Grand Elf Ornament Factory

Posted on 02/12/2010 by Grumpa Joe

Every year for many years Grumpa Joe, and Busia Barb conducted an ornament making day with the grand-elves. Most of the big work was done by the big elf himself, but the ornamentation and coloring was finished by the grand-elves. The workshop was stocked with fast drying water based paints, brushes, Elmer’s glue , and glitter of many colors. There were enough raw forms to allow each grand-elf to make a dozen ornaments. The caveat was that each grand-elf had to leave one ornament for the grandparents.

When the elves completed the ornaments, the workshop glistened in many colors. There was glitter everywhere. The grand-elves glittered too. Many of them got glitter in the hair and shined for weeks after. The tradition lasted for six years, and finally ended in 2003 when Busia Barb left us for heaven.

One year, I set them up with thread spools and toothpicks. Those were tough materials to handle, and the ornaments turned out looking pretty sad. In most of the  years, the forms were pre-cut shapes from thin plywood. I cheated one year, and bought forms from Michael’s. Another time, the elves used dowel rods and yarn to make Ojo de Dios or Eye of God. That year, the elves had help from a visiting cousin elf who turned out to be a fabulous teacher with the patience of a saint. Elf Ana became my favorite great-niece.

Not all the families could make it every year, but usually, two out of three joined in the fun. The  more there were the more we glistened. The factory work  lasted an hour. The whistle blew and it was time to break for a treat of pizza,  milk and cookies.

My Tree of Life features many of the ornaments produced by the grand-elves in the ornament factory in Frankfort, Illinois. I stare at the example below and remember those times with joy. I am glad I have those happy memories to offset the  sadness that overwhelms me at Christmas.

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C2-WHERE IS HE?

Posted on 02/12/2010 by Grumpa Joe

MORTY ANGEL AND BEN HAVE BEEN ORDERED TO LOOK FOR SANTA WHO WAS REPORTED MISSING.

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Chapter Two-Where is He?

Santa is never late said Mrs. Claus to herself. She paced back and forth wondering where he was.

“He has never been late before,”  she explained to Gabriel over the Angel Network.  “He left at 8:00 p.m. last night for a training ride with Rudolph and the  first team. On a regular day, he is back by midnight. It is  3:00 a.m. and he is still gone. I sent the elves to look for him.”

“Santa keeps a strict training schedule. They have to be in perfect shape to be able to deliver all the gifts. They fly fast, stop on a roof, then start-up fast again. They pull all the presents, and Santa is not a light weight. I keep him on a diet, but poor Santa never loses a pound,” said Mrs. Claus.

The elves were still very busy making toys and wrapping presents. They used Santa’s computer to know how many toys to make. Before Christmas, Santa visits children all around the world to ask them if they were bad or good. If they answer “good,” he asks them what they want for Christmas. Each kid gives him a list of toys. Of course, Santa already knows if they were bad or good because he has Sentra-vision like the angels. He keeps a record of all the good deeds and all the bad things that a kid does on his computer.

Elf-Jasper was charting Santa’s route and connecting each gift to a child’s house. He was ready to download the chart into the tracking system on the sleigh when Mrs. Claus asked him to look for Santa.

Jasper ordered his elves to hitch the back-up team to the red sleigh. They left to search all of Santa’s training routes, but it was snowing so hard and they could not see anything.

To be continued…

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No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including those yet to be invented or discovered, without permission in writing from the publisher and author.

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Tree Topper

Posted on 01/12/2010 by Grumpa Joe

My tree of life turned out better this year than it ever was in the past. It’s been seven years since it adorned our home, and it took several years to build the ornaments, collect the birds,  butterflies, and flowers. I even found some stuff that I bought eight years ago, but never used before.. The tree is new too. I used a green tree once, and decided that the flowers and birds need a bright background to shown them off. Otherwise, they blend into the background like they do in nature. I chose white.

