Sammy the spider was in a hurry. The word had gone out. It was moving day. The dust clouds were swirling up from the cabin floor, pushed by Grinnel's swishy-swashy motion as she swept and swept. It was the day before Christmas and it was time for her annual cleaning as she got the cabin ready for her Christmas tree. The cat and the dog were running about, and quickly dodged out the doorway when Grinnel opened it up to sweep out the dirt and debris. Sammy and the other spiders quickly climbed up the walls into the rafters and attic of the abode. From tiny cracks in the ceiling they peered down as Grinnel worked. She swept the corners, destroying all the intricate webwork of the spiders. New webs would have to be spun, but not until after Christmas.
In the barnyard outside the animals were in commotion. They knew it was Christmas time too, and they trudged about in the snowy yard, braying and neying and mooing and quacking and oinking and baaing. They stamped the snow down as they walked back and forth, back and forth, waiting for Grinnel.
“Now you just be patient,” Grinnel called. “I don't even have the tree yet.” She didn't move as fast as she wanted. She just wasn't as spry as she used to be. Years of hard work had taken its toll.
The animals all moaned in reply.
The spiders all gathered to the widest cracks to get a better view. They didn't dare sneak out for fear of Grinnel's broom. Sammy expected that it would be another uncomfortable Christmas – all trapped in the attic until the festivities were over.
Grinnel finished her sweeping, then snagged her coat, hat and gloves from pegs on the wall. Then she sat on a chair next to the door and put on her boots, tying the laces tightly at the top. She swung her scarf around her neck and grabbed the axe leaning up on the door frame. She pulled the door open and stepped out into the yard . The spiders all scurried to the attic vent where they could peek out and get a better view as Grinnel pulled the door shut behind her.
The animals all called out “Hooray” in their very best animal languages. Grinnel was on her way to cut a Christmas tree. She found a small sled on the side of the house and dragged it across the snow behind her. The farm was right up next to Blue Mountain, and she didn't have to hike very far to find a perfect tree. Grinnel was old, but was still strong from years of maintaining the farm all by herself. A few well placed strokes brought a small tree down, and she lifted it up on the sled.
When the animals saw Grinnel approaching they all shouted several animal language “hoorays.” She pulled the sled up to the front door, then lifted the tree off of the sled. She shook the tree as best she could to get all the snow off. The tree was wider than the doorway to the cabin and she had to twist and turn and push and shove to get in in. Finally the tree sprung into the cabin, after dropping a few hundred needles on the newly swept floor. Grinnel had an old wash tub she had filled with rocks to place the tree in. She stuffed it in and piled the rocks about the trunk to support it. Then she closed the door, removed her coat and winter gear, and sat down to admire the tree.
The animals in the yard began to howl. Grinnel always allowed them in to see the decorated tree on Chrismas eve. They were having a hard time waiting as they anticipated the chance to come in and see the decorations. Sammy and the spiders in the attic all moved back to the tiny cracks in the ceiling to get a limited view of what was going on.
Grinnel sighed. To herself she said, “Not much for decorations this year. Times are hard, and there just isn't enough to get anything fancy. What I have is what'll have to do.” She tore some paper bags into strips, and then tied a few brown bows on some of the branches. There was an old rope in the barnyard that she pulled out of the snow, shook it off, and then draped in on the branches as a garland. She had six candles in holders that she attached to the tree limbs. A few clusters of orange berries she had gathered from the hillside provided a little bit of color. “I guess that will have to do.”
Grinnel went to her bed in the corner of her cabin and got down on her knees to look under the bed. She reached far under the springs and pulled out an old shoe box. She lifted off the lid and carefully unwrapped the newspaper surrounding some crude wooden figures of a nativity scene. Last year's early winter had kept Grinnel housebound for a couple of weeks before Christmas, and she used the time to create these figures while she was cooped up inside. She had cut some branches into small 6 inch shafts to create the figures, carefully peeling off the bark on the end where she etched in faces. Cuttings with short branches provided arms for her figures. Animals were carved in resting positions from larger branches. The figures were not very realistic, but they conveyed a simple elegance and beauty. The Christ child in a manger was cut from a bark-free piece of whitish wood and was warm, even a bit radiant, to look upon. Grinnel quietly arranged the pieces under the tree, then sat down and rested while she gazed upon the scene.
The animals in the barnyard expressed their restlessness again, and Grinnel got up from her chair and went to the door.
“I'm coming, I'm coming. I know, you want to see too. Just be patient. I'm coming.”
