Nativities by the Hundreds

Sarah and Chris with one of the largest indoor Nativities I've ever seen.

December 3, 2016

Once I'd downloaded and edited the remaining photos from last night's visit to a huge Nativity collection at the Social Hall in nearby Snowflake, I was quite disappointed in the pictures' overall quality. The lesson is this: keep your camera fully charged at all times! I'd exhausted my battery at Sarah's concert prior to seeing the display, so I'd had to rely upon my cell phone instead. 

Part of the issue was that the Nativities were roped off to prevent handling by the public. One can hardly blame them for that, but it made it impossible to get as close to them as required by my little phone. The other part of the problem was that I too often tried to get as many Nativities as possible into a single shot. As much as I'd have loved to capture each one in detail, there were just too many for that. You'll notice that some of these pictures contain as many as seven, to ten, to fourteen Nativity sets in a single shot. Multiply that by the sixty pictures I took (not all posted here) and the fact that I skipped over some that are more commonly seen, and you'll perhaps understand why I'm sure there were at least four to five hundred Nativities in all.

There were Nativities both under the tree and hanging on the tree.

And so, with apologies for the poor quality (I'll spare you the worst of them), here is a tour of the beautiful Nativity collection we enjoyed last night. Remember that you can click on any photo to enlarge it. Many of these Nativities are humbly simple, while others are simply awe-inspiring. 

I had a lot of favorites among this huge collection of Nativities.

This one would be one of my top three.

Another favorite. I'm especially impressed by the backdrop.

And I like the sunshade over the saddle on the camel.

These are all beautiful, but I truly love the glass Nativity.

This Nativity is sculpted of metal. Check out Mary's curls.

I think the Nativities crafted of real fabrics are fascinating.

Many of the Nativities came from other countries.

Adorable. What more is there to say?

When I spoke of humbly simple, I was thinking of this Popsicle stable. 

I love this message.

I love the style of Jim Shores's art (upper left).

Rustic bears on the left, Japanese on the right.

Check out the rubber ducky Nativity toward the back on the left.

Snowmen, large and small.

Handmade stitchery.

I'm so sad that these last two didn't turn out clearly. Not only is there beautiful handiwork here, but there are also two Native American Nativities. Native art has always had a special place in my heart. If you stare at it really hard and cross your eyes just a little bit, you might be able to make out the stable in tepee form, as well as an elk, buffalo, bear, horse, eagle, and rabbits among the animals standing watch. 

May we always remember the reason for the season!