December 19, 2017 – Deck the Halls with boughs of holly

         Christmas is coming fast and seems early to me this year.  The little blip of snow the second weekend in December set me back a few days, but I usually don’t put up the tree until two weeks before Christmas because I keep it up until Epiphany in January.  So, I am actually on schedule. Most everyone else has their decorations and lights up by Thanksgiving weekend and most take them down December 26^th.  NOT ME!

         My schedule is always different, two weeks before Christmas I put them up and most years two weeks after Christmas I take them down.  I wait for the Wise Men to come before I budge at taking things down and then it is the same slow process as when I put them up.  I actually leave my wreaths usually until February – they aren’t hurting anyone as I enjoy them.

         I dropped my final group of Christmas cards at the post office and put my wreaths up the same day.  I brought in the fake trees and the lights are all working and lite the large one.  I enjoy a couple days of just the tree lights before I decorate it.  I like the simplicity of just green trees with lights. My dear husband knows it is his duty when he gets up in the morning to snap on the Christmas tree lights so that I can wake up and see it from my bed pillow repose when I wake up. [Cheap thrill that.]

         The first thing I bring out is the ceramic nativity scene, or crèche.  Yearly I rotate it from place to place.  I think it will be on the sofa table this year. I can enjoy it up-close and personal there.  My Mom bought me the white ceramic pieces when she visited us in Kansas City early in my marriage. We passed by a ceramic shop next to the grocery store and I paused and counted the pieces.  I had stopped before and priced it and I was still deciding should I buy it or not as it was the middle of summer.

         “Would you like me to buy it?”  Mom asked softly. [No matter what window you are window shopping in – your Mom always knows what you are looking at – doesn't she?]

         “It has 20 pieces.”  I answered knowing the price was a little steep and I really did want it but didn’t have the ready cash to buy it myself.

         “I’ll buy it for you if you promise you will paint it before Christmas.” She said.  Mom often had conditions tied to her gift strings.

         “Yes, it will be painted.”  I answered.

         Before Christmas that year, I painted the pieces and then rubbed them with an antique finish.  Most of them have survived 39 Christmases and many long distance moves.  The shepherd dog’s nose is a bit broken, the angel was broken in half in a corporate move and glued back together, but then it broke again and was unrepairable.  So, I am down to 19 pieces.  Mom, I can honestly say, “Yes” should have been the answer, not “It has 20 pieces.”  It will be the very last Christmas decoration I let go of when I am old and gray and can’t decorate anymore.

        

Next, I trot out the Nut Crackers; then I decorate the mantelpiece. If the weather is nice, I shift to working outside and make centerpiece arrangements of various evergreens for intimate friends as gifts and one for myself.  This year I am going to do a front-door planter evergreen arrangement.  I’ve been debating it for years, and this is the year – sort of a personal tribute to my Mom that has passed away. 

When Dad died, Mom reduced her Christmas decorating to almost nothing – a ceramic tree.  She wasn’t up to it and I didn’t live close enough to do it for her, so I will add this front stoop evergreen arrangement to honor my parents.

         Then I trim the tree, and lastly I set my dining table with the Christmas dishes and plan the menu for what we will have for Christmas Eve twilight dinner and Christmas Day.  At the end of decorating all day, I give the house a good clean and sit down in the twilight of the evening with those silly reindeer slippers on and enjoy the moment.

         Best wishes to you all as you decorate for Christmas.