Lord Noel On 'John The Inexperienced'

Whatto! Pepys...

Well here we are again at Xmastide!
And I trust you are having a splendid one...
It began sometime in October and involves spending as much money as possible on cosumer items.
(It's what Jesus would have wanted)
Speaking of Mr J, I recently visited our local church because they were having their annual exhibition of Nativity displays and every local group was encouraged to show their own take on the infamous Nativity scene.
The exhibition was quite extensive and apparently this year they'd been encouraged to be 'as creative as possible'!
Unfortunately, in an embarrassingly controversial incident Mrs Wilson's entry on behalf of the knitting circle had to be disqualified as she was found trying to re-use her wonderful knitted rendition of the last supper.
She was punished by having both of her rich tea biscuits removed.
However, she did receive lots of praise from our enthusiastic local recycling club.
She was last seen in the darkest corner of our small library furiously knitting a full sized crucifix mumbling "I'll show them!"...




Word had already spreading around our Town which was buzzing with chat about how fresh and innovative this year's entries were. I must admit that although I was expecting to see the same old hackneyed set-ups as before even I was pleasantly surprised by the fresh take that so many groups had demonstrated (although I don't get out much these days). The entry above, for example, is from our local carpenter and the Scene below was entered by our local 'No Longer Smokers' nicotine support group...but I think it's not a patch on last years entry.

Yes there were plenty of exciting versions of this popular theme to feast one's eyes on.
And the idea of a middle eastern Superman being born in an animal's food trough still excites many of us agriculturally based personages.
But I was drawn to one Scene in particular which was still being set up by a group of small school children...



This one from our local Butcher was very popular




A sweet entry from our local confectioner


A 7-year old child was putting the finishing touches to their large crayon drawing of the Nativity, which although childishly primitive in execution, did hold a certain charm.



Whimsical work from our local Duck Farmer



Cutting edge stuff from our local Crafting Group


The picture was a very good rendition of the Nativity scene, including Mary, Joseph and, of course, baby Jesus.



A brooding scene from the Mother's Union



Flamboyance at it's best from our local Drama Group


However, I couldn't help noticing that there was, what appeared to be a fat man standing in the corner of the stable, who just did not seem to fit in.
When the child was asked about it, she replied, "Oh, That's Round John Virgin."

Tallyho!

Best Wishes - Lord Noel