Thursday's Things in a Row

Last Saturday Jim and I ran an errand in downtown Mesa. There was a small arts festival going on, so we took a walk down the street to see what was for sale AND I was also on the hunt for things in a row.

I was happy to see this cute little train with its cars in a row. The "engineer" obliged me when I asked if I could take her picture.

Next we came upon these young ladies performing on stage.

I was drawn to this wonderful aroma nearby - it was kettlecorn - a combination of sweet and salty popcorn - being made and sold at a nearby booth. The guy saw me taking a photo and said, "Here, this will make you happy." And then poured some into my hand!

These odd glass balls called to me. They almost look like jelly fish with these tentacles hanging off the bottom.

Now, I've seen hair bows before, but never anything like this. Here are the bows, with a magnet in the center.

So first you choose a bow. Then you choose what kind of center you want. They are made out of bottle caps. They fit over the center magnet. Voila!

Here's a cool thing. Look at all these spiders in a row. I know, Gail, aren't you proud of me? Ha ha!

These are spider ornaments and come from this story.

The Legend of the Christmas Spider

 Long ago in Germany, a mother prepared for Christmas Eve. She cleaned and scrubbed her home, chasing the spiders from the living room with her broom. The spiders fled to the attic and listened to the excitement as the Christmas tree was brought in and decorated. When all was quiet again, the little spiders crept back downstairs to see the beautiful tree. They were filled with happiness as they crawled along every branch, admiring the glittering beauty of each ornament. But alas, by the time they had finished climbing through the tree, it was completely draped with their dusty, gray cobwebs.

 When the Christ child came, He smiled as He looked upon the happy little spiders; however, He knew the mother would be heartbroken when she saw the shrouded tree. So He reached out and touched the webs and, blessing them, turned them into silver and gold. Now the Christmas tree sparkled and shimmered and was even more beautiful than before. Thus the custom to have tinsel of silver and gold and a spider ornament amongst the other decorations on the Christmas tree was born.

Isn't that a wonderful story? Here's a close up of one of the spider ornaments. I'll say that the beads are in a row!

So even though I do NOT like spiders, and even though I do NOT have a Christmas tree, I bought one of these beautiful ornaments. Because some day I will again have room for a Christmas tree, but I will NEVER like spiders. Only jeweled ones!

Did you find anything interesting this week?