She swung open the front door. The sun had come out and was glistening on the snow. Grinnel grabbed her coat, hat and gloves and walked out into the sunshine. “Ducks first, this year,” she announced. The ducks quacked loudly in agreement. She walked to their pen and undid the latch to the gate. The ducks waddled quickly to to cabin door, pecking at the loose pine needles on the floor as they went. They went up to the tree and cocked their heads this way and that to see it all from different angles. They bent their heads down to look at the nativity figures. Grinnel was afraid they would peck at them, but as they got closer to them, they kept a reverent distance, while examining them in detail. Then Grinnel ushered them out into the barnyard and closed them into their pen.
In a similar fashion, Grinnel carefully ushered each group of animals to come and observe the tree and the cresch she had created. Each animal had hurried right up to the cabin door, but then entered and observed with a quiet reverence. They seemed to know that there was something special about the tree and the nativity set. Sanctity descended upon them one by one as they entered the cabin. When they were all through they were no longer restless. A quiet peace prevailed in the barnyard.
The spiders had watched all this, but hadn't ventured out. They noticed the proximity of Grinnel's broom, and stayed warily out of sight and out of reach. How Sammy and the others yearned to creep out and get a better view. But the older spiders had warned them of impending doom. They knew that Grinnel hated spiders and did not want them in her home at all in the winter time. So they kept out of sight. There were probably 30 of them all hiding in the ceiling.
Grinnel yawned. The sun was going down now, and darkness descended. She lit the candles on the tree and sat at the table eating a few morsels of dinner, as she stared at her illuminated tree. Small shadows dashed across the nativity figures below the tree, almost animating them. She ate slowly, contemplating her Christmas display.
At length, her eyes became heavy and she quietly dressed for bed. She knelt beside the tree as she said her evening prayers, then she climbed into her bed, leaving the candles to burn through the night.
Sammy waited until he was sure Grinnel was asleep, then he carefully crept out on the wall below the ceiling.
“P-s-s-s-t! Where are you going?” loudly whispered Sammy's father.
“I'm going to see the tree. Right up close,” Sammy responded.
“But, you can't do that. What if Grinnel wakes up? What if you get trapped down there and can't get back up? What if....What if....?”
Sammy couldn't hear him any more, he was far down the wall. He spotted a branch of the tree brushing up against the wall and headed right for it. The other spiders watched, and then a few of the young ones crept out too. Then pretty soon all the spiders crawled down onto the tree. Then a real party began.
Spiders crawled all over the tree, going up and down the branches, jumping from one level to another, and everywhere they went they spun fine grey webs behind them. It didn't take long until the whole tree was covered with webs, with intricate designs as well as random patterns.
Then suddenly, there was a sound on the roof. A soft “clunk” followed by soft poundings in the snow. The spiders were attentive, and scurried back up into the attic, fearing discovery. Soot shook down the chimney, and then a large man in a red suit bent down and ducked under the chimney opening. He dropped the bag he was carrying in surprise as he looked at the tree.
“My, my, someone has been busy here. This beautiful little tree is covered with cobwebs! Hmmmm...what shall we do? What shall we do with this tree? I have nothing in my bag to take care of this. All I have in my suit is this little bag of fairy dust that the elves gave me to help lighten the weight of the sleigh for the reindeer. I wonder what would happen if....”
Santa took the bag of fairy dust and sprinkled it lightly on the web covered tree. The dust magically turned the spider webs into strands of silver! He sprinkled it all over, until every spider web had turned into glistening silver!
“Ha, Ha,” he laughed. “This be a fitting gift for Grinnel.” And with that he put the remaining dust in his pocket and picked up his bag and rose up the chimney.
As the sun's rays began to stream through the windows in the early morning on Christmas day, the silvery mesh about the tree reflected dazzling light throughout the cabin. Grinnel was awakened by the radiance of the light in the room. She stretched in her bed then sat up and turned to see the tree. Her jaw fell open as she gazed on the magnificence of the scene. She got up and walked over to the tree. Looking down she saw the nativity scene, surrounded with woven strands of silver. The reflection of the light from strands created a halo like glow about the figures. Grinnel knelt in reverence before the cresch.
The spiders in the ceiling celebrated. Never had their handiwork been more appreciated. The barnyard animals noticed reflected light streaming out the windows of the cabin, and came to peer in. A quiet awe encircled Grinnel's home that day, and she basked in the warmth of the attendant spirit that seemed to have as its center the tiny nativity scene.
People all about heard about the Grinnel's miracle, and from that day to this, have decorated their Christmas tree with strands of tinsel and spider ornaments, signifying the celebration of the spiders and the glorious transformation of the webs into strands of silver. And that is how it came to be that people everywhere place tinsel on their Christmas trees.
