I got these homemade reindeer several years ago at a flea market. I keep them in the barn when they are not in use so that the weather does not take as bad a toll on them. That does not stop the bugs, though. There is always a pile of sawdust under them when I bring them out each year. If I had to store them in the house they would have needed treatment for bugs at the beginning. Perhaps a dose of wood preservative would have worked. Neglecting the wisdom of storing these reindeer at all, I put a bow on them and set them out each year, and they make me happy. As they approach the end of their useful lives, their legs are unsteady and have to be propped just so, but they can still stand unless there is a very high wind or a real deer bumps into them. The arrogance of a large rack is gone with only one small broken branch to tell of former glory. Even the fawn is not so frisky anymore. But, they are still with me to celebrate Christmas. Sometimes when I pull into the driveway, I still momentarily think they are real. They may be like the Velveteen Rabbit and after they have been loved for a very long time, they become real. Maybe that is what they smell on the North wind.
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