I like to do my Christmas decorating early, and if it isn’t early, it seems too late to bother, but this was not my Grandmother Ina’s way. Christmas happened at Christmastime, not before. During the days before Christmas, she made gifts, organized boxes for mailing to relatives, planned meals and brought in supplies, and wrote her holiday cards and letters. But decorating didn’t happen until the eve of Christmas Eve.
On the day prior to Christmas
Eve, Grandpa Jack went out and cut a 4-foot fir tree, set it in a stand, and
placed it on the library table in the living room. I suspect Grandpa had
already located the tree he would cut. Then Ina and any available family members
decorated it with a few red balls and tinsel. The tinsel was saved from year to
year until finally it was so fragile that it had to be replaced. Candles were
clipped to the branches, and during the Christmas Eve party, all gathered round
to enjoy a few magical moments while the candles burned.
“Shirley lit the tree, and it was so very pretty,” wrote Ina. “The moon was shining in brightly and lighting the tree and everything else in sight.” How special that sounds! – a roomful of family and friends sitting quietly together enjoying the candlelit tree in the moonlight.
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| Note the excitement of the child |
Have you brought your tree in yet? I went out into the winter weather to get ours yesterday. I shoveled a light snow from the back door to the storage shed, and in two trips, I carried our tree into the house. I set it up, and that’s as far as I got.
I didn’t have a Christmas tree in this little town house for many years, and I missed it. When the slimline “pencil” trees became available, I bought one. It fits nicely between the organ and the curio cabinet.
Our tree is not pre-lit, so set-up isn’t easy as it might be. I have to fix the extension cord to reach two strings of lights and the star topper. Long story short, I ordered a battery-operated star with a timer, but it won’t be here until the end of the week.
And
then, when I got up this morning, I found myself shopping for a pre-lit pencil tree
with multicolor lights. In past years, these have been expensive, but I found and
ordered one that was within my decorating budget. Unfortunately, it won’t be
here until mid-January, so I’ll just have to make-do with the present tree, and
after all, that was my original plan anyway.
Enjoy this wonderful season! KW
2 comments:
Being married to Forester Dan, only real trees make an appearance at our house. Sometimes I think an artificial one would be easier but the thought never makes it out of my mouth because I know how much a real one matters to him. You'll love your new improved tree next year (and at the rate time seems to pass these days, it'll be here sooner than we think!).
I was sad when we quit bringing in a real tree. A live tree is aromatic and brings an ambiance that just can't be matched. That said, the pencil tree makes it possible for us to have this symbol of Christmas here, and at the farm, it's the only way because of the ease of set-up and takedown. Sometimes we just leave the tree up until we go back in the spring. That's not ideal, but at least I'm not worrying about a tree drying out in the house. But -- where past meets present, it's a disappointment.
And yes, you hit the nail on the head. We think of getting ready for Christmas 2023 before 2022 is over. I'm already telling myself it doesn't all have to happen this year. It would have been nice to donate the old tree to the thrift store before Christmas this year while folks might be looking for decorations. But you're right -- I do look forward to setting up the new tree next year.
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