O Christmas Tree

Lionello Delpiccolo | unsplash

"...freshly cut Christmas trees smelling

of stars and snow and pine resin - inhale deeply

and fill your soul with wintry night...”

~ John Geddes, A Familiar Rain 

Do you ever get a little thrill up your back when you happen to hear the date of your birthday mentioned in a conversation or on the radio? For example, I just have to hear the words April 17th and I feel a zip of joy -- for that date is well sprinkled with happy memories which flood into my consciousness with no prior thought.

I tell you this for that is the same kind of happy thrill I feel when I hear the date December 20th mentioned. It's a warm tingly feeling that spills over from childhood  -- it was often the date when Mom gave the okay to bring in the Christmas Tree. I still recall coming home from school just days before December 25th to find a newly cut spruce tree from some woodsy nook propped near the back step. Waiting, like we were, for the big day. And, if we weren't already antsy with excitement, it just made it soar off the charts. We could hardly stand it. Sometimes I thought the top of my head would blow off, and I felt as if I wanted to jump right out of my skin. I could hardly contain the joy.

"Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree.

In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.

~ Larry Wilde, The Merry Book of Christmas

It's true, when you are five or six or seven, every tree seems thirty feet tall, but in truth, looking at some old family photos, our trees weren't those towering specimens at all. All green and prickly, smelling of pungent spruce resin--I didn't like how it made my fingers stick together when it got on my hands. Sometimes it was a little scraggly or sparse on branches, even a little crooked, but in our eyes it was practically perfect.

On that day, Dad would drag the frozen tree into the porch where it would thaw and the snow on its branches could melt. Which meant that probably when we got home from school the following day, it would be sitting in its wooden stand in the corner of the living room where Dad had secured it with clear fishing line to the door jam. Cats and kids were prone to examining tree branches rather closely.

Aaron Burden | unsplash

"You can tell a lot about a person by the way
they handle three things: a rainy day, lost luggage,
and tangled Christmas tree lights.

~ Maya Angelou

Once it was safely up, we started begging to go find the decoration boxes that were in the upstairs crawl space. First, there came the task of untangling of tree lights -- not a job for the kids, thankfully. And then the careful removal of the box tops with the little cellophane windows. As we got older, we were allowed to put on the delicate glass ornaments, hanging them next to the proud display of the current year's glittering handmade Christmas cards done in school art class. Chains made from coloured construction paper and tinsel garlands were added. Hanging the ornaments was a very studied business as we pondered which branch to hang them on. We were also firmly instructed not to throw bunches of tinsel on the tree, but to take each strand and drape it one by one -- even I had the patience to do that.

At last, the moment came when we would turn out all the overhead lights, put on our Christmas music, and gaze in wonder at our bee-u-ti-ful tree all bedecked and sparkling. With the tree decorated, we were ready for Christmas. Life couldn't feel any more perfect than in that moment. With so much to look forward to and so few cares of the world intruding on our little family, at least for a few days, we felt safe as we nestled against the storms of winter and life. We were happy.

Circa 1964, Little Sis and Me

And that's what we want and hope for you, dear friends.
Here's wishing you a beautiful day!

Hugs,

Brenda

♥♥♥