Years ago my Dad bought a McLaughlin cutter, a cutter that was to become a permanent fixture in our front yard over the Christmas season. Somewhat different than the sleigh in the antique photograph featured in our Meanderings section, it was elegant and sleek, its swan-like lines hinting at speed and agility.

Unfortunately, we didn’t own a horse to pull it! But that small detail didn’t deter Dad. He headed down to his workshop in the basement where he fashioned life sized plywood silhouettes of a horse and a driver – complete with top hat, plaid scarf and a loden green coat with brass buttons. The only thing missing was the steam rising from the flanks of the horse!

Dad hauled the horse and driver to the front yard and hitched them to the cutter. He added sleigh bells and a harness to the horse, threw a buffalo rug over the knees of the driver and piled a stack of presents on the seat beside him. To complete the picture, he rigged a spotlight that cast a shadow of the sleigh onto the front of our house. This dashing silhouette became our family’s seasonal signature.

Year after year, wheeling into my parent’s driveway on Christmas Eve and seeing the horse and cutter on the front lawn, was a sure sign that we were home – back in the embrace of laughter, memories and warmth of family.

Although our family Christmas celebration has shifted from our childhood home to my farm, traditions still mean everything to Dad. Wouldn’t you know it, the horse and cutter arrived on a flatbed for my inaugural Christmas. The torch or should I say spotlight, had been handed off to a new generation.

It was left to my husband and brother-in-law to position the sleigh, add the driver, prop up the prancing horse and get the shadow “just right”.

That familiar shadow is forever etched in our hearts. It is the star that beckons us home.

Merry Christmas