“You can tell a lot about a person by how they handle three things: a rainy day, lost luggage and tangled Christmas tree lights.”
— Maya Angelou — author, poet, singer (1928-2014)
We don’t quite have our Christmas decorations up yet, but we’re thinking about it. Some years we cut a native cedar and other years we stop by a box store that sells Christmas trees. The store-bought trees are easier to decorate with their slender limbs and smooth needles. It’s possible they are dyed. I’ve hauled them to the woods, and by spring they are still green.
The cedar trees are harder to decorate, with prickly needles, but they are free for the taking and they smell fragrant. Either way, it’s fun to pick out a tree and go through all the annual discussions of: Is it too small or too tall, too thin or too thick? Finally, we pick out the perfect tree and take it into the house and the decorating begins.
In the past our Christmas tree was much, much larger and we changed the color and theme of the decorations from year to year. But these days, since I’m mostly the one who decorates the tree, I’ve chosen an old-fashioned theme complete with large and multi-colored bulbs like we had as a child. There’s a string of lighted plastic peppermints and candy canes, along with Christmas balls of red, gold and green. A few assorted ornaments are added — mostly gifts from friends — and a star at the top. I wish I could find a string of those bubbly colored lights that adorned my childhood tree. We don’t usually hang tinsel or use spray-on snow. Tinsel and snow take a lot of patience and it’s messy.
It’s interesting how you can end up back with a “memory” tree when you’ve been through trends of the tiny white light tree, the all silver and gold tree, the dyed white tree, the silver tinsel tree with the rotating colored wheel, and so on.
Sam is responsible for the outdoor lighting display. Along the full-length porch Sam strings a magical display of lights in loops, and bows in colors of red and white. The lights outside and inside would be enough of a Christmas present all by themselves, just basking in the glow of a warm home, lots of love and the reading of the Bible’s Luke 2 Christmas story and Clement C. Moore’s “Twas the Night Before Christmas.”
My favorite Boden Christmas catalog arrived. On the back cover owner Johnnie Boden was asked six questions: Describe your Christmas tree. Have you ever pre-opened a Christmas gift and wrapped it back? What was the best Christmas gift you ever received? Most embarrassing Christmas mishap? Second most embarrassing mishap? Have you ever fallen out over a Christmas gift?
My answers to the above questions would be: Christmas tree described above. Opened my “Ken” doll (Barbie’s boyfriend). Transistor radio and “V-rroom,” Sam put the presents in piles. I thought the small one was mine, but it was the dog’s. My V-rroom broke first time out. No “falling out,” but one Christmas I got yard tools and another two purple fishing poles.
This year I think I might be getting a depth-finder.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 29 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 29 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
