Christmas Letters, Part II

A model of the Smithsonian Castle
at the Conservatory in 2010.

You can see the other Christmas Letters posts here:  I, III, IV, V, & VI.

I love the standard Christmas traditions, like the tree, and stockings, Rudolph and Charlie Brown specials, of course, but I also love family traditions, those parts of Christmas that spring up in lucky families and continue year after year.  I mentioned Bellringer the Elf in the previous post, a tradition that my wife's family followed and which charmed me so much I was eager to pass it on to our Children, with some success. Even when they began to suspect certain things about the holidays, the ringing doorbell stumped them. Now we have an electronic camera door bell tied to cellphones, making it much more difficult for Bellringer to not be caught in the act!

When we moved to the DC area, we began another tradition, visiting the National Mall at Christmas time, or on Black Friday. We took the train up from Fredericksburg, always better then DC traffic! Then we would usually visit the Museum of Natural History, which has always been our favorite of the Smithsonian Museums, and then a couple other locations. Often, at Christmas time, our last stop would be the United States Botanic Garden Conservatory. It was close to our train station for the trip home, and they had a beautiful displays at Christmas, models of various DC monuments and landmarks made entirely from natural materials, like bark and seeds.  It wasn't quite as magical as I recalled trips to the Krohn Conservatory in Cincinnati, with the live animals for the Nativity scene, but it was very nice.

Part of my love of Christmas came from the wonderful sight-seeing trips my family took to downtown Cincinnati each year, to see the CG&E Trains, and the Shillito's Elves (maybe they will come back), and of course, the Nativity at the Krohn Conservatory. Those trips made the time of year special, and I tried to give my kids a sense of that specialness with our own trips to DC.    

Here is another letter, a couple years later.  It introduces Frau Perchta, one of Santa's more terrifying associates, and mentions Jingle, an elf who appears in the Rankin-Bass Year without a Santa Claus. 

🎅No. 1 Santa Claus Lane

Christmas Town, The North Pole

Dec 24th, 2009                                                                             

Dearest Ren & Tori,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

  I see you have both made the Nice List this year, but Jingle, the head elf in charge of the Nice List, tells me that it was a very close call! You are two of my favorite children; I would hate to deliver coal to your home next year instead of presents! Well, enough lectures for this merry time! I know you will both try very hard, because you are good children!

And what of Bellringer, you ask? He is rather upset this year! He has had his scariest adventure yet!  

    There is an evil old witch, Frau Perchta, who used to follow me on Christmas Eve to punish wicked children. I did not trust her, and finally banished her from Christmas Town when I found her secretly punishing good children! This was long ago, of course. Since then she lurks around the North Pole, looking for ways to sneak in.

    Well, this year she finally found a way! A secret goblin tunnel that led into the warehouse caves below the workshop! She used magic to make herself small and snuck through the tunnel, and then she stole part of the naughty list! She misses the days when she followed me, beating children with switches or threw coal at them. But no child deserves that!

    Bellringer discovered the theft right away, and he chased her through the tunnels and right back to her cave! He used magic of his own to turn invisible but kept ringing his bell as he danced around the cave. As she turned this way and that looking for the bell, he snatched the list and ran back through the tunnel to Christmas Town! We blocked that tunnel up quick I can tell you!

    So, now Bellringer is a hero, and we gave him a medal and a great party with fireworks!  But he still does his job! And he has promised to give you this letter.  I hope you enjoyed it, as well as your presents tomorrow. Write me again, I enjoy your letters! 

                                                                                                    ‘Til next year 

                                            Santa Claus