By the way, I'm still tripping over that box of tree ornaments, but I'll drag that tree up from the basement this weekend for sure. I admire people who put up multiple trees. One of my daughters-in-law puts up a tree in every room and the trees all look great. But me, I guess I take after my grandmother. Mom said Mama Rose never wanted to bother with a tree in the house so they used to just hang their stockings on the rocking chair. They didn't have a Christmas tree until her youngest sister talked their dad into bringing in a cedar when Mom was a teenager.
I'm not that bad. I want a tree and so far I've always gotten the tree decorated before Christmas day. So far. I used to go out with my kids and cut down a cedar tree. We always picked one that was way too big. Those trees just look smaller out there in the field. And greener and not so lopsided. As you can probably tell, I wasn't the best tree picker, so most of the time Darrell took care of that chore. Thank goodness. He was definitely better at it.
Cedars smell good sitting in your living room, but they are sticky. Not so bad when you decorate them, but very prickly when you take the ornaments off after Christmas. Especially those foil icicles. Any of you remember those? Plus cedars dry out fast even if you set them in a bucket of water and that makes you have to worry about them being fire hazards. I've gotten modern now with an artificial tree, but I sometimes think how my dad would frown if he knew I paid good money for a fake tree when the fields were full of cedars that need to be cut down.
Dad didn't overflow with Christmas spirit, but sometimes he'd go to Louisville and buy us something at a warehouse or secondhand shop that we weren't expecting. One Christmas he brought in a turntable record player. It didn't have a case, but since it played LPs and 45's and had a stack 'em on spindle, we were happy. So he wasn't exactly a Scrooge. He just left most of the merry preparations up to Mom and his sister. They made Christmas fun.
Hope you have many great Christmas memories. Share your favorite with me if you want. That would be fun. And here are some Christmas quotes to make your day brighter.
- There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child. - Erma Bombeck
- Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won't make it 'white'. - Bing Crosby
- My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that? -Bob Hope
- When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things -- not the great occasions -- give off the greatest glow of happiness. -Bob Hope
Wishing you much happiness and joy. Always joy.
Ann, I love the memory of your granny hanging those stockings on her rocking chair! That should go in a book! I'm wondering what the Shakers did for Christmas? Probably not much, I'm guessing. But please enlighten me if I'm wrong. I know your house will soon be merry with all those grands running around. I also loved your post on the hands-on Jesus. I know He did too:)
ReplyDelete(note: I was signed in on the wrong email when I commented last time, oops!)
ReplyDeleteOh I just loved this blog! It made me feel OLD! HA HA! Just kidding.
We had a turntable, but no stack 'em up spindle. You were lucky! I often wished ours was a stack 'em, but alas, 'twas not.
My Christmas memories are just the opposite. We always had fake trees. Sometime during my later childhood to early teens my folks turned to the real ones. The real ones that lose all the needles and cause you to get poked and scratched a hundred times as you're digging under the tree for presents with your name on it. I don't remember much of the days of foil icicles on the fake trees, but I do remember them on the real ones. They were my favoite decoration because I could just "throw" them on. We usually tossed them out with the tree, though. Far to much hassle taking them off.
My favorite Christmas memories are of the family gatherings at my great grandparents' home on Christmas Eve. They had what I consider a true Christmas tree. All sorts of decorations, mismatched lights, some blinking, some not, and foil icicles. Nothing matched. I loved it. It represented peace and joy to me. Nowadays everyone in my family goes for a "theme" for their trees. Too formal for me. If I'm ever blessed with kids it'll be paper chains and popcorn strings for my tree!
Oops, didn't mean to write a whole blog in my comments!
Actually, Laura, the Shakers observed Christmas. Not the way we do with presents and such, but they would have a special Christmas worship time and a day off to enjoy the worship. And the house will be wall to wall kids on Christmas, but that's a good thing because kids make Christmas fun.
ReplyDeleteAnd Misty, you can blog on my blog anytime. It was fun to hear about your trees of the past and your wishes for trees of the future. But do you know how long it takes to string popcorn? I'm afraid I don't have the patience for that, but I used to like to make paper chains with the Sunday School kids.
As to those foil icicles, we never put them on the fake trees. Just the fragrant cedars. But we had to pick them off and try to lay them straight for the next year. Not an easy chore, but probably good for developing patience.
So glad you have great Christmas memories and that you are making new memories every year.