A minimalist approach...
Harking the herald of a classic song lyric—just how do you have yourself a merry “little” Christmas? On the surface, when it comes to decking the halls with boughs of holly and all that fa la la—my merrymaking gets underway in miniature.
Christmas past has long since passed, when the Fates allowed all of my family to be together. Then, I had myself a Merry Christmas in grandeur:
My dad drove us to one of the numerous lots bordered with colorful lights suspended from chicken wire. We’d select a pine among the many orphans stashed on the ground. He gave one a fair shake to test its needles, paid $3 - $5 for the prize fir, lassoed it to the roof of the car, and dragged it into the living room for propping and securing. My mother, sister, and I did a whole lotta tree shakin’ by trimming the branches with lights, garland, angel hair, tinsel, and sugarcoated bulbs.
For the time being, Christmas present enables me to gather near with family and friends I hold dear who are still here. For that, I’m grateful!
Rather than hang a shining star upon the highest bough, I’ve nurtured my appreciation for simplicity. In that regard, I take a minimalist approach to decorating my spacious quarters. Besides a variety of festive snowmen, reindeer, and Santas chillin’—I’ve started the tradition of collecting miniature, artificial trees up to 12 inches in height. On display at various nooks and crannies:
Green tinsel tree with red berries
Colorful foil tree made from tiny wrapped packages
Green ceramic light-up tree
Pine cone tree with sprigs of pine and berries
My latest acquisition—a pre-decorated balsam tree with red trimmings
My holiday feng shui in miniature affords me a merry “little” Christmas while troubles are out of sight and miles away.
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My father was always the one who got the "deal" on the best dead tree that he could find. Although there were a lot around, we never cut one that I recall from the woods.
My brother and I always helped my mother trim the tree every year with the same ornaments and even tinsel that she carefully saved to keep expenses down. A lesson she taught me well. We decorated the tree a week before Christmas so that everyone coming and going could see it, and then took it down the day after New Year's day.
I never was one for decorating, but often bought poinsettias for my staff and to decorate my home during the season.
Ron