We passed by cottonwoods still fluttering with brown leaves, watched crows picking through the plowed-under fields, and saw the sky fade from cornflower to rose with the sunset. The air was chilly but still, the sun warm on our faces, until night fell and we watched the moon rise in a thick crescent behind the silhouettes of bare trees. I felt like I had my life back.

My garden continues to surprise me: the kale and chard don’t seem fazed by the frosts we’ve had (although we’re getting a hard freeze this week, which might just do them in). I also ate some tomatoes yesterday that I had picked from my garden a couple weeks ago; they’ve been ripening on my windowsill. Who says you can’t eat a garden tomato in December? 

Also, I've been eating yummy stir-fry.

This week, it also suddenly hit me that it’s Christmastime. This might seem to odd to those who know I spend almost 20 hours a week screaming “Merry Christmas” at people, but it’s different, somehow. So far I’ve celebrated Christmas by thinking about making Christmas cards, thinking about Christmas shopping, and listening to the song “Christmas” from The Who’s rock opera Tommy (which is actually quite a depressing song, although I love it). So in the end, St. Charles Christmas Traditions is my main celebration, and that’s okay with me. (Although I’m hoping to go shopping today and break out Joan Baez’s Noel sometime this week.)

Hope you guys are having a wonderful holiday season! Merry Christmas!

~Lisa

This Week (Sickness, Festivities, and More Sickness)

Santa and two of his favorite Scandinavian elves, Mikko and Mikkel!

Don’t you just love cold and flu season? For nearly two weeks I battled a horrible ear infection, then felt great for two days to celebrate the opening of St. Charles Christmas Traditions, then caught a nasty stomach bug, followed by a mild head cold. Today I’m sniffling and a bit tired, but prefer it over writhing in pain or throwing up, so we’re on the right track!

Despite the constant barrage of illness, the past couple weeks haven’t been too bad. I’ve taken a lot of rest, watched a lot of TV while snuggling with Zach (who had a bad case of bronchitis that I magically avoided), and still managed to get outside every day or so for a brisk walk in the cold. The autumn leaves have finally turned, weeks later than usual, showering the pavement in a flurry of gold. 

And, as I mentioned, I was well enough to visit the first two days of Christmas Traditions, which was a lot of fun. If you haven’t been down to St. Charles for the festivities yet, I highly recommend it! I’ll be posting my “insider’s festival guide” soon with a few more details.

In the meantime, I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving. Remember to slow down and enjoy the holiday season— I say to myself as much as to anyone else. Glædelig Jul!

~Lisa

Projects of the Week

1. Finish up my Write@Home students for the semester (except for a couple late papers).

2. Completely sort through and categorize the 4,000+ messages in my Gmail inbox. (This is step one in my journey to de-cluttering my life. More on this later.)

3. Master the art of kefir-making. (I just purchased some kefir grains from Cultures for Health, and it rehydrated really quickly. I had a kefir-banana-walnut-chocolate smoothie yesterday!)

