December 22, 2009

Tonight is a rather quiet night in the village. The Big Push will be starting in just two more days, and everybody is getting ready for a lot of work. The factory that the bears found a couple of days ago is still in full production, and Mr. Kringle is having trouble getting anybody to listen to him.; It seems that Christmastime Village is in a no-man's-land when it comes to laws.; The village is so far north, that it is in an access to it.;The factory is still spewing out black smoke and making all the area around it a dingy grey, but nobody wants to step up and stop the perps.; Mr. Kringle is continuing to work on it...he even tried to get some folks in Copenhagen interested abit ago, but without success.The Ice Hockey tournament is over. The last scores are in: The Canadians lost to the Farmers 1-0, the Toy Makers bested the Bakers 2-1, and the B;P had the bye.There seems to be a five way tie for first (or last), with all teams winning; 2 and losing 2. They also scored the same number of points during the tournament: 6.& It's too late for a play off, because the Big;Push is upon them.; I knew that the teams were evenly matched...this proves it.

December 18, 2009

>The big problem is that the people who work there are making sub-standard wages, and they are anything but "green" Thick, black smoke issues from the smoke stacks night and day.; The hills surrounding the factory are turning black from the soot, and even the polar bears around the place have a gray hue.>Mr. Kringle is rather disgusted with his new neighbors, but isn't sure what he can do about it. Perhaps some of my readers have ideas...if so, please send suggestions.Tonight's scoresB&;P 2 --;Farmers 1 Canadians 1 -- Bakers 0 ; Toy Makers bye<'Til later..

December 17, 2009

On the hill behind the village and the skating pond is Snob Hill. The folks whop live here are older and ready to retire.; (Except for Mr Kringle); They are the managers of the factories and other enterprises that Mr. Kringle has. They are all older Victorian and Queen Anne houses and they take great pride in their upkeep. Actually. the maintenance and upkeep of these homes is a full time job in itself...but I digress. The name of Snob Hill is actually a misnomer in that the folk that live there are "salt of the earth". In the house on your right lives the manager of the toy factory. They are still building lots of dolls, toy trains, drums, and tops, but they are also dabbling with electronic toys too. The one that they are working on right now is a robotic hamster.Seems to be taken up;by the youngsters quite handily.In the house to your left lives the manager of the bakery. (Actually, bakeries); She has over 600 employees that she;is responsible for.; Some of thefolk make candy, some;make cookies, and others are responsible for the fruitcake.The rivalry from the ice hockey games is entering into;Snob Hill too.; Each of the managers is encouraging the team members on their respective teams with extra incentives.They have been giving the athletes extra time off to practice, extra food at their meals, and days off to rest up. The unfortunate thing is that because of this, nobody gets any extra advantage.The games from last night: Toy Makers -- 1 B;P 0 Bakers 2 -- Farmers 1Canadians--bye.If anybody has anything that they want to ask about Christmastime Village and their occupants, please feel free to ask.'Til later...

December 14, 2009

Some of the villagers are having a cookout this evening.; Up North, where this village is located, there is several weeks when the sun doesn't rise at all, so the inhabitants have become accustomed to a long, cold winter The winters are becoming milder, though, and the summers are often much warmer than anyone remembers. It's called global warming. >Mr Kringle is doing what he can to go green...electricity produced from geothermal springs, the steam engine on the;train is now electric, the factories are run without using carbon based fuel, but he is concerned by the way things seem to be warmer each season.; He has a delivery date that depends upon using a sled and reindeer pulling it. He is beginning to explore the possibility of putting wheels;on his sled and taking the reindeer to warmer climes to prepare for the trip...kind of like athletes acclimating themselves for competition in high altitude or hot weather. One of the nice things about global warming is the fact that villagers can have a cookout in the middle of winter, but it is one of the few nice things.>Why...a flamingo was spotted on the ice skating pond yesterday. Now that's global warming. The scores from yesterday's ice hockey games:Canadians 2 --Toy Makers 1; Bakers 3 --B;P 1;Farmers -- Bye>'Til later...

December 11, 2009

This is the zamboni that the bears brought with them...does a pretty good job, I think.; They claim that they use it when they go seal hunting up north.; I'm not so sure that I believe them though. Where would they get the fuel? The tournament started tonight. It was kind of fun watching those bears on skates...they looked clumsy, but then you realize that two strokes and they were across the rink!; And the penguins...they're so quick and nimble!; On several occasions they were able to duck between the legs of their opponents with the puck and be behind them before they knew what was happening.This is going to be a good tournament with all the fresh, new players in the mix.?After all the games, the teams retired to their favorite watering hole.Farmers 2--Toy Makers 1;P 3--Canadians 2; Bakers--bye'Til later...

