Christmastime in the Valley - Part 4

When I say Christmastime in the valley I mean the Canisteo Valley in western new york.  Canisteo is home of the "world famous" living sign that spells out the village's name in evergreen trees on this here hill.  Canisteo is a town with a population of 3,391 according to the 2010 census.  That's how we grew up.

Bob hates ice skating so much.  He says its the most terrifying thing you can do.  Eventually he could go super slow without holding on to the sides.  He's concentrating really hard here.

on the opposite end of the spectrum is the lovely Jennifer K Yoo, always the picture of style and grace

and somewhere in the middle is me, shredding it up like a super trick skater.  But no not really, it's just if the camera snaps you at the right moment it looks like you knew what you're doing.

but then some people do know what they're doing like Steven Hedley aka the Ice Wizard.  Look at that hang time!  He didn't have on his crystal studded show belt that he usually wears because he didn't know he would be casting spells on ice that weekend but he did have his signature "back in black" costume on.  

oh look its Yukon Cornelius from that stop motion classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

oh look its the young astronomers club.  Dorks.

So on our final night we recreated our gingerbread Christmas village atop some huge rocks and an old door.  We scattered some kindling and wood but didn't expect the results below.  We originally wanted to blow up the houses but fireworks are illegal in NY and we didn't have any knowledge or access to explosives so burning down the village was the best we could come up with.  Better than throwing them in the garbage.  There's something cathartic and primal and child like about setting your creation ablaze.  It also brought us all closer together and warmed the cockles of our holiday hearts.

In the documentary about McDonald's, "Super-size Me", Mickey Ds fries and a burger get put in a jar and never break down over a month compared to the same from a real restaurant that does of course decompose.  Here these M&Ms lived quite happily in Christmas village while it burned and didn't even melt.  Perhaps there is some kind of truth to the melts in your mouth not in your hand saying, or maybe you shouldn't eat these anymore.  We ate more of them.  And we ate McDonald's too.  

well here is your final holiday image of burnt destruction and embers.  Hope your holidays were as swell as ours.