…Or, something like that; seemed like a good headline at the moment. Point is, the folks who decked the halls with Christmas cheer this season at the Governor’s Mansion in Denver have raised at least one eyebrow over at conservative blog Colorado Peak Politics:

In the place of honor on a Christmas tree usually reserved for an angel or the Star of Bethlehem, the tree in the Governor’s Mansion is topped with a random character out of the Nutcracker ballet. Don’t get us wrong, we like the Nutcracker ballet as much as anybody (read into that what you will), but damn this thing is kind of creepy.

Creepy!

The blog, no fan of Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, cites a report by the Denver Post’s The Know, which, “explains that the creature is Mother Ginger, who hides eight gingerbread men under her skirt in the ballet.” Peak asks, “Has anyone ever heard of this random character?”

According to that repository of all things cultural and otherwise, Wikipedia, Mother Ginger and her children appear to be part of the tableau in the beloved ballet’s Act II:

In honor of the young heroine, a celebration of sweets from around the world is produced: chocolate from Spain, coffee from Arabia, tea from China, and candy canes from Russia all dance for their amusement; Danish shepherdesses perform on their flutes; Mother Ginger has her children, the Polichinelles, emerge from under her enormous hoop skirt to dance; a string of beautiful flowers perform a waltz. To conclude the night, the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier perform a dance.

Whether that makes her worthy of a Christmas display at the guv’s house isn’t our call.