Well, I haven’t blogged for a while and it’s about time to get busy writing again.

 

It’s January 17th and I still have Christmas decorations up that need to come down (including my tree).  I always hate it when Christmas is over.  I so enjoy it and the spirit it brings.  This year we certainly needed some Christmas spirit.

My son, Ryan, has called me the “Queen of Christmas”.  That’s a sweet way of saying I probably go a little overboard with the decorations.

Our Christmases weren’t very merry as I grew up, so I think I went overboard sometimes trying to make sure they were special for my children.  Every room in the house was usually decorated.  If we were in a home with a living room and family room or den, we had a full-sized Christmas tree in each.

I had a village that started with three ceramic houses bought at the local hardware store and grew a bit every year.  The home we lived in when the kids were teens, had a living room fireplace that we never used.  Every year we would have Santa in a sleigh hanging from the damper handle flying over the village that ran out from the fireplace and into the living room and up onto the top of the piano.  My daughter, Heidi, (fortunately) really enjoyed helping to set up the village as it took over the living room.

For several years, my granddaughter, Kylynn, would come over and always help me with the village.

I haven’t set the big village up since Art died.  I have a small version of three village scenes (the large one in the center Art bought for me on our last trip to Costco before he passed).  I sit those on the sideboard and that has sufficed for now.

 

My few good memories of Christmas when I was little were centered around my Grandma Davis. She was a sweet woman….always had on an apron and working hard.  She always carried Dentyne gum to give us grandchildren when she came to visit.  Granny dipped snuff, and I had to laugh when I looked closely at this picture of her, because there in her hand is her snuff can….a story for another time.

 

I remember as a little girl helping her decorate her Christmas tree that we cut down in the woods behind her house.  I sat on the floor and looked up at the towering tree she would put up and was always amazed at the beauty of it.

When the tree was up, she and I would go back into the woods and gather moss and “running cedar”.  We always gathered extra so I could take some home to use there.

We would carry the sheets of lovely green softness back to the house and lay it carefully on the floor under the tree.  We would then set up her old chalkware nativity set on top of the moss and I would drape the vines of running cedar over anything that didn’t move.

I was enthralled with the whole process and it made my heart so happy.  I don’t ever remember there being gifts under the tree, just the glory of the nativity set and the beauty of the gigantic tree with tinsel moving gently as anyone passed, glittering in their breeze.  I remember thinking. “When I grow up, I’m going to have a huge tree like Granny Davis.”

In the 1980’s we bought a home in Redmond, Washington where the living room ceiling was vaulted and open up to the second floor.  All I could think of was “I’m going to finally be able to put up a HUGE Christmas tree!”

That year we did get a huge tree….probably 10 feet or so tall.  My daughter, Heidi and I decorated it.  It was amazing!  It was covered in memories, lights, garland, ornaments made by kids and some ornaments gifted from friends.  I finally felt I had accomplished a tree like Granny’s.

The master bedroom was upstairs and after the long evening of decorating we went to bed.  Just as I got nestled into bed I heard a very loud “whoosh” from downstairs.  I jumped up and ran to the top of the stairs to see our beautiful tree flat on the floor!

I was devastated and so worried some of our precious ornaments had broken.  I had one ornament a friend had made from a blown out eggshell.  She had cut out the front of the shell and had a verse inside with a little boy figurine.  I always placed it front and center on the tree.  I was sure it was smashed.

My husband, Terry, and I went down and lifted the tree up.  Everything seemed to be okay as it had fallen on carpet.  As we sat it up, it continued to try to topple over.  Clearly the stand was not large enough to accommodate such a large tree.  It was late…there was nothing open where we could get another stand.

Terry said, “I’ve got an idea” and went into the garage.  I heard the drill going and he came back in with a “T” made from 1″ x 4″’s.  He nailed the top of the “T” to the wall behind the tree near the top and took the base of the “T” and screwed it directly into the trunk of the tree.  It worked like a charm.  It looked terrible from the side, but just fine from the front. No ornaments were broken and the tree made it through Christmas without another tumble.  It was our Christmas miracle.

I came to realize that year that my memories were from when I was very small.  Granny’s living room could not have been more than eight feet tall, so the tree couldn’t have been as large as in my mind’s eye.  I was just little and sitting on the floor staring up at what was probably a six foot tree with an angel on the top.  I had accomplished having a tree like Granny’s all along and just didn’t realize it.

I always think of her at Christmas and am so grateful for the enthusiasm she taught me for Christmas.  Granny died when I was about 9 years old and my mother got Granny’s nativity set.  I was so excited that we had it.

When I was 10 or 11 I saw something about taking laundry powder, mixing it with a little water and using it to create fake “snow”.  I decided to give the camels in the nativity set a little snow on their backs for “realism”.  Years ago Mom gave me Granny’s nativity set and I put it up every year.  That homemade “Tide laundry detergent snow” is still on the back of those camels.  I thought once about trying to remove it, but I just can’t.

 

 

It’s a memory…a good Christmas memory of Christmases past.

 

I hope your holidays were beautiful and that the coming year brings us all health and happiness.