4. Finish buying and wrapping presents.

5. Make a bunch of homemade Christmas cards.

6. Send out a Christmas letter to my relatives who don’t have Facebook.

7. Spend as much time as possible with my sister— who is HOME FOR CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR!

~~~

The 12 Days of Christmas Traditions

I’m sitting at my desk, after a two-hour nap and a supper that consisted of four huge pieces of homemade pizza loaded with ground beef. My muscles aren’t too sore, but I feel completely wrecked. Yup, it’s the day after opening weekend of St. Charles Christmas Traditions!

While I frantically try to catch up on my editing for the week (and wash eight thousand dishes that accumulated over the weekend), you enjoy these 12 lovely “talking cards” that Christmas Traditions put out this year. The Scandinavian elves in particular (Day Two) are pretty awesome.

Check out the playlist here!

Where to Go: Las Posadas, St. Charles, Missouri

At 6pm on December 7th, on Main Street St. Charles, one of the most beautiful events of the Christmas season takes place. Main Street Church hosts an event that is inspired by an old Spanish tradition: Las Posadas. This is a stylized reenactment of the Nativity story, showing how Mary and Joseph were rejected at every inn until they found a stable to give birth to baby Jesus. Hundreds of visitors, carrying candles (and occasionally candle apps on their iPhones) witness the event in a beautiful, fire-lit procession.

The procession begins on the 1000 block of South Main, so if you wish to see the whole story, begin down there and follow Mary and Joseph north up the street. Mary will be riding a real donkey, and they are followed by all the rest of the Christmas Traditions characters, a choir, and a fife and drum corp. The latter two perform songs as the company walks along slowly, lit by the candlelight. At three or four different places on Main Street, Mary and Joseph stop at a storefront. Joseph asks if there’s any room in the inn, and is told there is not. When they reach the corner of First Capitol and Main, an innkeeper finally tells them there is an available stable, and the procession turns down First Capitol and processes into Frontier Park, where they gather at a life-sized creche on the Jaycee Stage. From there, the rest of the Nativity story plays out, complete with shepherds, sheep, angels, a real baby Jesus, and wise men, interspersed with readings and songs.

Somewhere during the ceremony, the mayor announces the grand lighting of the Christmas tree in Frontier Park. I’m not gonna lie— this upbeat interruption breaks the mood a little, but it doesn’t last long, and the scene becomes peaceful and reverent once more.

After the ceremony, guests are invited to the “Yule Log,” a giant bonfire in Frontier Park, to sing Christmas carols together. It’s a great way to finish the night.

If you are a Christian or just someone who appreciates the Nativity story, this event is a must-see for this Christmas season. I love that this Las Posadas has a real baby Jesus, who fusses and cries and needs to be bundled against the cold— it gives the event a startling and moving reality. My favorite part of the night is when the carolers sing, “O, Holy Night.” What happens when they get to the line “Fall on your knees…” is something that moves me to tears every year.

Here’s the official page for this event— and I hope you’ll take some time out of your schedule to come visit and remember, with hundreds of others, the child born in Bethlehem.

When: December 7th, 6:00pm

Where: South Main Street, St. Charles, Missouri

Tips: Arrive early and leave plenty of time to find parking (I recommend the parking lot near the Lewis and Clark Boathouse, or the City Hall parking garage). Bring a candle and a lighter (the wind often blows out candles). Please don’t worry about bringing a camera— the pictures won’t look good without a flash, and a flash ruins the mood. If you’re an emotional person (like me), don’t forget to pack a tissue!

~~~

An Insider's Guide to St. Charles Christmas Traditions

As a follow-up to yesterday’s blog, here are my best tips for getting the most out of St. Charles Christmas Traditions!

When to come: 

The festival hours are as follows:

Opening day, November 29th (Black Friday): 11-9

Every Saturday between then and Christmas: 11-9

Every Sunday between then and Christmas: 12-5

Every Wednesday and Friday between then and Christmas: 6:30pm-9

Christmas Eve: 11-2

The streets are usually packed! If you like the exciting hustle and bustle of crowds, come any time, but if you’d rather have a more laid-back experience, try coming on a Wednesday night or Saturday morning. One of the least-traveled times of day is about noon to one on Sundays. And anytime it rains or is very cold, you’ll find thinner crowds.

Where to park: 

Parking is free everywhere in St. Charles during festival hours, but it can be difficult to find a space. Don’t even bother trying to find parking on Main Street itself— head straight to the big parking lot near the Lewis and Clark Boathouse. Then walk the block or so to Main Street. Another sneaky option is to park at the City Hall Parking Garage behind the 200 block of North Main Street— it’s free at night and on weekends.

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, the
crowd may look like this. In the
morning,  there's hardly anyone!

What to do:

Where to begin? There’s so much to do! For instance…

Look for someone in a costume. There should be about two to a block between 900 South Main and 200 North Main. Approach them with a loud, “Merry Christmas!” and ask them what they’re all about. They may be surrounded by a swarm of children (or fangirls, or creepy old men/women, depending on the character), but everyone is free to interact with them. Ask the characters about their stories. You can learn a lot about history, legends, and Christmas celebrations around the world this way. Don’t be surprised if the characters ask you about how you celebrate Christmas, too!

Collect cards. This is by far the most popular event of the festival! Each character has a stack of his own collector cards— I believe it’s a set of 38 this year (with three bonus cards). There isn’t a prize for collecting all of them, except for a warm glow of satisfaction, but trying to get every one is an exciting game! Most of the characters won’t let you have the card without embarrassing yourself in some way, so be prepared to sing, dance, share your favorite thing about Christmas, or shout “Merry Christmas” in a different language. Sometimes it’s possible to collect all the cards in one day, but most of the time it will take a couple weekends. Once you collect all the cards, find the Town Crier and he will shout the glad tidings to everyone in earshot.

A character card

Request a song from the carolers. When you run across a caroling group, stop and ask them to sing your favorite Christmas song. Just remember, due to the historical nature of the festival, the carolers don’t know any songs after 1900— so no “Silver Bells” or “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” I love to ask them to sing their more obscure songs, which may include carols you’ve never heard before.

Buy a flower and some roasted chestnuts. Two flower girls wander the streets, selling carnations (and sometimes roses) for a dollar. Buy one for your significant other, your friend, yourself, or a random stranger! Don’t miss the chestnut roasters, who stand beside an open fire. At two for a dollar, this is the cheapest snack you’ll find on Main Street. I love roasted chestnuts— they taste like a cross between a peanut and a baked potato. Plus, they make great hand-warmers on cold days!

