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December 21, 1995 - The Forest Family's, Christmas6A • The Suffolk Times • December 21, 1995 The Forest Family's, Christmas How the Little People and the animals of the woods celebrate this special season This is a children's Christmas story that some might believe and others, like those who don't believe in Santa Claus, might not. The ones who are doubtful about these joyous times of the year are missing an awful lot of fun and excitement. This Christmas story is about the Little People who live deep in the woods. The reason most grownups don't know about them is that they hardly ever come out during the daytime and live deep below in little cozy caves under the great oak trees in the for- est. Here they live warm and happy, especially around Christmas time. Each year the Little People call all their animal friends of the forest to- gether to celebrate Christmas. Their leader is a pudgy little elf with red sus- penders and green pants who seems to be the boss and is always giving out instructions and jobs to be done. One year, instead of having Christmas un- derneath the great oak trees as they usually did, he thought it might be nice to have it up high in the oak where everyone could see it and enjoy the holiday spirit. So he called all the wood - ?`.�!� ; peckers together to see if they could chip out a big meeting hall where they would put up their Christ- woodpeckers looked in old, dead oak trees for juicy bugs and worms to cat. When their job was done, the little man in the green pants and red sus- penders thought the great hall needed a soft carpet so he called in Bandit, the raccoon, and asked him to look up some velvety green moss for a rug. "That would be simple," said Bandit, for he roamed the coun- tryside and knew exactly where there was a big patch of moss down by the pond. When he was digging up the moss he found all kinds of grubs and worms that were just like candy to him and he ate them with joy. From that day on raccoons would dig grubs and worms for snacks. In no time the great hall had a soft, green moss carpet laid out by Bandit, the raccoon. Now, the most important job of all was the Christmas tree. "Who could we get to cut our tree ?" Bushytail was good at nibbling buds off of trees; maybe he could do it. "Sure," he said. "I know just the right place to get a branch from a Christmas tree," and off he went, jumping from limb to limb until he got to Mr. Chick's backyard where a huge Christmas tree grew. He selected a nice full branch, bit it off and Focus on Nature by Ptlwl Stontenburgh mas tree, have their Christmas dinner and, of course, it would have to have room for all the presents for everyone as well. So the chippers, Hairy and Downy, Flicker and Red - Belly, all good wood- peckers, went to work making a huge meeting hall where they could all cele- brate Christmas. As they were busy chipping away, word was passed throughout the forest to come and see what each could do to make the Little People's Christmas a success. Everyone Ready to Work There was Squeaky, the mouse; Bushytail, the squirrel; Bandit, the raccoon; Blackcap, the chickadee; and, of course, the chippers who had already been working away on their big meeting hall up in the big tree, and lots of others. They were all anxious to help. We know this story is true because huge piles of wood chips on the snow can be found in winter that let you know where the big meeting halls were made for the Little People. This is especially true around Christmas time. When the woodpeckers were chipping away they came across some juicy worms and bugs that made their job a lot more fun, and from that day on carried it back in his mouth to the great hall with the green moss rug. It was just the right size for the Little People. The wife of the man with the red suspenders and green pants came out and said, "Be very careful. I don't want any of those needles left on my new rug." So Squeaky the mouse was called in to clean up and he did a superb job. And you know, boys and girls, from that day on squirrels found out how to cut leaves and branches to make their nests high in the tops of trees. If you don't believe me, just go out and look up into the bare limbs of the trees and you'll see clumps of leaves where squirrels to this day build their nests. Now the Little People had their new, big meeting hall, a beautiful moss car- pet and a handsome green limb for a Christmas tree. But what they needed were some bright -red Christmas balls. Who could supply those? Mocker the mockingbird spoke up and said he could get all the bright -red berries they wanted and he flew off to gather them. That's why you'll always see mockingbirds hanging around bushes with berries, for you can never tell when you might need some for decorations. Once the berries were on the tree, it really started to look like Christmas. Lights and Tinsel? But where were the lights? There was no elec- tricity in the deep woods. How could we have a Christmas tree without lights? We couldn't use candles, for Smoky, the bear, wouldn't allow that fire hazard in his forest. Just about when everyone was ready to give up on the lights, Blackcap, the chickadee, spoke up: "I know what. We'll gather dewdrops from down by the creek and they'll sparkle and shine just like real Christmas -tree lights." So all of the birds of the forest flew down and collected dewdrops and put them on the ends of every little needle on the tree. How they did shine, but there was one bit of decoration missing. Can you guess what it was? It was the tinsel. That was impossible to find, everyone thought. That is everyone but Longlegs, the garden spider. He said he had the most beautiful thread- like tinsel you could find in the whole forest, so he started to weave his sil- very thread around and around the tree. Everyone jumped for joy for now the Christmas tree was complete. The chippers had made their magnificent meeting hall in the old oak tree; Bandit had gathered the moss for the green carpet. Bushytail, the squirrel, had brought in a beautiful limb of a Christmas tree; Mocker had provided the Christmas balls by using red berries; Blackcap, the chickadee, and the other birds had furnished the dewdrop lights; Longlegs, the spider, had covered the tree with silver- threaded tinsel; and Squeaky, the mouse, had tidied up the green moss so it looked like new. Now the only thing left for the Little People•to do was to get presents for all the friends in the forest. For the woodpeckers, the Little People borrowed some suet from the farmer's backyard where he'd put it up for the birds at Christmas time. For Bandit, the raccoon, they were able to borrow a few ears of corn out of the farmer's field, for everyone knows raccoons love corn on the cob. For Bushytail, the squirrel, they went beneath the farmer's big black walnut tree where they were able to find some of those specially sweet - tasting nuts. Blackcap, the chickadee, would love some sun- flower seeds, so they scur- ried around the open fields and found some dried -up sun- flower heads and took some of the seed for the chickadees. For Longlegs, the spider, they just didn't know what to get him, but then the jolly little fellow in the red suspenders and green pants had an idea. They'd go through the woodpile in the farmer's backyard and find some bugs and flies that hibernate or sleep the winter away there. They were able to get a hand- ful of them and brought them back in an acorn cup and the spider was very happy. For Squeaky, the mouse, they gath- ered cherry pits and put them in a neat little pile under the tree. By now I'm sure there are some of you who, like the ones who don't believe in Santa Claus, don't quite believe this Christmas story. All I can say to you is go out some evening (the best time is around Christmas) and walk into the forest and lis- ten. If your ears are tuned just right and you have the Christmas spirit, you will be able to hear Christmas carols coming from way off in the dis- tance where.the Little People and the animals of the forest are celebrating their Christmas.