December 4, 2024: I love a good evergreen tree, and there’s a beauty tucked in our garage right now, hauled home today from our local holiday tree seller’s lot before tonight’s snow/sleet/rain. Inhaling that memory-evoking balsam scent inspired me to once again go evergreen with my December blog post.
This first was published on December 19, 2019, and I reprised it once already, in 2021. It still feels relevant to me. I hope you agree, and that you’ll forgive me for not coming up with something fresh, but we’re still finishing up the Thanksgiving turkey, and somehow, three weeks from tomorrow is Christmas and the first night of Hanukkah.
I wish everyone in our wonderful community a holiday season and a new year filled with love and hope.
**
December 19, 2019
Our neighborhood is especially bright with holiday lights this year, a reflection, perhaps, of a shared yearning to lessen the darkness in our world.
Before the recent snow, we strung some white lights around the yard, but it was far too early to hang the garland around the front door. Now I’m hoping it’s not too late, because the greenery around the entry makes the house look so festive. We’ve done the ladder-on-ice thing once or twice in the past, but we’re getting smarter as we age, so here’s to a couple of warmish days ahead.
This weekend we’ll get our tree. The ritual around that has changed as well. Up to and including the year I had knee surgery in early December, we cut our own at a tree farm a few miles west of our home. I say “we,” but that year I ventured out into the field and picked out an absolutely perfect tree (I was walking okay by then, albeit with a crutch) but Diane had to kneel on the frozen ground and cut it (the doctor would have frowned on me doing that).
She also had to drag it back to the car, which turned out to be a fair distance away. She was a good sport about it, but let’s just say I was convinced by the following December that there were easier ways to proceed, and since then we’ve bought a tree at a local nursery. They have a nice selection. The helpful staff gives the stump a fresh cut. They tie it on the roof of the car. It costs a little more, but aching knees have their own price, so off to the tree store we will go.
That night or the next, we’ll haul the lights, garlands and ornament boxes up from the basement and transform the tree into the most beautiful one ever.
Here are some of the ornaments we will hang:
A Claddagh, the Irish symbol of love, loyalty and friendship.
A precious, retro ornament from Diane’s childhood.
We love bird ornaments. Here, a snowy owl visits with a goldfinch, while another owl spies from the background.
Oh, Canada! We were married there nearly 15 years ago, so this one always has a place of honor on our tree.
Many readers of this blog have one of these, am I right?
A very fancy bird, indeed.
But of course.
I wish you happiness this season and a joyous, peaceful, healthy new year.
To the readers of this blog: What are your favorite holiday traditions? Please let us know in the comments.
Brenda Buchanan is the author of the Joe Gale Mystery Series, featuring a diehard Maine newspaper reporter who covers the crime and courts beat. Three books—QUICK PIVOT, COVER STORY and TRUTH BEAT—are available everywhere e-books are sold. She is writing a new series that has as its protagonist a Portland criminal defense lawyer willing to take on cases others won’t touch in a town to which she swore she would never return.
Wonderful post and
I got cut off. Wonderful post. We now have an artificial tree, but like you, we are aware of our ages and physical limitations. I still morn the loss of a real tree. The ornaments and tree are my favorites. Each ornament has a special place in my heart. They represent my childhood, marriage, extended family, former students, friends and co-workers, children and grandchildren. I also have ornaments from my quilting and sewing groups. Each has a special place in my heart and memory. I have the same connection to placing my Santa collection. Each one is a special link to my life.
Beth, I love your description of your ornament collection. Real tree or not, it’s such a happy experience to open the boxes every December and unpack the memories. I wish you and John and family a wonderful holiday season.
This made me want to run out and hug some Santa on a corner – so lovely. We left our “in the family forever” ornaments with our daughter out in California – so we relish getting pictures of HER holiday tree – and she puts it up the day after thanksgiving – which had always been our tradition. Holiday morning? Scones, hot chocolate and bacon. And opening presents. Love those hours.
How wonderful that you passed those precious ornaments on to your daughter, and that she’s so excited she puts her tree up and hangs those ornaments the day after Thanksgiving. Clearly, she also loved those holiday mornings growing up. Happy holidays to you and Mark!
Love this post. I have TWO typewriters on our tree. I also gave my oldest daughter most of our family ornaments when she had a new baby, new puppy, and new house, and we had downsized to a smaller house and tabletop tree. The baby is now 17, and we upsized again over the years, so our tree has mostly newish crafty things which still bring pleasure.
Since we share our kids and grandkids with in-laws, Christmas Day is not affixed to any calendar square. But when we gather there is “cocktail party” food (which made them feel so grown up when they were little). And champagne. We do a one-present Yankee Swap since buying presents for everyone became prohibitively expensive. The grandchildren still get their own gifts, but they’ve decided they want in on the swap too. Hope my 15 year old grandson doesn’t get the casserole dish and kitchen towels this year, LOL.
Thanks, Maggie! There’s no end to the beautiful ornaments out there–we favor birds and those we find in our travels–as well as what you call “crafty” ones. I cherish them all, and the time with family and friends. I also love hearing about everyone’s special holiday foods and the rituals of enjoying meals and gift opening together. I hope your grandson is a good sport if his swap pick turns out to be that casserole dish and the tea towels!
I have two kids and one tradition that I started was picking a decoration each year that reminds me of them at that moment. (Julian and his obsession with pickles, pandas, and ramen. Hugo with his love for baseball, soccer, and blowfish.) Each year I take a polaroid of them and hang it on the tree. Each year I add another decoration to their collection. When I pack the decorations, they each have a box. When we decorate the tree, they start with their boxes. One day, when they leave and have their own trees, they’ll have a ‘starter’ kit. -Gabi