Visit the Gingerbread Village. Main Street Church, at 116 North Main, hosts a yearly gingerbread house contest. This year’s theme is “Christmas Around the World,” and I can’t wait to see all the beautiful and creative entries!

See Santa! Yes, there are nine other Santas out on the street, but you just have to stop and visit the big guy: Victorian Santa. This year he’s hanging out at the Katy Trail Depot in Frontier Park. Most people will take their picture with him, but you can also just say hi and get his card. At the depot you’ll also find an impressive train display.

Don't forget the wonderful photo op!

Buy food. Main Street has some really yummy treats to offer, in addition to the roasted chestnuts. Check out the homemade fudge and candy at Riverside Sweets (400 block), buy the best chocolate chip cookies ever at Grandma’s Cookies (400 block), and try a gooey-buttercake milkshake or a real phosphate soda at Little O’s (200 block of North Main). For a charming lunch, try Garden Cafe ala Fleur (500 block), and for a nice American-style supper, check out Lewis and Clark’s Restaurant (300 block), or Trailhead Brewery (900 block). If you’re just looking for a cup of coffee, meander into the artsy and laid-back Picasso’s coffeeshop (corner of Jefferson and Main).

In addition, here are five events not to miss:

Candlelight processions: There is a great parade every Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 (followed by a hilarious skit), but quite frankly, I love the candlelight procession even more. On Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 8:45, all the characters walk down Main Street carrying lanterns. They end at Berthold Square (at the intersection of Main and First Capitol) and listen to the carolers sing songs. Sometimes they dance along, too!

Sunday closing ceremonies: Every Sunday at 4:30ish, all the characters gather at the gazebo on the 400 block of South Main. The carolers sing, the characters hand out last-minute cards, and you might be treated to a group merry-go-round dance with an elf, or a stirring performance of the Master of Revels’ “Jingle Bells” dance.

Marshmallow roast: On Friday nights at 7-8:30, your dream comes true… you get free marshmallows to roast over a blazing fire! This occurs in the backyard of the First State Capitol at 200 South Main. Sometimes characters will join you and tell you spooky (or not so spooky) stories.

Ambassadors of Harmony special appearance: On December 21st, the Ambassadors of Harmony (a huge and amazing all-men’s choir) will be joining the parade at 1:30 and sticking around until 3:00. Their singing is nothing short of breathtaking.

Las Posadas: Of all the special events during this season, this is my favorite. Main Street Church hosts a Spanish tradition, retelling the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. In fact, I began writing so much about it that I decided to write a whole blog post dedicated to it! Look for that tomorrow. In the meantime, here are the basics: show up anywhere on South Main Street at 6pm on December 7th, and bring a tissue.