The first Navaho rug that caught my eye was in Sedona, Arizona. It was a five by seven Tree of Life pattern with a fifteen thousand dollar price tag. Looking back on it, that was a very good price. Much smaller rugs of that pattern go for the same price today. That is hindsight and Monday morning quarter backing. I couldn’t afford it then, and I still can’t afford it now. The alternative was to make my own.  Frankly, I like  mine better. I can change its appearance every year, yet hold the same theme and philosophical concept.

Barbara and I loved this design, and worked together to assemble the various components. We shopped everywhere we went. Often bringing home a new bird from vacation trips. The tree has great sentimental value, but unleashes melancholy from deep within that requires conversations with God to brighten up the darkness of my grief.

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Santa is Missing, Chapter 1-God Calls

Posted on 01/12/2010 by Grumpa Joe

Santa is Missing is a children’s book. It is short, and easy to read. I am presenting it to you as my gift. The story is very adult like in composition since the view-point changes every chapter. Children twelve and older will have no trouble reading it by themselves. Kids younger than twelve may  need it be read to them.

There are a few characters I should identify:

1. Morty Angel is  Guardian Angel assigned to Ben

2. Ben is a boy of ten who is watched over by Morty Angel

3. Jasper is a Lead Elf who works for Santa

4. Gabriel is the Archangel working in Heaven as God’s assistant

5. Sentra-vision, a special belt worn by Morty. It is a communication device used to call heaven.

6. Sky-scooter, a special flying scooter given to Morty by friends. Since he cannot fly like other angels he needs the Sky-scooter to travel. It has amazing properties.

7. Polly is a polar bear, a friend of Morty’s

8. Major Joe ‘Do-Do’ Taylor is an Air Force pilot at Elmendorf Air Base.

There are ten chapters and I will present one chapter every day or two until the story is complete. There are cartoon pictures scattered throughout the story. The cartoons are originals done by Grumpa Joe. Please let me know if you enjoyed a chapter by clicking on one of the five stars below each chapter.

Here it is:

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Santa is Missing

by

Grumpa Joe

Chapter One-God Calls

Morty sat invisible on Ben’s shoulder. He watched the snow falling gently. Ben listened to Miss Brown. The temperature dropped since they got to school this morning. Ben looked out the window and wished he could be playing in it.  Miss Brown went over math sets. There were two more days before school let out for the Christmas holiday.

Morty’s head bobbed with sleep when his wings fluttered. He jumped to attention as his wings fluttered again. “God is paging me,” he said to himself. Morty raised the end of his Sentra-vision belt to his eye. He saw Gabriel sitting at the desk outside God’s office. He squeezed the belt to signal that he was ready to receive. Gabriel pushed a button on his console and God appeared. Morty watched and listened carefully.

“Santa is in trouble. I want you to help him. It is only a few days until my Son’s birthday celebration. I don’t want Christmas to be spoiled because Santa can’t make it on time. Leave immediately.”

The bell rang just as God finished the message. School was over for the day.

Ben rushed to get his boots and coat.  He ran out of school with his Guardian Angel hanging onto his sleeve.

“I want to be first in the new snow, he whispered to Morty.”

Ben jumped into the deep new snow, and fell backwards. He swept his arms above his head and spread his legs apart.

“Look, Morty, I’m making an angel.”

That’s when Morty became visible and told  Ben to get ready. “We have to go rescue Santa.”

“What?”

“We have to go rescue Santa, God just told me to go help him. Come on, get onto the sky scooter.”

“But, but, but . . . my parents will wonder where I am.”

“Don’t worry. God will send an angel to let them know that you are okay. Now, let’s go, Santa needs us.”

Ben climbed on and wrapped his arms around his guardian angel. Morty set the navigator for the North Pole, then pushed the thrust button. They were out of sight in an instant.

 

To be continued…

 

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No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including those yet to be invented or discovered, without permission in writing from the publisher and author.

 

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