Charles Dickens The Christmas Carol ~ Marley's Ghost meets the Second of Three Spirits on the Stairway at Cottonwood Mansion

In the kitchen, Deanna Schaus & Jill Walters

Celebrating St. Nicholas Day at Cottonwood Mansion ~

l- r, John Passfield, Catherine Stidsen, Neil Paul, Cheryl MacDonald and Bishop Spence after reading Dicken's The Christmas Carol

For many of us, the Christmas tree becomes the center of our December activities. Tasha Tutor, American author and illustrator describes her childhood tree.
"When I was about seven, that was the first Christmas tree that I really remember. It seemed to go up and up and up, straight to heaven! Of course, I was quite small at the time, but it seemed immense, tremendously tall, like a skyscraper."
Crowning the top of Tutor's tree for decades was a large, black velvet raven that she made by hand in homage to the legend that the raven was the herald of Christ's birth. According to the story, a raven was flying over Bethlehem when he encountered a sky filled with angels. He was given the honor of announcing the birth of Christ to all the other birds.

~ Forever Christmas, by Harry Davis. Little, Brown and Company, 2000. Illustrated by Tasha Tutor (1915 - 2008)

Photo: The music room at Cottonwood Mansion. Decorations by Deanna Schaus.