Are you planning on coming to Christmas Traditions? What is your favorite part of the festival?

~~~

Where to Go: St. Charles Christmas Traditions Festival, Missouri

Cast photo from 2010— I need to find a newer one!

In my good ol’ hometown of historic St. Charles, Missouri, the longest-running Christmas festival in the United States has its home— "Christmas Traditions." On weekends and Wednesday nights from Black Friday to Christmas Eve, the brick-paved streets of St. Charles come to life with a cast of Christmas-related characters from all over the world— and visitors come from all over the world to experience this piece of Christmas magic. This is my eighth year being directly involved in the festival, although I’ve been visiting since I was a little kid. This is the biggest and best cast I can remember: 38 characters, four caroling groups, and a whole lot of awesome Christmas cheer.

Two mischievous Scandinavian elves
pose for a photo with a cute doggie.

The festival is a bit hard to explain to someone who’s never been there. You arrive on the street (after driving all over trying to find parking— tips about that in my follow-up blog) to see a fairly normal historic tourist district, decorated with real greenery and twinkling lights and bright red bows. On an ordinary day you could go here to buy candles, clothes, trinkets, homemade fudge, restaurant meals, knickknacks, shoes, or gooey buttercake milkshakes. But on these special days in Christmas, instead of just hurrying from shop to shop, you find yourself wanting to stay on the street, because of all the crazy costumed people running around.

You might find yourself getting into an argument with Jack Frost, learning a dance from the Sugarplum Fairy, listening for the magic bell that the Train Conductor holds, purchasing fresh-roasted chestnuts from the chestnut roasters, hearing the news from the town crier, witnessing a friendly shouting match between two elves, discussing the logistics of flight with the Reindeer Flight Instructor, buying a carnation from a flower girl, or getting a “Bah, humbug!” from grumpy old Mr. Scrooge. Eleven different gift-givers from around the world are there to tell you about Christmas in different countries: Victorian Santa, Civil War Santa, Frontier Santa, and World War II Santa for America; Saint Nicholas for northern and eastern Europe; Kris Kringle for Germany; Pere Noel for France; Julinese for Scandinavia; La Befana for Italy; Snegurochka for Russia; and Father Christmas for England. 

This festival is for people of all ages: children love to meet the characters, but so do adults. The excitement of the festival is almost tangible.

If you want to learn more, check out the online festival guide. Then make plans to head down— you’ll be glad you did!

(Tomorrow I’ll post another blog about this, noting some of my favorite events, shops, and Christmas Traditions experiences, as well as tips for visitors. I love this festival so much, and I want everyone to experience it!)

On Fairy-Stories, Part Four

As most of you know, I just finished my weekend job in which I transform into a Scandinavian elf and roam St. Charles’s Main Street spreading good cheer and handing out collector cards. I’m accompanied by another elf, an angel, a fairy, the Nutcracker Prince and Clara, and a host of gift-givers from around the world, such as Father Christmas, Pere Noël, Julinese, and La Befana. Each one of us lives in the magical reality, and it’s a job I take very seriously. This frustrates a lot of people. Here is a typical conversation with an adult when there aren’t any children around:

Mikkel and Mikko, Christmas elves, children of the Scandinavian fay.
Depicted cuddling a cute doggie.

ADULT: So are you guys students from Lindenwood, or what?

MIKKO: No, I finished elf school a few centuries ago.

ADULT: Haha, of course. But seriously, where are you from?

MIKKO: Scandinavia. I grew up on the Swedish-Finnish border.

ADULT: In real life?

MIKKO: Of course in real life! I live up at the North Pole now, though.

ADULT (trying to figure out if she’s talking about Alaska): Where’s that?

MIKKO: On top of the world. 

ADULT (gives her a blank look)

MIKKO: I work for Santa. I’m in charge of making sure all the toys get made.

Getting ready for a parade.

ADULT (starting to get fed up): Do you know how old I am?

MIKKO: I’m terrible at guessing humans’ ages. I’m 647.

ADULT (gives up and walks away)

MIKKO: Gleðileg Jól!

It doesn’t take long to learn that adults expect fantasy to be a sly and utterly fake performance solely for the benefit of children. On the contrary, sincere fantasy is crucial to both children and adults.

Last year, I saw a Santa (not involved in Christmas Traditions, I might add) who was lining up kids to sit on his lap. After just a few minutes, I realized that Santa spoke loudly and jovially to the children, interjecting “Ho! Ho! Ho!” in a booming voice wherever possible. But when he talked to the adults over their children’s heads, he dropped the act and spoke in his normal voice. I felt insulted on the children’s behalf. Santa wasn’t taking this seriously. To him, this was just another day on the job, fooling children with a fake beard.

This is something that has always bothered me about the story of Santa Claus. Parents teach their children this fairy-story as if it’s a lie that they’ll have to learn about someday. I much prefer the way my parents taught me. As little kids, my brother and I had an argument about whether or not the Santa we’d seen downtown was the real Santa Claus. I said he was, and my brother said he wasn’t. Furious, I ran up to Mom and demanded an answer.

“No, that person downtown wasn’t the real Santa Claus,” Mom said calmly. “He was a man dressed up like Santa Claus.”

Some people have heard me tell this story and gasp in horror that my mother would shatter my fantasy like that. However, this revelation did nothing of the kind. I felt mildly miffed that my brother was right and I was wrong, but the incident strengthened my belief in Father Christmas. He was too magical and majestic to be crammed into a red suit and squeezed down a chimney. From then on, I imagined him as he appeared in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe— real but otherworldly.

The honest belief in the magical was something my parents infused in me from the beginning: something to be cherished all throughout life, not just as a child. In short, they took me seriously, as every child should be.

This is all a roundabout way of bringing up this quote from Tolkien’s On Fairy-Stories:

It is true that the age of childhood-sentiment has produced some delightful books (especially charming, however, to adults) of the fairy kind or near to it; but it has also produced a dreadful undergrowth of stories written or adapted to what was or is conceived to be the measure of children's minds and needs. The old stories are mollified or bowdlerized, instead of being reserved; the imitations are often merely silly, Pigwig-genry without even the intrigue; or patronizing; or (deadliest of all) covertly sniggering, with an eye on the other grown-ups present. I will not accuse Andrew Lang [an author who compiled fairy-tales] of sniggering, but certainly he smiled to himself, and certainly too often he had an eye on the faces of other clever people over the heads of his child-audience —to the very grave detriment of [his works].

Magic is a real part of life, and it should be taken seriously. To this day I firmly believe in Santa Claus— part of Faërie, as mysterious and elusive as the rest. Merry Christmas, everyone!

~~~