Festival of Lights at the Mormon Temple
A couple of weeks ago, a friend invited us to go see the holiday lights at the Mormon Temple. The lights were pretty, all the trees and bushes surrounding the temple each adorned with a single color of lights. Also, gardens of flowers constructed of lights added a little extra cheer. It reminded me somewhat of the holiday lights we saw at Longwood Gardens a couple of years ago, except on a much smaller scale.
In addition to the lights, there were displays of nativity scenes from around the world. It was neat to see all the various interpretations of the same scene from different countries and cultures. Some were very simply made, such as the one made with corn husk dolls, and the tiny set of Peruvian worry dolls. Others were much more elaborate, carved from wood or stone, or finely made ceramics, glass, or crystal.
A nativity scene from somewhere in South America featured a carved wooden backdrop of birds, mostly chickens. One of the sets from the U.S. showed a floppy-eared bunny peering curiously into the manger (the Easter bunny?). That made us smile. We noticed that many of the nativity sets from the U.S., and none from any other country, had cats in them. One U.S. nativity had everyone dressed as Amish people, complete with black hats and beards for the men, and aprons and bonnets for the women. Yes, that one had a cat.
Most unusual was a set of Matrushka dolls, with the tiniest doll painted as the baby Jesus. The other dolls, however, rather than representing other people in the scene, had the scene painted on their bellies. I don't know why they did it that way. I thought it would have made more sense for the other dolls to be Mary, Joseph, and the wise men. Speaking of which, we learned from our friend that it actually took something like three years for the wise men to arrive. I always thought they got there that same night, but apparently not.
In one of the nativity scenes, carved out of dark, polished stone, we could find no sign of the baby. We found that rather surprising. Can you even call it a nativity scene with no baby Jesus?
Another scene more than made up for this omission, though. I don't remember the country of origin, but it was very possibly from the U.S. This set, made of ceramic, had reasonably realistic looking people and animals. Mary, Joseph, a sheep, a cow, barn backdrop. All very typical except for one thing. The baby Jesus was about the same length as the cow. Plunked down in the middle of the rest of the scene, the diapered baby (no manger) dwarfed all the other figures. Baby Jesus bigger than the cow! I guess you could say he was larger than life.
In addition to the lights, there were displays of nativity scenes from around the world. It was neat to see all the various interpretations of the same scene from different countries and cultures. Some were very simply made, such as the one made with corn husk dolls, and the tiny set of Peruvian worry dolls. Others were much more elaborate, carved from wood or stone, or finely made ceramics, glass, or crystal.
A nativity scene from somewhere in South America featured a carved wooden backdrop of birds, mostly chickens. One of the sets from the U.S. showed a floppy-eared bunny peering curiously into the manger (the Easter bunny?). That made us smile. We noticed that many of the nativity sets from the U.S., and none from any other country, had cats in them. One U.S. nativity had everyone dressed as Amish people, complete with black hats and beards for the men, and aprons and bonnets for the women. Yes, that one had a cat.
Most unusual was a set of Matrushka dolls, with the tiniest doll painted as the baby Jesus. The other dolls, however, rather than representing other people in the scene, had the scene painted on their bellies. I don't know why they did it that way. I thought it would have made more sense for the other dolls to be Mary, Joseph, and the wise men. Speaking of which, we learned from our friend that it actually took something like three years for the wise men to arrive. I always thought they got there that same night, but apparently not.
In one of the nativity scenes, carved out of dark, polished stone, we could find no sign of the baby. We found that rather surprising. Can you even call it a nativity scene with no baby Jesus?
Another scene more than made up for this omission, though. I don't remember the country of origin, but it was very possibly from the U.S. This set, made of ceramic, had reasonably realistic looking people and animals. Mary, Joseph, a sheep, a cow, barn backdrop. All very typical except for one thing. The baby Jesus was about the same length as the cow. Plunked down in the middle of the rest of the scene, the diapered baby (no manger) dwarfed all the other figures. Baby Jesus bigger than the cow! I guess you could say he was larger than life.