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Wi-Fi for Library Branches

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Visitor’s Guide Available

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French Summer Camps

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Active Communities

7th Atlantic Summer Institute (ASI) will be held at Holland College, Cha....

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UPEI Credit Course on Ecological Forestry

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Cuba Fall 2012

Join a 10-person group travelling to Las Tunas (near Holguin), Cuba, for....

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Be a Host Family

Ten Japanese children aged 12–16 hope to spend a month this summer wit....

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Income Tax Assistance

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Scholarships for Island Women

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Watercolour/Acrylic Workshop

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Needle Arts Events

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Taste Our Island Nominations

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Half-price Parks Passes

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Stratford Public Library Events

Origami Club Wed at 6:30 pm. Learn Japanese paper folding with 3 new fol....

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Seniors Active Living

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MS Carnations for Mother’s Day

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CUSO Internships

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Beaconsfield Open for Tours

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Coro Dolce Has Room for Members

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Architectural Walking Tours

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Compost Sale

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Victoria Day Birding

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PEI National Park Student Art Contest

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The Music Lives On

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Sean Casey Town Hall

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PEI Home Economics Assoc AGM

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Scholastic 50% Off Book Fair

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Prince Co Hospital History Circle

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Self-Care for Superwomen

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Finding Your Voice

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Anderson House Dinner & Auction

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QEH/EastLink Telethon

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Collaborative Decision Making and Problem Solving

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PEISO Serenade to Spring

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Urban Farming

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Aquaculture CanadaOM 2012

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Downtown Residents

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Best Interests of Children

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PEI Humane Society Dinner Bowl

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Art in the Open Submissions Wanted

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CBI Hustle for Hunger

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Lobster Supper to Go

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'Great Day' Fore Health

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PEI History of Medicine Society Meeting

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Family Place at Farmer's Market

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Conversation About Addiction

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Benefit Dinner for G’ma Circle

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Yoga, Ayurvedic & Meditation

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Gymnastics Summer Camp

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Family Place Summer Fun

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Georgetown Battle of the Bands

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PEI Summer Arts Auction

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Home | Articles | Community | A Living Nativity
December 2011
A Living Nativity

The Cove Journal
by JoDee Samuelson

Alpaca by JoDee Samuelson Alpaca by JoDee Samuelson What are these curious alpacas doing in the Cove? They’re standing in for camels in our first ever Living Nativity in the Cove.

A Living Nativity is a leap of imagination, a star above a lowly stable, the warm smell of farm animals, it is sheep and cows and yes, alpacas peering over the gate. It is a baby in the manger wrapped in swaddling clothes, Mary, Joseph, shepherds and wise men, and angel choirs singing Glory in the Highest.  As you drive slowly through the farmyard you reflect upon the simplicity and power of the Christmas story, and you leave with a smile on your face.

The sheep, horse, cattle and donkeys involved in the Living Nativity are looking forward to playing their roles. For weeks they have been conscientiously practicing their mooing, baaing and braying, and the consensus is: they are ready to go.

This might be enough seasonal community action in the Cove, but no: we are holding a Christmas Concert and a Women’s Institute Christmas House Tour. Obviously the Cove is the place to be this month.

Good-hearted generous December, month of tradition, month of candlelight suppers. Singing songs we all know by heart. Listening to classical music. Red and green decorations, fir trees, the smell of popcorn. Cat sleeping on the couch. December, month of darkness. Christmas lights going up—how welcome they are! The month of cuddling up to that warm place in the house: a heater, a fireplace, a bed. Woolen sweaters that seem so impossibly thick in May now become absolutely perfect.

As we get older we want things to continue exactly as they have in the past. We want the same Christmas goose with the same sausage stuffing, the same cookies, the same fruitcake, the same Christmas pudding even though it’s always too much on a full stomach. We might even want the same presents: doesn’t everyone need new underwear and socks? Father doesn’t get a tie anymore, or Mother perfume. Fortunately for young children there are dollar stores. In my childhood there were Five to a Dollar Stores. The first gift I ever bought for my father, from a Five to a Dollar Store, was a black pocket comb. At the same time my brother bought Dad a ping pong ball—even though we didn’t have a ping pong table. That ping pong ball lived in Dad’s top drawer forever, and was still there when we cleaned out the house years later.

Which is to say, don’t sweat the gift giving. It truly is the thought that counts.

Alpacas don’t exchange presents. They don’t normally “do” Christmas. To an alpaca, one day is pretty much the same as the next, but they do like standing in for the camels of the Three Wise Men in the starring role of their lives.

Seasons Greetings from Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, sheep, horse, and the rest of the cast of the Living Nativity in the Cove.

 
 

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