Smells of the Holidays

I love the smells of the holidays. At our house, you smell the Douglas fir if you come in the patio door, and you smell citrus by the front door. We have to do a real tree every year. This year, I shopped for one very late, got a heck of a good deal on a nice fat little tree. The top is a little squirrely but that makes it individual.

We have a little angel on top but the snowman near the top is Mr. Bingle, instantly recognized by anyone who grew up in New Orleans. He's a mascot of Maison Blanche, a store bought by the Dillard's chain. He has his own jingle and everything. Can't have Christmas without Mr. Bingle. You can look at him as a symbol of everything crass and commercial, but to us he's a folkloric figure, a snowman Santa helper. His hat is an upside-down ice cream cone, and he's the personification of the ubiquitous New Orleans snowball treat. Yes, everything in Louisiana culture has a connection to food.