Peanuts' Linus Explains Christmas!
Monique and I made a visit to Springfield's Chiara Center during this Christmas season to review over 130 nativities on display for the annual Franciscan Nativity Festival. This was my second year to enjoy seeing the nativities in that beautiful setting. There were so many varieties exhibited from the complex to the simple, ceramic to wood, and hand-crafted to store bought. Each one had been loaned out for the event by owners who doubtless have cherished them for years! This "Nativity Arts' Revue" has become an important part of my annual Christmas observance! Charlie Brown Christmas from Hallmark Courtesy of M. Manci Typically, I am taken in by those depictions that retell the Christmas story in a straightforward, simple and uncluttered way. Last year, I wrote about the Yupik (Eskimo) aboriginal peoples who visualized that first Christmas night of Christ's birth as occurring in an igloo with Mary and Joseph donning parkas (see A Fanciful Christmas Story, ...