(Note: I do realize that the holiday season is over, but I finally uploaded my pictures from our vacation and wanted to post them since I didn’t do it while actually on vacation. So the next couple of posts will be about Christmas – please bear with me.)
For roughly the past 10-15 years, my mother has had a thing for another man. This man can only be seen once a year, so his commitment to the relationship is questionable, but that doesn’t mean that her devotion is any less real. If I had to describe him, I would say that he sports some serious facial hair, he usually has a twinkle in his eye, and his belly is rather, um, “pronounced.” In fact, it it shakes like a bowl full of jelly when he laughs. Around our house, we affectionally refer to him as “Santa” but his official name is Santa Claus or St. Nick.
My mother is quite committed to good ole Santa. In fact, she has an entire collection of figurines made with his likeness.
There’s the one who guards the front door.
And the one who likes to go golfing in his time-off.
Then there’s the all-white Santa. It’s a good thing that wearing white during winter is back in style.
And it must be popular because this Santa chose the all-white ensemble as well.
Since we’re talking about fashion, I must say that I prefer this Santa who’s dressed for winter weather in his full-length coat and (faux) fur-lined hood.
My mother’s collection isn’t made only of figurines, it includes items such as this beautiful glass globe. The globe is actually very heavy and when you twist it, the bottom part moves in a circle and plays a lovely Christmas tune.
She also has this beautiful, and quite breakable, glass ball which shows a painted scene of Santa reading a good book.
This Santa is made of some kind of metal. He stands guard over the stockings and makes sure no one peeks before Christmas morning.
Then we have one of my favorite Santas. The proverbial “naughty vs. nice” Santa that we all know and love.
He’s got his list and he’s checking it twice. I can’t help but notice that Oscar’s name is on the list – I just wish I knew if he had been naughty or nice (if I had to put money on it, I would say naughty).
Another of my favorites, is this skiing Santa. Doesn’t he look ready to hit the slopes?
And we can’t forget about the Santa’s found in the kitchen. This Santa likes to cook and is a distant cousin to…
this other cooking Santa and his wife.
I would be remiss if I didn’t show you the Santa who’s on his way to the lake to see if the trout are biting. Hey – he works hard in December, he deserves a little R&R the rest of the year!
Speaking of working hard, this figurine shows Santa making presents for all the little kiddies.
I also love the more traditional depictions of St. Nick. I imagine this is how he probably looked a hundred years ago, before he got all modernized.
Are you starting to get a sense of this great love my mother has for this “man?” And those are just the ones upstairs!
Downstairs we have the patriotic Santa (give you two guesses who gave her that one).
And the policeman Santa, a family favorite.
Every year we add to my mother’s collection by giving her a new figurine. Her only real requirement is that he have a “nice face.” Here is my contribution this year:
So that’s it. Well, that’s not all of the them, but I could do five posts on just her Santas alone. The thing is – I love them all and I love that she collects them. They’re adorable and they’re fun and she does such a great job of making sure they’re unique. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without seeing them brightening up the house.
What about you – what do you collect?
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