Nutty for Nutcrackers

A Florida nutcracker!

The Nutcracker is a beautiful live ballet production we have seen every year for the past too many years to count. The music is, well, classic. The choreography is, well, classic.

It is a classic, and, along with the Rockettes at Radio City, a long-standing symbol of the holiday season.

The ballet aside, for the past too many years to count, my personal Nutcracker collection has grown in its own eclectic, and semi-classic style. I'm nutty for 'em (sorry, I had to go there).

Anyway, through the years I have added to my collection (even though I have now shared it with a rather fun three-year-old) with my favorites and it now includes an assortment of the basic, traditional Nutcrackers and some, not-so-traditional.

However, tradition is subjective if you ask me (no one is). Tradition is whatever we want it to be, right? There comes a time when leaving behind some traditions and beginning new ones is helpful for the soul.

So, along with Clara, Rat King (one little girl I know thinks the rats in the ballet are the Big-Bad-Wolf, and that is okay with me), Toy Soldiers, Soldiers in fur, Soldiers in sequins...I dropped in a couple that really speak to me on two levels.

Living in a tropical clime means I needed an appropriate Nutcracker. I found one wearing flip-flops, shorts, a Tommy Bahama- looking shirt, and holding a pineapple (I can not help but think of the television show, Psych). The coolest Nutcracker, ever.

But, nothing says Christmas Nutcracker Splendor more than my newest addition. Here she is, wearing a stylish hat, clad in black...with cocktails!

Cheers, and let's do a Grand Jeté for the arrival of the holiday season! -- Pam

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Cheers to the holiday season!