Our Totemic Christmas Customs - No. 2

because we have a proclivity to commemorate family events with ornaments.

ex. A) the Leinenkugel bottle is from last summer's whirlwind tour of the northwoods.

ex. B) the die was purchased while killing time on the way to my father's American Legion memorial service in Cedarburg, summer of '93. My father enjoyed the occasional foray to Vegas and this ornament brought some humor to a heavy hearted day - knowing that he would have been appalled by the way the ornament maker paid no attention to the fact that the opposite sides of a die should add up to seven. This ironic ornament serves not just to commemorate my father, but always provides a teachable moment for anyone unfamiliar with the construction of dice. Now that Em will be having her baby shortly, that gives me one more person with whom to share. Everybody else runs when I point to the ornament.