A decade ago I wrote an essay about
un-trimming my Christmas tree. Back then I had a live tree and themed party
where my guests actually did trim the tree. There was a Teddy Bears’ Christmas
trim, a Scented one, a Cozy Slippers trim and many more. My chance to appreciate the ornaments was
when I took the tree down each year. It was always a time to renew
acquaintances with old friends—both ornamental and human.
I now have three artificial trees,
so I don’t hear that telltale “Plink! Plink!”
when the needles start dropping, letting me know it’s time to take them down. That
sound used to herald an evening of cherished memories. I no longer have holiday
parties, so I can put the trees up in early November and take them down in late
February. That timetable makes a lot of sense when you consider it takes me two
weeks to do all that trimming on my own and at least that long to take the
trees down.
You may wonder how I went from one
live tree with themed parties to three fake ones and a solitary job of
decorating them each year. It’s the inevitable result of retiring and growing
old. Once I stopped working, my circle of guests diminished significantly. In
an effort to get my husband to slow down, I moved us to a condo-type community
about two hours from his store in Providence. At the same time, we reached an
age where we simply couldn’t handle the weight of a live tree. Sadly, I
switched to an artificial one.
That explains half of the
transition. But how did I wind up with three trees? That happened in two steps.
The first artificial tree was seven feet tall. That seemed to be a good size,
but it was dwarfed by the high ceilings in our new living room. The next year,
I succumbed to the Balsam Hill commercials on Hallmark’s Rom Com channels. Their
nine feet tall tree is perfect. The seven feet tall one was relocated to our enclosed
porch.
By now you’re probably wondering:
“What about that third tree?” And: “How do I decide what ornaments to put on
which tree?” The answers to both questions are intertwined and they afford me
the opportunity to explain my decorating themes.
The third tree goes in our family
room. It belongs to our cats, with animals and items a cat would like to see. There
are cat ballerinas, angels and fairies and even hobo cats. There are white
mice, many in red felt outfits, a fluffy-tailed squirrel and some birds. More
unexpected are the tiny knitted socks and mittens and the miniature funky
sweaters. Our cats are very senior now, so we don’t worry about them trashing
things. They like to curl up under the trees on the quilted skirts that cover
the stands. If the ornaments get disturbed, it’s usually by accident.
What will you see on the large
living room tree? That has a lot of hand made crafts, especially blown glass
balls, as well as stained glass and pottery stars and hand-etched gourds. But
its real claim to fame is all the funky animals. A diligent guest will find
several zebras, ostriches, and a flamingo. There’s also lots of elephants, giraffes
and a frog or two. I’m sure I’m forgetting some other exotic animals. Several
are playing saxophones, by the way.
The tree on the enclosed porch is
the stateliest. It’s decorated with white china and metallic ornaments, as well
as clear glass and crystal ones. A Coalport china bell and lantern were gifts
from my former significant other. He’s no longer with us, but his memory lives
on in those two ornaments. I have nine silver snowflakes that my father gave me
from the Metropolitan Museum, one for every year from 1976 thru 1984. They
ended the Christmas after he died. When I touch those snowflakes, it’s as
though I’m still touching a small piece of him, too.
As I put each ornament on one of
the trees, I think of the person or place it came from. Those memories trigger
others, often having nothing to do with Christmas. Not all are happy ones, but
all are treasured. When I take the ornaments off the trees and carefully wrap
each in tissue, I get to savor them a second time. I miss having my friends
help trim the trees, but I’m grateful for all the time I now spend with my
Christmas treasures and my many years of wonderful memories.
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