Done!

I finished putting out the ornaments, strategically placed to avoid tempting the cat any more than necessary (see yesterday). The fragile glass clip-on birds are at the top; they’re probably 75 years old by now. There are several pieces made by my crafty Aunt Jeanne, a Santa made in school by one of the kids when they were little, some baubles I found on sale in various shops over the years. A small tasseled Chinese lantern that was given to my young son and me by the folks who ran our favorite Chinese restaurant; they said, well, it’s your christmas so we are giving you a present. It’s hard to explain why that meant so much to us, but every year I remember those people and how kind they were. So many animals of all kinds: painted, sewn, glass, metal, paper: a seal, a rooster, sheep, deer, a pig, birds, something that might be an aardvark. Funny things that wouldn’t mean anything to anyone else, but treasures I love to unwrap from year to year, old friends. The angel is from my first California Christmas, a time when we had nothing to spare; she is made from an old spool, scraps of gold foil doilies and a pinecone from the yard. I keep her to remember something, but Im not sure what it is from that time that I want to hold on to. Hope, maybe. Resilience. Possibility. That’s good enough. 


I had to fool around a bit to make sure the neighbor’s tv wasn’t in the picture. Their screen across the street is so gigantic we can watch basketball from our dining room, or game shows.  And even though it’s part of the story, I did not want it woven through the branches of the tree.