Three Wise Squirrels

Why do fabled things often come in three? Three blind mice, three little pigs, three kings and three wise squirrels. Believe in them, they are real and they mark the Christmas season in our home since Satu and I have started sharing Christmas together 10 years ago. Like most of the fun, quirky things here, they were characters in my wife's story before I was, but now we are in the same story, so they are mine too.

These three wise squirrels hold gold, frankincense and myrrh. Two of those things are supposed to smell good I think, but after these years, they are kind of blankincense and mehh. When the squirrels come out, so does the whole gang.

There are two handmade cloth wise men who don't have gifts, but I like their sense of humor. During the Christmas season you can hear them on the sideboard table drinking bourbon late into the night after we've gone to bed and laughing about what the third wise man is probably up to. They tell tall tales about their escapades with the dolls and daring escapes from the cat. They think their friend probably followed the wrong star and ended up at some beach singing country songs by the water.

There are several herds of reindeer also. There is a silver heard, a black heard and a wooden and cloth heard. Oh, they manage to pose in threes during the day, but those guys leap and graze when no one is around. There is one that can't quite pull off the pose, he looks a little gimpy and drunk all the time, but he's the life of the herd every night. The cat and dog won't get off the bed once we retire for the evening because you never know where you are going to find the rowdy band of wildlife. Prey animals they are not, more like a bunch of wild teenagers. Did you know that all of the reindeer have motorcycles and spend their nights looking for the droid hang outs? Thankfully those droids are pretty quiet about their meeting places. If it weren't for the two llama always bailing them out of trouble, the whole lot of them would probably be in the petting zoo by now.

Satu and I always have some version of a tree, we both like the light that gives everything a little extra color this time of year. She puts out candy canes and icicles and sparkly things. She lights candles and hangs bells and sings to herself and to me. The deer over the fireplace gets some decoration too and so does the dog sometimes.

This home is happy all year, but especially happy with the magic of Christmas lights and fresh snow on the ground.

My beautiful wife is the spirit that keeps everything here magic. I realized today as she carefully packed up the rowdy deer and the two wise men and the squirrels that she is really the source of light in this house. I can't imagine a better story than the one she and I share. It may not be told by generations of people, but it is all that matters to me in my little life. Two little ladies, an old bug eyed dog, a hairy cat, a band of reindeer and llama, three wise squirrels, two wise men and a partridge in a pear tree.