OH CHRISTMAS TREE ....OH CHRISTMAS TREE......
I was adamant that I would never ever, ever 
have an artificial tree! And for years I stuck to that commitment. That is until beloved husband gave the ultimatum it was an artificial tree or nothing........At that point in our lives business consisted of well over 50 % road travel. To put a live tree up for a few days ENJOYMENT MADE no sense...... NOT EVEN to ME!
From the moment I started putting the lights on the artificial tree I knew I was on to something wonderful. What had always taken hourswas done in no time, the garland was gorgeous creating sweeps and Kris 
crosses simply meant bending a branch and in no time at all the perfectionist tendencies were satisfied !
Perhaps the greatest joy is to open the Christmas boxes packed with ornaments. It literally sends me into a wave of nostalgia as I unfold the tissues and rediscover all those old friends so carefully collected for years.. Memories of joy and sadness flood me as I remember where each one was obtained or who gifted me with this little trinket.
The first Christmas I started collecting birds for the tree......one year it was angels.... for several years it was vintage 40's ornament.....I had a fling with CHRISTOPHER RADKCO ORNAMENTS... then cone shapes.....and now it just has to be s
something........
ABSOLUTELY EXTRAORDINARY !
To many it might seem that I have way more ornaments than any humanoid could wish for.....but I mourn for those that were lost in the GREAT CHRISTMAS TREE CRASH OF 1999....I was just finishing decorating the tree ( and yes it was a real one ), stepped back to admire it when almost in slow motion it started to fall. There was nothing to be done except watch it go. Oh the treasures lost. ...a wonderful old 19 the century hand blown glass one that I will never forget .....some of the adorable crystal ornaments a neighbor had bequeathed to me...the one black sheep that was partners with three white ones.....what was so weird was as the tree was falling a quote kept playing through my mind..."Pride comes before the fall ".....Rats ! Had it really become an obsession?
Still the tree is a source of real pleasure but the desire has been assuaged.....and now it is an adjunct to a time of the year when it adds to but does not distract from what the season is all about.....
Comments(3)