Dear Reader:

When Gin-g and I had lunch last week…she kept fumbling through through her purse…When I asked her what she was looking for…she replied “The ‘Boo’ ornament Debbie Baker gave me to give you.”

The little ‘Boo’ sign had fallen off an old Halloween decoration and Debbie was about to junk the whole thing when the small “Boo” block came loose…and she decided to save it for me. “Tell Becky she can make a Christmas Tree ornament with it”…like she did the lucky penny a week ago.” 

Yesterday I was cleaning out my pocketbook and found it. I decided to follow Debbie’s advice and make a Christmas Tree ornament. I went rummaging through my box of unused or broken Christmas tree ornaments and found this strange cloth-colored bird. I glued the wooden square box onto the bird and thought to myself…“Now I have a Christmas Tree Boo Bird!”

I read where decorative birds were the most popular ornaments on early Christmas trees in Europe because they all symbolized good fortune…and if a bird nest was in a tree with the bird it symbolized family and home unity. Like this:

“Bird nests are symbols of home; they represent the love, commitment, and effort it takes to build a happy home. Bird nests are also good-luck symbols. Legend has it that prosperity will come to any home that finds a bird’s nest nestled among the branches of the family Christmas tree.” – Inge-Glas

The symbol of a bluebird as the harbinger of happiness is found in many cultures and may date back thousands of years.

The Navajo identify the bluebird as a spirit in animal form, associated with the rising sun. The Bluebird Song is sung to remind tribe members to wake at dawn and rise, happily, to greet the sun:

Bluebird said to me,

“Get up, my grandchild.

It is dawn,” it said to me.

…………………………………………….

So, let’s see if we can come up with a legend for a Christmas Boo Bird…It could be a ghost spirit who comes to live inside a little bird who has been rejected by all the other birds because of his myriad of colors. He isn’t a red bird or a bluebird…but a kaleidoscope of colors. No one will play with him.

There is also a little ghost spirit who feels isolated ..he is supposed to be a Halloween spirit but he jumps every time he says “Boo” and scares himself. All the other ghosts taunt and make fun of him. He knows he doesn’t belong in this holiday…but where?

Suddenly a guardian angel appears and tells little “Boo” that he is needed as a Christmas spirit inside a little bird who feels alone and sad. In a blink of an eye little “Boo” finds himself inside the little bird and with a magic swish “Boo Bird” is frozen in time.

Now the little bird hangs proudly on a Christmas Tree depicting all his colors with a  block sign…BOO. He doesn’t scare anyone but instead makes people smile and point to him. He is quite loved by the homeowner whose grandmother name just happens to be “Boo” too. He doesn’t want Christmas to ever end and hopes more “Boo Birds” will appear each year on the tree in Boo’s home and many other homes too. Then he will have a real “Boo” family tree.

So until tomorrow…Let us welcome Christmas “Boo’s” to our home in every shape and size…If you make one for your tree, the legend says…the Surprise of LOVE will come your way. BOO!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

• Don’t you wish we could all can a jar of Christmas spirit so we would have it every day of the year?