O Christmas Tree

We're in no hurry to put up our tree.

We enjoy the beginning of December without all the fuss of 

"Christmas Decorations"

Well, we do put up the nativity set

And we do put greens on the mantle

But we do little else

Until around the middle of the month

When we get our tree

A real tree

A Frasier Fir!

There is just something about the smell of fresh evergreen in the house

No candle can replicate that smell

Nor can any artificial smell that you stick on a "faux" tree!

Nature is the only one that can make a Christmas tree

Smell like an evergreen!

We got the tree last Friday

And put it up on Sunday

Not a huge tree but a real tree

And perfectly formed methinks

We moved locations this year

It's mostly in the living room but you can also see the tree from the dining room.

We had a tree in that spot for many years

And it's nice that it's back in that space!

Unpacking the ornaments is like visiting with friends

Friends from long ago

Some gone forever and some just gone from our lives

It's not a Christmas tree but a memory tree

memories of our childhood, memories of trips, memories of friends

A wee ornament from Frankenmuth, Michigan

The Christmas Capital of the United States

A styrofoam ball decorated by me

when I was in grade school

A gift from the wife of our first couple friends after we were married

I always think of them, their shrunk which I coveted

and late nights playing bridge

And needlepoint, of course 

(although this is a Hallmark rather than a Martha)

And my dear mother who made these

lots of these

I still have two pair

 And silver bells for memorable years

Engraved

For both Daughter Sarah and I adore "It's a Wonderful Life"

And every time a bell rings, an angel gets their wings!

 My latest which I brought home from our 
November trip to Key West
a remembrance of the Little White House
where President Truman visited a few times

It wasn't the most expensive of the ornaments for sale in the gift shop
But it "talked" to me more than the expensive ones did!

After all the ornaments are hung and the tinsel put on the tree
(real tinsel, lead tinsel, vintage tinsel -- there isn't anything that can substitute for it)

We put on a pot of hot chocolate

(not cocoa)

And get out the latest Christmas cutouts

Put a favorite Christmas CD on the player

Sit on the sofa, nibble a cookie or two or three and sip the hot chocolate

And declare that the tree is the best, the very best

of all of our Christmas trees!

We like our old fashioned tree

With the big colored lights

The real tinsel

The odd assortment of ornaments that have no theme

(except, perhaps,  for memories)

It goes well, we think, with our 1920s house

This old fashioned tree of ours.