Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
I'm so delighted you're joining me right now for Blissberry Bear's Holiday Storytime.
Blissberry zooms to us from the Great Bear Constellation in his Blue Pearl Starship to tell us magical,
Mystical fairy tales of the heart.
Fun,
Entertaining,
Educational fairy tales blending fantasy and reality with tips for helping you and your children in your daily lives.
Today's Christmas tale is The Very First Candy Cane.
Suitable for children of all ages,
We're about to see how Santa's wish to create something that will bring love to even those who don't believe in Santa Claus comes true.
Along the way,
This tale shares about trust,
Intuition,
Patience,
Teamwork,
Not giving up,
Developing an idea into a product,
And finding the joy in playing and loving what we choose to do.
As you listen,
Use your creative imagination to picture the words you're about to hear in your mind.
This will build or increase your creative imagination,
Talents,
And skills the same way physical exercising builds your muscles.
Are you wondering why it's important to increase your creative imaginations?
It's because a child's level of creativity is the basis on which their entire world and future success is built.
And that goes for us adults too.
That's right.
Everyone,
Especially your children's level of creativity,
Is the basis on which their entire world and future success is built.
So right now,
Fire up your imaginations as Santa's imagination creates the very first candy cane.
Every year,
Just after resting up a bit from Christmas and celebrating the coming of a new year,
Santa starts seeking new ways to help more and more people feel and experience the love of Christmas.
This can be quite a challenge,
You know,
Because there are many,
Many people who don't even believe in Santa.
Yes,
You heard correctly.
Some people don't believe in Santa.
And one year,
It was these people,
People who don't believe in Santa,
That Santa wanted to reach out and help.
Santa wanted something that would melt everyone's heart,
Whether they believed in him or not.
He really wanted to create something that would make them pause,
Even if just for a moment,
To taste the love of the Christmas season.
Holding this intent firmly in his mind,
Santa did what he always does first.
He called all the elves together.
He shared his vision with them.
And he asked them for any ideas or suggestions they had.
Idea after idea popped up.
Some of them actually turned into useful and helpful creations.
None of them,
However,
Had the capability of reaching as many non-believers as Santa felt inspired to reach.
So,
Just like every other year,
Santa asked for any ideas or suggestions that came up after the meeting to be placed in the creative box of ideas.
Each day,
Right after dinner,
Santa read and carefully considered all the ideas that the elves put in this creative box of ideas.
When an idea looked promising,
He would again call all the elves together to talk about it.
Many great ideas were offered and many new projects were started to turn them into reality.
However,
None of these ideas was so grand as to be able to capture the hearts of non-believers.
Day after day,
Week after week,
And month after month slid off the calendar.
Some people might have become impatient or worried,
But not Santa.
He kept very busy every day with the many tasks at hand,
And trusted that the perfect solution would eventually turn up.
One late afternoon,
While making his daily rounds through all the production departments,
Inspecting all the projects at their various stages of completion,
A very simple looking stick caught Santa's attention.
Santa stopped and he stared.
He pondered.
He wondered.
Santa couldn't figure out why something so simple had caught his eye.
Something he'd seen many times before without ever giving it a second glance or a thought.
After all,
It was something that had been part of the Christmas toy collection for thousands of years.
It was a long,
Crooked neck staff that a sheep herder might use to lovingly guide sheep away from danger.
Without any brilliant ideas flashing before him as to why he had stopped and stared at the shepherd's staff,
Santa just kept touring through the toy factory.
Several hours later,
With all the inspections done,
Santa headed outside to enjoy his daily farewell to the setting sun.
As he opened the large wooden doors,
Skillfully carved with images of reindeer,
Santa was greeted with the most amazing sunset.
The sky was splashed all aglow in deep,
Deep reds.
Reds redder than any red Santa had ever seen.
They reminded him of the Santa suit he put on every Christmas Eve to deliver gifts of love throughout the world.
Making the deep,
Deep reds look even brighter were the big,
Puffy,
White clouds that hovered in the sky.
They too reminded him of the white,
Fluffy fur around the cuffs and down the center of his Santa suit.
As he gazed at this momentary spectacle of nature's supreme grandeur,
Every cell in Santa's body tingled in excitement,
Danced in joy.
With every cell vibrating in exuberant ecstasy,
He reached way up in the sky and pulled down one of those big,
Puffy,
White clouds.
Santa can do these kind of things,
You know.
He twisted and twirled that big,
Puffy,
White cloud round and round,
Round and round.
As he twisted and twirled,
He also started pulling on it.
The once puffy,
White cloud was getting thinner and longer as Santa twirled and twisted.
What fun he was having!
As he kept delightfully playing with no thought of creating anything special in mind,
Santa suddenly started shaping this once puffy,
White cloud into a crooked-necked shepherd's staff that was as long as he was tall.
Without hesitating for a moment,
He again reached way up into the sky and dipped his fingers into the blazing red sunset.
He brought it down in front of his eyes and thought about licking it off his fingers like whipped cream scooped up from a mixing bowl.
Instead,
He twirled it round and round,
Round and round,
The white shepherd's staff.
Now the staff was nothing but swirls of red and white.
One of the elves who had been watching from inside came running out saying,
That looks so yummy.
Hmm,
Santa thought,
Yummy.
He pointed his fingertips,
He pointed his fingertip,
Still dripping red from the sunset,
Right at the bottom of the staff.
Brilliant rainbow-colored sparkles swirled out of his fingertip.
The bottom of the staff lit up like a tip of a Fourth of July sparkler.
Brilliant rainbow-colored sparkles swirled round and round Santa's red and white creation.
The sparkles swirled round and round from top to bottom,
Infusing this wondrous creation with the sweetness of Santa's love.
He then handed it to the elf,
Go ahead,
Lick it.
The elf's eyes opened wide and lit up in delight.
It's so sweet,
He exclaimed as his tongue tasted the sweet surprise.
This is what we've been looking for.
Everyone around the world will like this.
This is how they'll feel your love,
Santa.
Hearing the jubilation outside,
Another elf came running out and wanted a lick.
Wow,
Can I taste that Santa staff?
Santa staff,
The first elf replied.
Why did you call it that?
Because it looks like a shepherd's staff in Santa colors.
What a clever name,
Santa said.
Let's see what names the other elves might have.
Breaking the staff into lots of little pieces,
Santa gave some to every elf and asked them to suggest a name.
Suggestion after suggestion rang through the air.
How about Sweet Stick?
Candy Stripes?
Baton Twirls?
Tasty Treat?
The elves just loved coming up with new names,
Just as much as they loved coming up with new toys.
What about Sticky Stick?
Simply Scrumptious?
Those are really great,
Santa replied.
But Candy Cane,
Santa.
Candy Cane.
Call it a Candy Cane,
Shouted another elf,
Jumping up and down with glee.
The elf's excitement ignited a knowing in all the other elves as they started chanting Candy Cane,
Candy Cane,
Candy Cane.
Santa's cheeks began glowing brighter and brighter.
With a big belly laugh,
Santa declared,
Candy Cane.
Candy Cane it is.
Okay,
Everyone,
Let's get busy.
We have lots and lots of Candy Canes to make.
And with wishes for your everlasting happiness and peace,
With prayers for peace among all people,
And with great love and respect for your individual adventure through life,
Blissberry and I love you.
From the bliss and love of our one heart,
Merry,
Merry Christmas,
And a happy,
Happy holidays,
Decorated with blessings,
Blessings,
Blessings.
