Christmas Traditions

Two weeks from today...
is Christmas.

It never seems to come gently,
this holiday.

And it always seems to bring with it,
a jungle of emotions.

You know,
that commerical frenzy,
piped-in music and this incessant need to be "on"?

It can sometimes weigh you down,

But,
beyond all that,
there is something about this time of year that I feel belongs to me,
my thoughts and my memories and
another set of emotions altogether.

For me, it is quite simple,
you see when I am all alone and I open up those boxes
that were stored away in the basement 12 months ago...
it is like I have opened up a time capsule of sorts.

I feast my eyes on every item, turning it over and wondering to myself why it means so much.
It may be chipped or worn,
but I know that it still has a part to play in this years celebration.

I haul out the Santa skirt that is folded and tucked away in the linen closet,

taking up more space than I can afford to lose in that tiny cupboard.

But it does.

 

I laugh at my frugal ways of saving the wired ribbon from previous years

to tie together fresh boughs of greenery wondering 

if this will be the year that I throw it out.

You see,
each collection has a year to it,
the year that we decided to add a little something to the stockpile.

2013 my daughter and I picked up a moss covered reindeer that she quickly named Randolph...
you know,
Rudolph's brother of sorts.

She will remember that,
I might not without her there to remind me.
But that's okay because she will.

And then you find that smaller box that is within the bigger box
that holds those treasures that were created by a family member, an artist.
The year was 1998, and it was carefully painted on the side that night
when these were given to us and our children.
They were gifts on her Christmas table,
each child chose their favourite to have forever.
And they will.

Because when you sort through the box and separate the chipped from the not,
you remember why you did not get rid of that particular decoration the year before.

Because some of those pieces that might be chipped,
like the toll art wooden tree painted by my dearest friend more than 25 years ago,
tell stories of first apartments, days before children, stenciling the walls, and creating first nests.

And the vintage ornaments,
similar if not the same as those that hung on my tree growing up...
reflect Christmas past and that year when I was young,
and our tree became plastic,
and in a box,
just because it could.

So, you unpack your boxes,
you display your collections
and you determine new possibilities for the coming holiday.

Whether it be ice lanterns to welcome your family and friends.

or warm candlelight and amaryllis,
along with 
simple wreaths in bedrooms.

You head into the woods to collect greenery and branches for fresh decorations
because that too is a tradition.

And then you bake all the goodies
that are associated with this time of year.

Find all the items required to set the table time and time again
over the holidays.

And in the doing of all this I am reminded,
reminded of what it is all about,
reminded what these next two weeks will bring.

I know that the shopping mall craze,
some supposed need to spend lots of money,
and that the commercial representation of this holiday,
is not about me and my family and this Christmas season.

I am excited that new memories will be shaped today
as the tree gets chosen in our local tree lot,
and decorated tonight by family and friends.

I know that there will be many lovely evenings with good food and company.

And that at the end of it all,
I will pack away all those little pieces that adorned our home this year,
and all those years in the past...

so that next year
we can do this all again.

Some may call that boring,
but for me...
I call that,
tradition.


I am over at Jennifer Rizzo's holiday house walk party right now.