I love Christmas, the decorations, the shopping, getting together with friends and family and the happiness it brings. I do appreciate, however, that it isn’t a happy time for everyone and some people cannot wait for the fuss to be over and normality to resume.
Christmas for me starts at the beginning of December when I put our tree up. I know that some people only put it up on Christmas Eve and take it down the day after Boxing Day. Bah humbug. I like to keep mine up for as long as possible and make a point of turning on the tree lights as soon as I get home.
Christmas tree decorations have come a long way in recent years. They are now more personalised, you can get baubles in the shape of burgers, donuts and even a car with a tree on top. A far cry from the delicate decorations we had as children. We would carefully unwrap each bauble and hang it on the tree ensuring that it would not fall off and smash. We had some that had been passed down through the generations and some my mother would not let us children handle. Each year they would be carefully wrapped in newspaper and put away for the following year. To top it off we had a small plastic doll dressed in a gold paper fringed skirt and a tinsel top. Today I have a gold plastic star on the top. Not quite the same, a bit of magic is lost.
Putting the tree away is one of the saddest moments of the new year. A gaping dull hole is left. A beautifully lit corner becomes sad and dark again. If only it was acceptable to keep it up all year, but I doubt I would be allowed and it would probably spoil the delight of putting it up again the following December.
Happy Christmas to you all and if you don’t celebrate Christmas, Seasons greetings.