Monday, December 7, 2009

Decking the Halls

Here we are trimming the tree in the little house on Crescent Lane. Sherry was 10 1/2 and Bill was 8. Ray always set the tree up and put the lights on and the kids and I did the decorating. I can see the one bubble light that we had on our tree for years, along with a little homemade Santa ornament that Sherry made one year. Aren't the things you put on your tree year after year precious? It would be nice to have a color coordinated, themed tree - but only if it was the second one! I love all the things you discover each time you put up the tree. Last night I went over to have dinner with Sherry and Barclay - and after we ate, I helped her hang the ornaments on their tree. One was a little thing she called "peanut Jesus" which was a seedpod filled with cotten and a little peanut with two little eyes drawn on lying on the cotton. Adorable! Who could resist a sweet little peanut Jesus. Is not that what it's all about?

When I was a child, our tree had a little rooster which must have been made of celluloid since plastic had not been discovered yet way back then. I think a nephew of mine has it now and I am sure he hangs it on his tree. We also had a little group of sparkly houses that you put a string of lights in. There were colored cellophane windows and the lights showed through. My father made a low table that was maybe 2 1/2 feet square with a hole in the middle for the tree. They laid a cotton batting on the table and the little houses on that. He also whittled a little fence that went all the way around the table, complete with a little gate. I wonder where that went. We had a chenille wreath with a light in it that hung in the window. The decorations back then were nothing compared to what they are today. The celebration of Christmas was actually more wondrous and simple, I think. Nowadays everyone is stressed out - what a shame.
We had a room in the basement and we put up a second tree down there. Bill was a real Christmas kid and full of enthusiasm. During the trimming of the tree, he commented - "This is togetherness!" Lovely times and lovely memories. (Click to enlarge)

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