title: Christmas Spirits: Snowbound New York City reveals spirits of Twas the Night Before Christmas
author: Carolyn M. Stearns
description: Carolyn Stearns resides in rural Connecticut, her childhood home was an 18 th century house. That early indoctrination to historical research and life nurtured a lifelong love of historical reading. Now as a professional performance storyteller, historical stories are sought, told and created. This tale came from her search for a historical Christmas piece.
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  ## Five Days before Christmas Eve
  
  
  THIS IS A STORY that starts at dusk on the last Sunday in Advent.
  
  
  Snow lay thick over Norway, especially over Oslo, especially, especially over
  Cannon Avenue, and especially, especially, especially over the peculiar,
  crooked blue house at the very end of the street, where pretty soon someone
  was going to have to suck it up and shovel the front walkway, past the snow-
  laden pear tree and all the way out to the gate. Didn’t anybody live there? Oh
  yes, someone did. There were footsteps, both small and large, from the gate to
  the front steps. There were candles burning inside the frozen windowpanes, and
  smoke was rising from the chimney.
  
  
  And in the kitchen a neighbor girl named Lisa was sitting at the table staring
  dreamily into space while she listened to Juliette, the cheerful woman
  stirring a pot on the stove and telling a roma