Two nights ago, I bought my tree from the Christmas tree sales at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church. Much as I want to forego the fresh tree tradition this year, I just couldn’t. My excuse- this counts as my holiday donation to the church and since I’ve been told not to worry about killing the trees because these are actually farmed for this purpose, I shouldn’t feel guilty of anything. Or should I?
The second tree that was shown to me was my best pick; a 7-foot douglas fir that was leaning against the wire fence calling out to me. I hauled it home and let it stand and rest and gave it its drink of tepid water and sugar. This one wasn’t so thirsty, I checked on it before I went to bed that night and the water is not even half-finished. I couldn’t figure out if it was the sweet water that it doesn’t like or that I had the base cut slightly at an angle this time so as to have more surface area for the water to seep through. I haven’t done this before, what genius made me do it now, don’t ask. I figured if that’s how I keep cut flowers fresh in a vase, then it must be also good for a tree.
This morning the tree looks relaxed, its branches all spread out nicely from the trunk and ready for dressing up. But I was dragging my feet, I’m not quite ready. You see there are tree lights and ornaments to be carted from the garage, more ornaments to be brought down from hiding in the closets and so forth. I need some Red Bull or a Power Bar to get me in shape for this. Does anybody remember Geritol? I still think the antibiotics zapped all the energy out of me, what else? Poor tree has been eagerly waiting for its trimmings and I promise I’ll get around to it tonight.
And so I started opening boxes, and found some of my favorite things to adorn the tree with. It must be a woman thing – I go thru this ritual every Christmas, re-live the story behind each ornament. The yellow cardinal perched on its nest with two eggs was a gift from Mary Skelley. Legend has it that if you find a nest on a Christmas tree, it will bring you good luck. Mary was in my class at SJU. I recruited her as my intern ended up working for me for a year or so. I lost contact with Mary, but she sure comes to mind during the holidays. We spent some nice summers at her parents' home in Bayport. Lovely Irish folks.
One other favorite is the little cabin handcrafted out of the bark of a birch tree and was given to me by Marilyn Kahn. She’s Jewish but she loves the Christmas season. She told me she used to have a small "Chanukah bush" by her bed when she was a kid. This break from her tradition did turn in my favor because she gave me a tree ornament each year. She was a stuck-up young graduate from the U of Michigan but quite sharp when I hired her. I wonder what she’s up to now, the li’l JAP. Did she end up marrying Kamin, who knows?
There’s the wreath my sister gave me during one of my trips back home. It's made out of pine cones gathered from the mountainside in Baguio where she lives. That’ll always hang by the door. Many more of these ornaments are filled with stories which will stay as reminders of people close to my heart. I go thru them every year misty-eyed sometimes and today is no different.
The second tree that was shown to me was my best pick; a 7-foot douglas fir that was leaning against the wire fence calling out to me. I hauled it home and let it stand and rest and gave it its drink of tepid water and sugar. This one wasn’t so thirsty, I checked on it before I went to bed that night and the water is not even half-finished. I couldn’t figure out if it was the sweet water that it doesn’t like or that I had the base cut slightly at an angle this time so as to have more surface area for the water to seep through. I haven’t done this before, what genius made me do it now, don’t ask. I figured if that’s how I keep cut flowers fresh in a vase, then it must be also good for a tree.
This morning the tree looks relaxed, its branches all spread out nicely from the trunk and ready for dressing up. But I was dragging my feet, I’m not quite ready. You see there are tree lights and ornaments to be carted from the garage, more ornaments to be brought down from hiding in the closets and so forth. I need some Red Bull or a Power Bar to get me in shape for this. Does anybody remember Geritol? I still think the antibiotics zapped all the energy out of me, what else? Poor tree has been eagerly waiting for its trimmings and I promise I’ll get around to it tonight.
And so I started opening boxes, and found some of my favorite things to adorn the tree with. It must be a woman thing – I go thru this ritual every Christmas, re-live the story behind each ornament. The yellow cardinal perched on its nest with two eggs was a gift from Mary Skelley. Legend has it that if you find a nest on a Christmas tree, it will bring you good luck. Mary was in my class at SJU. I recruited her as my intern ended up working for me for a year or so. I lost contact with Mary, but she sure comes to mind during the holidays. We spent some nice summers at her parents' home in Bayport. Lovely Irish folks.
One other favorite is the little cabin handcrafted out of the bark of a birch tree and was given to me by Marilyn Kahn. She’s Jewish but she loves the Christmas season. She told me she used to have a small "Chanukah bush" by her bed when she was a kid. This break from her tradition did turn in my favor because she gave me a tree ornament each year. She was a stuck-up young graduate from the U of Michigan but quite sharp when I hired her. I wonder what she’s up to now, the li’l JAP. Did she end up marrying Kamin, who knows?
There’s the wreath my sister gave me during one of my trips back home. It's made out of pine cones gathered from the mountainside in Baguio where she lives. That’ll always hang by the door. Many more of these ornaments are filled with stories which will stay as reminders of people close to my heart. I go thru them every year misty-eyed sometimes and today is no different.
Boxes full of memories, some will remain kept in the closet but will not be thrown away. And will never be forgotten.
