Background: We saw this in Walmart when out to buy our first Christmas tree, and for a couple of struggling newlyweds, the cost was very dear in addition to the start up costs of Christmas in general. Even though it is basically a cheap piece of plastic, I could close my eyes and imagine that I was at a Victorian Ball swirling to orchestra. Who could have predicted the foreshawdowing of our lives to come when Scott surprised me with this moving musical diorama on our 1st Anniversary almost 12 years ago. To this day, it remains one of my favorite holiday decorations. On years when I've been to busy to put up a tree, I still set up the Holiday Waltz and smile at the memories.

Photographic Aspects: Our camera is taking grainy pictures. I don't know why. It just started doing this several weeks ago. It's very, very frustrating. I probably screwed up a setting somewhere. Other than that, I managed to capture my musicians in a still shot while the dancers swirl around on the floor. It is very true that inanimate objects make great practice models.