When I moved to Italy at the age of 18 one of the things that surprised me the most was that "La Befana" (the Christmas Witch) was much more popular than Santa Clause. I grew up in the U.S. in an Italian family so we followed most Italian traditions... except for this one (we opened our gifts on Christmas Eve after eating a fish-based meal). Anyway, nowadays Santa has become quite popular here too, but at the time (30 years ago) he was more of a "secondary" Christmas character, an "american tradition". My younger cousins and other children in the area didn't look forward to Christmas Eve or Christmas Day for opening presents, rather they anxiously awaited January 6th, because the night of the 5th "La Befana" swept from house to house on her broom, climbing down the chimney - just like Santa Clause - and filling the stockings with fruit, candy and toys if the kids were good, or coal, garlic and onions if they had been bad. Instead of leaving milk and cookies like we do for Santa, they leave a glass of wine and an orange or tangerine for her to snack on. And they only go back to school the day after the Epiphany, so they have a full two weeks of holiday vacation. In the past few years Santa has gained much more popularity, but even though a lot of kids now receive and open their gifts on Christmas Eve, you can bet they will still be waking up to a stocking full of toys and candies on January 6th. There are a few legends regarding "La Befana" this is one of them (copied from Wiki): "Christian legend had it that Befana was approached by the biblical magi, also known as the Three Wise Men (or the three kings) a few days before the birth of the Infant Jesus. They asked for directions to where the Son of God was, as they had seen his star in the sky, but she did not know. She provided them with shelter for a night, as she was considered the best housekeeper in the village, with the most pleasant home. The magi invited her to join them on the journey to find the baby Jesus, but she declined, stating she was too busy with her housework. Later, La Befana had a change of heart, and tried to search out the astrologers and Jesus. That night she was not able to find them, so to this day, La Befana is searching for the little baby. She leaves all the good children toys and candy ("caramelle") or fruit, while the bad children get coal ("carbone"), onions or garlic." Last but not least, the render I am uploading is a test render. Daz decided to be nasty again and kept crashing over and over (despite all test renders went smoothly). After several attempts I said "scr#w it" and decided to just post it anyway even though it's low resolution. I really wanted to post this today since I worked on it so long and since today is the Epiphany. Also, I never got around to making a christmas card or New Year's Eve card so this my way of closing off the holiday season and wishing all of you a very Happy New Year!! (if I manage to finally get a good render I will switch it). Again, thanks for stopping by and for your feedback on my renders, and Happy Happy 2020!!!