Navidad

I sat on a straw bale in front of the barn.
I felt the cold in my little hands, but I had no intention of moving.
Curiosity trumped coldness.
Grandpa had told me to wait for him here...
He was going to the forest to fetch a magical character that only appears a few days before Christmas Eve.
So, I wrapped myself in the red plaid blanket grandma had given me and waited for him.
I don’t know how long I was there for but probably no more than ten minutes.
And suddenly, in the distance, I began to see a small figure.
And he became a little bigger.
And bigger.
It was grandpa and he was carrying something in his arms!
I got rid of the blanket and ran to see what it was.
- But grandpa, it's just a log!
- No, it looks like a log but it’s in fact, Tió. You need to wrap him up in a blanket to keep him warm and give it something to eat so that he recovers his magical abilities.
I was fascinated and followed Grandpa's instructions to a tee.
I covered the log with the red plaid blanket my grandmother had given me...
Then placed a glass of water from the river Cardener of the Solsonès mountains in a container, and in another, an unpeeled tangerine.
- Let him rest and recover little by little, said grandma...
But I was too impatient.
Would this log be able to eat the tangerine that I left on the plate for him?
I opened the dining room door, looked at the floor in front of Tió, and indeed, he had eaten and drunk everything only leaving the tangerine skin!
My grandparents were right: Tió was truly magical!
- He says he wants a yogurt.
- You can talk to him, grandma?
- Yes, but he is a log of few words. He’s recovering his strength to be able to manufacture gifts for you on Christmas Eve. Go on, bring him a yogurt!
I brought him the yogurt, I let him eat it in peace, and when I got back, the yogurt had completely disappeared, tub and all!
How can it be?
What if I sing the song I learned at school? Will he talk to me? Will he give me my gifts?
And I picked up a cane and beat him gently while I sang:
“Caga Tió,
d’avellana i de torró,
sino cagues un bon munt!
Garrotades al damunt!
Patim, patam, patum!!!”
But there was no way.
Tió did not “release” anything ...
“It's not Christmas yet," my parents would say... “You have to learn to be patient!”
And finally, Christmas arrived.
I was so nervous!
The carols never seemed to end!
I wanted to see how Tió "shat" my gifts!
We sang the song for the first time.
- What is that?
- Tiny chocolates!
- Is it working?
We sang the song again.
- Coloured pencils!
And we sang it again...
More chocolates and… the empty yogurt tub!
I was speechless.
Tió was really magical.
- See? We told you, Montse! Tió is a magic creature! My family would say with a big smile on their faces...
We sang again one last time and many more coins began to fall from Tió’s rear.
- These are not chocolates, these are real coins!
- Yes! Can you see how much he loves you?
I will never forget those magical moments when I first met Tió.
Since then, he has visited us every Christmas.
Today, I love observing the reaction of the little ones when Tió "shits" gold coins and other wonderful gifts.
I love seeing the joy in their eyes...
The fascination they feel trying to understand how a tree trunk can release gifts from its butt!
And like everyone else, in the end, they reach the same conclusion I did:
Tió is magical.
So, if you want to live a truly special Christmas this year, visit our rural house in Lleida.
Come and meet our Tió, a member of our family for many years now.
Gift magic moments to your loved ones in an incomparable setting.
We’ll be waiting for you at Marcús Casa Rural this Christmas with our Tió
all wrapped up in his red plaid blanket!
Book your stay here.