Finally it was time to place the
moss. This was the most creative and beautiful part of building the Krippe.
The moss changed the ungainly platform with the piled-up slag into pleasant
mountain scenery and meadows waiting for the tiny figures that would populate
them.
My Dad took the moss and worked it into the crevasses made by the slag and then covered the flat places with more moss. The floor of the wooden stable became a bed of moss and pieces of it filled the cracks. He opened up his ancient wooden box and took out the old composition and china figures that he had accumulated over the years. There were people and farm animal groups and wild animals for the mountain caves and crags. He opened up another box and carefully took out the old soap carvings that he had made and painted - castles and fairy-tale characters - each one had its special place on the Krippe. Then he filled the stable with his soap-carved Nativity figures and outside, a short distance away, he placed the three kings on elephant and horse and on foot - all carved from soap many years earlier. The three-piece Last Supper of Jesus - also one of his soap-carvings - was placed in its usual spot, as were several other beautiful pieces. Then he hung the swinging angel from the ceiling with thread and a cut rubber band so it would bounce a little. |
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