For those of you who can’t be at the VCFA residency this January, I am posting the latest revisions to dear Dr. Noble.

This one is from Tuesday, January 11.

This one is from Wednesday, January 12.

These creative additions are, of course, the work of our talented graduating class, the Bat Poets. (Actually I have it on good authority–and the fact that I saw her early one morning– they are thanks to Cori McCarthy.)

Today we feature two nativity scenes, one clay and one wood.

I bought this one out of a catalog, probably twenty years ago. Peter likes to point out that the Baby Jesus is just a little wooden peg wrapped in a piece of cloth. There is a hole at the back of the cradle/manger, and the kids used to like to “eject” the baby out through the back.

And this one I bought on Olivera Street in Los Angeles about five years ago. I like the way all of the people look so similar–and so very stocky and down-to-earth. In fact, the [Continue reading Two For the Price of One!...]

Someone else out there may have a nativity scene from Burkino Faso. Or a no-human, all-cardinals nativity scene. But I am positive that I am the only person in the world who has this Lego nativity scene.

Peter says he had nothing to do with this. So if Peter was, say, two years old, then Alex must have been seven and Nicholas was five? Anyway….I went out one evening. I think this was back when I would go out with some friends for “Mommy’s Night Out.” And the kids decided to make me a nativity scene out of Legos.  Early the [Continue reading One of a Kind...]

My mother-in-law gave me this scene for Christmas one year. They bought it on a trip to New Mexico.

I particularly like the three “wise men.” They are carrying corn, water and an eagle feather. And the prayer blanket of course is wonderful.

I also love the sheep’s curly fleece.

In the background are some of the needlepoint blocks my mother made when Alex was a baby. He never played with them much, but they make excellent Christmas decorations.

I got this nativity scene during a visit to the Museum of American Folk Art in New York City. I think when Lee and I were there for the National Book Awards. (I was a judge.)

This is made out of a goose egg–okay I may have the egg wrong but it is a BIG egg–and wire. I’m not sure it is, technically, a nativity scene. It hangs on the tree. And even though the star is blazing across the sky, Christ looks more like the Christ Child than the Baby Jesus. But everybody looks pretty happy.

I especially love the curly [Continue reading Crafty Nativity...]

Continuing our tour of my collection of nativity scenes. Today we have one of the odder ones…

I bought this last year at a local Christmas gee-gaw store. I understand that many people like cardinals, but this just seems vaguely wrong….

I do like that “Joseph” is carrying a little staff and a lantern. Peter’s friend Sara asked how I knew for sure it was a nativity scene. I pointed out that it says “nativity scene” on the box it came in.

Moving on in our tour of my collection…

This is the nativity scene that my mother bought when we were living in Canada. It is a goofy little scene, all made of wood.

I would guess she got it from a catalog–my mother shopped a lot through mail order. She loved to buy things for “free,” by redeeming coupons or labels. I remember we had a large shag rug in the shape of a giant footprint, courtesy of the Jolly Green Giant. And I still have the cookie jar she got from Tollhouse Chocolate Chips.

If you look closely, you may see that [Continue reading Nativity Scene #2...]

Starting today, I will begin a blogg-y tour of my collection of nativity scenes.

When I was a kid, my best friend in Pembroke, Ontario had a beautiful nativity scene that they put up every Christmas. One of those big plaster ones with all the figures, beautifully painted. They may have even brought it back from Italy. We did not have a nativity scene at my house.

I started collecting nativity scenes when my kids were little. I now have…well…an awful lot of them. I thought, in honor of the season,  I would offer some of the highlights. Starting with this one.

Peter [Continue reading Nativity Scenes #1...]

This week I got a letter from a young man who is taking a class in college course called Experience in Literature. Apparently the students were asked to choose a book they liked and then do a project on the author. And this person picked me.

He sent me a list of questions and the last one was “Do you find being an author difficult or enjoyable?” Which I thought was pretty funny. And of course I could have gone on for pages writing about the things that I find difficult. I could, in fact, have written a novel.

But in the [Continue reading What I Like About Writing...]

I have been watching the TV show The Walking Dead on AMC.  Mad Men ended for the season. Zombies came on. I guess it seemed like a natural progression.

And I like the show. It is horrifically violent, but the relationships are interesting. The human relationships. Not so much the zombie relationships. In fact, zombies don’t seem to do much but shuffle around and tear apart humans who happen to wander within shuffling distance. Being a zombie has to be pretty boring. Too bad they can’t watch television.

But this is what I don’t get about zombies. Their primary motivation seems [Continue reading Zombies on Parade...]