Sitting on the couch early January putting away Christmas tree decorations - I asked myself "when did we start journaling our lives by what we hang on the tree?"
From years ago I have what were likely inexpensive at the time plastic - or maybe something pre-plastic? baubles that I have come to treasure. Yes they are old, not flashy; they don't blink or make sounds, and many are hung on the original butcher string that my mom used to hang them on the old tree when I was 5 yrs old - but I love them all the same.
As I search through our tree for all the stuff I had so much fun hanging almost 2 months ago - it occurs to me that I definately have my favorites.Yes I have named them - you mean you don't?? Oh the Onions and Disco Ball are pretty, but there are leaders in this pack. The Golden Lantern - a strange open beaded structure - with fake candle which inadvertently pops out each year, and string and wire home made hanger. I used to imagine it was magic, that the light would shine out to Santa who would come and deliver wonderful presents! I still catch myself staring at it, and day dreaming about sleighs and snow and ..... but I digress!
Then there is the Stag in the Silver Pear - who swings inside, hanging there forever leaping off to somewhere? It was my absolute favorite - and I know my little fingers forever poked and moved it to show the little deer leaping inside - his silver antlers defining him as Santa's best! O the imagination of children. And if you know me, you gotta believe I had a humdinger of an imagination when I was a kid.
Those were what hung on the family Christmas tree, along with the fragile glass balls that broke when you walked by them, when I first realized that Santa may have delivered the toys, but mom and dad wrapped them! Laying on my tummy and peaking into the kitchen under the bedroom door as my brothers and sister slept, I saw Ma and Pa on sitting cross legged playing with the airplane, the Easy Bake Oven and toys spread all around them! I can still feel shivers of excitement knowing that I'd peeked!! And after the pandemonium of opening gifts, we'd all pile into the car - something big and American made - and plow through the prairie roads to grandpa and grandmas. It meant a new comb, clothes, socks, oranges and hard candy. Ah yes, piling 4 sugar crazed kids into a car to head out in the snow for an hour drive - what a treat that must have been for my young parents (gasp!)
And now I pack up the schmoopy decorations - the ones my hubby and I have gathered over our past 12 years together - "First Home", "Our Christmas Together", "The Two of Us" - commemorating years, moves, new homes, and the wonder of two people who love Christmas. And I mean LOVE Christmas! Each one is put back into its own box, all meaning so much to me that sometimes I get all sniffly when I see them. Hey yer reading from a woman who drags the tree out of the basement on November 12th.
Our poor old tree - purchased on Vancouver Island, the prelit darling is tall and full - but alas, like many folks as they age, "the lights don't go all the way to the top" any more. Yes indeed when first it was twinkling in the living room awaiting the balls and ribbons and garland - all lights indeed were shining forth as it were. Then one day late November Mac says - did ya know yer lights are out? WHAT! How can this be? With Griswaldian attention to detail I checked - he checked, we both checked - plugging and replugging, switching bulbs - but it was not to be. A dark lightless gap had appeared mid way up the tree - leaving a power outage which implied no one was home. Closed until furthur notice.
Thank goodness the hardware store was open. The strick yet efficient salesperson quickly dispersed any illusions of replacing one burnt out bulb - "We don't carry them - you'll have to buy some LED lights". Rats! So on went the short but brilliant white string of LED lights - and now Hubby says next year we'll replace all the lights on O Taunenbaum with new ones. Why do I have a sense of many hours of snipping off old wires, trying to attach new wires with teensy weensy straps and an end of heading to Costco for a new tree? THAT isn't positive thinking at all!
Yes the outdoor lights are now rolled and tucked into their respective bunks, the house is returning to normal (It's dusty and needs a vacumm - that's as normal as my house ever gets!) A huge wind storm early in the year has robbed us of our two mature green ash trees - and left us with a cleanup bill and a pile of logs - which we've given to a friend as a large labour intensive birthday gift! The leftover Christmas baking is safely tucked into the deep freeze, the turkey has been converted to soup, and the BEST EVER Christmas cake is waiting for a cold winter night to come out and warm us.
Even the angel has had it's day - and the one that graces our tree comes from my hubby's youth. She's petite, no fibre optics or massive wings - but she shines and glitters - occassionally at a bit of a slant - and makes me feel that all is really going to be okay in the world. She is always the last packed, the first unpacked. I haven't given her a name but she looks like a Mabel to me. She watched over us for another loving Christmas.
I feel our house is blessed and look forward to what the Lord has planned for us this year - good, bad or ugly - how we respond to events beyond our control will determine our joy and sorrow. This I know in my heart of hearts. We are safe and warm, and have a loving circle of family and friends. And that, along with Mabel and my old ornaments, sustains me until next Christmas.
Now it's time for a cuppa and some of the shortbread I stashed in the cupboard! Have a wonderful new year, stay filled with faith and pray for some snow!