December 10, 2009

This is the place where the hockey players and their fans meet after the games...here and the brewery next door. Last night, after the open house at Mr. Kringles home, they all met here to set up a new tournament schedule.; It seems that the Bears and Penguins want to join in the fun.age society, and the problems with the soft drink company have seemed to gone by the wayside.Penguins, of course don't normally live in the northern hemisphere, but they say that the summers at the southern regions are getting warmer each year. They have decided to spend the Southern summer in the Northern Hemisphere and go home each Northern summer to their Southern winter. Confused? They will be visiting the village from November;the end of April;each year. The bears are thinking of trying the same thing in reverse.The first game of the tournament will be tomorrow night, so get ready to root for your favorite team.Til later...

December 8, 2009

The scores from tonights ice hockey games: Toy Makers over the Farmers 1-0: Canadians besting the Bakers 3-2 in overtime.

December 7, 2009

<>The above photo shows a quiet, happy village.; Not so anymore...there is unrest brewing. The bears, penguins and other critters who get to endorse the major soft drink for ten months of the year are trying to foment a rebellion. THEY WANT IT ALL! Mr. Kringle is trying to negotiate a peace with them, but in the meantime there is a lot of unsettled business to deal with. >The bears have taken over the town square and are demanding that the issue be put to a vote. Mr. Kringle has been promised the endorsement contract for November and December each year, and feels that he has made quite enough of concessions as it is. Perhaps the soft drink company is behind this?; Why can't everybody just get along?/p>More tomorrow...'til later...

December 5, 2009

Christmastime Village has two churches...the High Church up on Snob Hill, and the Low Church down in the main Village.; One has all the money and the other has all the people...you guess which is which.

At the Low Church this evening there are carolers out and about.; There is also a Living Nativity Scene for people to observe.A couple of years ago, Mr. Kringle had a problem with the soft drink company and his endorsements.; It seemed that the company wanted to bring in some "new blood" and retire Mr. Kringle's image;After some intense negotiations and much campaigning by the world's children, the company knuckled under to the pressure and agreed to keep Mr. Kringle on.; They, however, wanted the newcomers too, so the agreement was made that Mr. Kringle would have the months of November and December for his image to be advanced and the bears, penguins and others get the rest of the year. This doesn't mean that there aren't sometimes infringements on this deal though.>The second set of ice hockey scores:;The Bakers beat the Toy Makers 3-2 and the Canadians got some revenge against the Farmers 4-2.'Til later...<

December 4, 2009

December 3, 2009

The children of the village are engaged in a snowman building contest.; Of course several snowball fights break out, but it's all good natured fun. In another part of the park the smaller children play on the slide and teeter-totter.Mr. Kringle sponsors many of the contests and games around the village, because he feels that a happy populace produces good workers.; He has several factories around the village, and most of the workers come from here;Probably because he is so short himself, he has a special love of "height challenged" people, and most of the workers are under 4 feet tall!>The village is shielded from the factories by the hills, but Mr. Kringle uses a train to transport the workers from their homes to work...free of charge.A few years ago a soft drink company enticed Kris Kringle to lend them his name and face to endorse their company. Because of that endorsement, the company gave him a train as well as several buildings for his village. The partnership has had a few bumpy spots, but altogether it has been very good for Mr. Kringle and his enterprises.>More about the factories and many of Kris Kringle's enterprises tomorrow.'Til later...

December 2, 2009

Christmastime Village is a happining place. There are several different neighborhoods to this village...all the way from Snob Hill where the upper crust resides to the shop area where you can get a soda at the drug store, browse the book store, or check out the hardware in the variety store. Above is a snap of the skating rink that serves as a fishing pond in the summer. The night games are especially fun to watch. The ice rink is down by the rail yards, brewery and billiard hall.A lot of good natured partying takes place after a game.Til later...

December 1, 2009

UAs I was saying yesterday, the Village has returned.; Almost every December Christmastime Village materializes in our house.; The Patriarch of this village is named Kris Kringle.; He is a slightly overweight gentleman who is universally loved (especially by children).; He has a long white beard and enjoys wearing red robes trimmed with ermine He is short of stature, and has been referred to as a "right jolly old elf".This morning I watched the firemen raise Old Glory for the duration of the month.The village is smaller than previous years, but the populace is just as busy and happy as ever.; I plan to tell you of the happenings in this village as the month draws on, with pictures to accompany the text. I hope you will enjoy my musings as much as I enjoy relating them.'Till later..