Goodbye, Candy Cane Arch

We used to have a candy cane archway that stood in front of our house. I say used to because it did not make it through the wind and ice storm we had last night. In fact, it didn't even make it past midnight. It was about 10:30 last night when Susie walked into the room and asked, "Did you hear that?" "Hear what?" "The candy cane arch is done." I looked out the window and her beloved candy cane arch was split into two pieces. Now it usually splits into two pieces for storage, but this time one of the pieces had been bent in half by the wind and impaled on the stake that was supposed to hold it up. Goodbye, candy canes.

A few of you might find it hard to believe that I'm actually a bit saddened by this. This is, after all, the very same candy cane arch that was the bane of my existence two years ago. That was the year Susie bought it. That was also the year that I had to stand it back up, restake it, and reinforce it again and again. (It's no wonder it broke last night because this thing catches wind like you wouldn't believe! If I had a sailboat, I would have a candy cane arch as my sail.) Anyway, I was so frustrated by the arch that it didn't even go up last year. I should have disposed of it this summer. But I didn't. And Susie has been determined to turn our house into a lifesize gingerbread house for Christmas. This year she took the initiative on the Sunday before Thanksgiving to hang the outdoor lights. I didn't think the candy canes were going up, but she got them out, and put them up with me and her cousing helping. They had blown over a handful of times so far this year, but Susie was always out there working to get them back up and reinforce them. I did it a few times too because I got to the point where I thought they looked pretty good. So the quest for the lifesize gingerbread house remains unfulfilled for at least another year. We do have an inflatable Santa driving a fire engine that we never opened. It's in the trunk of the car to go back to Garden Ridge. Maybe we'll keep it and put it up so we have at least one Christmas yard decoration taller than I am.

This all does make me think of the story that candy canes are actually religious symbols. Have you heard this? The story goes that a candymaker in Indiana invented the candy cane. It was made in the shape of a shepherd's staff (also a "J") to represent Jesus as the Good Shepherd. It's a hard candy to symbolize that Jesus is the solid rock on which the church is built. It's white to represent the purity of the virgin birth. The traditional candy canes have three small red stripes to represent the scourging of Jesus that alternate with one thick red stripe to symbolize the blood shed on the cross. To be honest, I don't really think this is a true story, but I do love the thought behind it all.