Tales for Our Time-wise, we've been spending this December in and around New York, both with P G Wodehouse's Psmith, Journalist and with our brace of Damon Runyon capers - Three Wise Guys and Dancing Dan's Christmas. And in a certain sense this latest of our Yuletide yarns is also rooted in the Big Apple, as it came to me a couple of weeks ago when I was on the telly with Tucker and he brought up the subject of Rockefeller Center's unusually tatty Christmas tree.
Well, we played it for laughs on screen. But the forlorn symbolism of the thing stayed with me, so one morning I woke early and (as I do every other Christmas or so) I wrote it up as a short story, which tells the tale of a conniving governor and the strange choice for his capital city of a poor stunted misshapen Christmas tree. Mark Steyn Club members can hear Part One of The Little Christmas Tree by clicking here and logging-in. I would not presume to put it in the same pantheon as the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen, but it is a seasonal variation thereof for the peculiar hellishness of 2020.
If you're not yet a member of The Mark Steyn Club, we've a veritable library of audio adventures waiting for you - by Conan Doyle, H G Wells, Conrad, Kipling, Scott Fitzgerald - and a lot of Christmas tales too, from Dickens to O Henry to L M Montgomery. You can find more information about the Club here - and, if you've a pal who'd appreciate these Tales for Our Time, check out our Gift Membership.
If you enjoy Episode One, please join us for Part Two of The Little Christmas Tree tomorrow evening, Wednesday, just ahead of my midweek appearance with Tucker.
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BRAVO! I felt like I was there. What a minute..... I AM !
Much like when I purchased a cassette copy of "Fair Warning" at age 16, I listened to it a few times in a row.
Merry Christmas to all
Lovely music. Something about your story reminds me of Fahrenheit 451. Seeing all the current madness through the eyes of the little Christmas tree certainly gives one a jolt, in any event, two dew-claws up from the feline audience in my home, who enjoyed part one, and is looking forward to part two.
"..two dew claws up from the feline audience in my home.." Funny, I was trimming my bunnies' dew claws as I listened and their dew claws were up, too. They hated to see the little Christmas tree leave the farm.
Very nice. Reminds me of The Littlest Angel. I used to have a Viewmaster with that story and I remember the humble gifts such as a robin's egg that the young angel gave to the baby Jesus. And it is that gift that the baby reached out to instead of the other golden treasures offered.
Aww, that's a sweet memory, Nicola. I always wanted a Viewmaster for Christmas but all I got was oranges and walnuts, once a creepy Jack-in-the-box, and other useless things. The one thing I'll never forget was a xylophone. That I kept and it still sits on a shelf in the piano room. I know we can't love things but I loved that little xylophone. I could make my own music with it and nobody could stop me. It disappeared for about ten years. I found it in a box in the garage. I don't think my dad cared for the kind of music I made.