Skip to main content

Christmas Lite

Somehow we can't let go of Christmas.  Despite the fact that over the last three weekends I cleaned and put away a lot of stuff, there is still a small pile of bags in the dining room that is untouched and I really don't know what to do with it.  There are old gift tags and maybe a return in there that I just can't bring myself to do right now.  There is a stack of Christmas cards on the piano that I carefully punched and put on a binder ring but now they sit.  (Hanging them on garland with clothespins was a great thing I found this year, too!)

There are four ornaments whose rightful box is nowhere to be found.  But even when I drive home at night I see so many lit trees still standing in the windows, wreaths on doors, and Santa flags hanging outside.  The dull days of January are here, but we don't want to let go of Christmas. 
In our house we are doing Christmas lite.  We still have snowflake lights hanging in the window of the kitchen and the new Nativity I got for Christmas now sits on the mantle. 

I left the snow-covered plastic-flake covered trees on the mantle in the family room with my Winter sign. 

I moved the poinsettia under the hall table, but I really wish I had left the lights on it.  That was my big idea this year - to wrap a small strand of lights around the poinsettia.

 Next year I have to figure out what to wrap around the pot besides that florists' foil, which is not very attractive.  So I am holding on instead of moving on and it's a little comforting.  By next weekend I'm sure it will all be gone but for now it is small comfort.  When Annie realized I was leaving the manger up, she said, "Well really, that should probably be up all year, right?"  Right.  Annie, you are always right.  So we'll keep a little Christmas lite and our days will be merrier and brighter.


 I don't like this picture, but one of my Christmas moments was when my mother showed me a letter written by my Grandfather Hatch in which he described his Christmas.  He says that the only centerpiece on the table was an old lantern, which "cast a mellow glow on the guests and the food."  Ever since I read that I wanted to try to replicate it.  I brought the lanterns inside from the front step and put them in the center of the table.  So here it is, a little after Christmas. 


Winter!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Seeds

 Last night I ran to Target to get lettuce for Taco Tuesday. It wouldn't be the same if we didn't have tacos and I didn't want to disappoint Charlie. Charlie doesn't even live here right now, but for some reason, it is important to continue these traditions and be able to tell him that we had Tacos on Tuesday.  Anyway, in Target there was a whole display of seed packets, brightly colored, shiny packets, with pictures of everything from Okra to peas to sunflowers to Sweet Williams. I stood there a moment holding my lettuce. The packets were nicely organized and so appealing. The sun in the pictures made the flowers glisten just so. It's hard to believe these little envelopes could contain so much goodness inside.  I know we've heard this analogy before - water that which you want to grow , and plant seeds of kindness, but for some reason last night it struck me differently. Sometimes it's messy. My garden right now is a mess. We removed the old tomato plants...

Connecting

Often we hear about how important it is to grow, stretch our wings, reach out. I've heard from astrology friends that the planets are aligned in a new way right now and that this is an incredible time to bring new things into our lives. But what? you ask. What am I trying to do, what am I trying to grow toward? The only way to answer that is to be grounded, to be deeply rooted in who we are. Then we'll know where to grow, how to grow, and what we need.  So how do we get there? First, we have to go back to what we wanted as young 20-somethings. What were you dreaming of then? How has your life matched those goals? How has it veered off course? Are there dreams that have been dormant? Just lingering beneath the surface? When we connect back to our truest selves, the ones that existed before kids, before marriage, before time and life took a toll on us, what does that self still yearn for? Going back to our roots, connecting to our inner child, our inner voice will encourage us to...

What Is Grief?

 What is grief? It is standing in the shower and  you are suddenly crying and then you are sobbing. And you barely thought about it in the two days since you heard  your Uncle Rich passed. You thought about your dad and your cousins and your aunt and how sad they must be and you checked in on your dad. "I'm so so sorry." And you went to work and you did what you had to do. And now you are ready for another day and you are thinking of all the things and then you are crying and you are little again and vulnerable  and your heart hurts. And you remember everyone. Medford Lakes and a swimming pool and laughing so hard  and dancing around a Christmas tree and fireworks by the lake at night. And you can see his face and all their faces smiling Aunts and uncles and cousins and brothers who aren't here. And you remember his voice, deep and laughing, and you remember his kindness and his advice. "Are you taking vitamin C, Joannie?" You see all their faces and you mis...