Ah yes. This is Christmas

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Joyfully, we gathered around the Christmas tree. We hung decorations. Teased one another. Laughed and shared memories of Christmases past and hopes and dreams of Christmases to come.

This morning, I walked into the living room, switched on the tree lights, made myself my seasonal eggnog latte indulgence, sat at my desk, and watched early morning traffic cross the bridge. It is sparse at this early hour. Car lights moving west to east, crossing over the river that flows in an indolent stream of shimmering waters growing ever slower as Arctic air swoops down to envelope us in its icy maw.

Baby it’s cold outside.

Inside, my world is wrapped in the scents and scenes of Christmas á la 2022.

Like pocketbooks all over the country, my yearning to decorate the house is thinner this year. Perhaps the austerities of the pandemic have invaded my senses.

The big [;astoc tubs full of boughs and decorations lay unopened. Some of them didn’t even make it up from the storage room downstairs.

The tree stands tall in all her glittering light, festooned with glass balls and ornaments, delicate butterflies and feathered friends.

I wonder if this simple yet beautiful display is enough.

If maybe this year, it’s time to pare down the excess of Christmases past and cull the bountiful stash of Christmas ornaments I’ve accumulated over the years.

Perhaps, in keeping with the austerity these inflationary times seem to naturally have ignited in so many, it’s time to declutter Christmas.

I sit at my desk and watch the river slowly shifting-shape from flow to frozen shape. The reflection of the Christmas tree lights shimmer in the window in front of me. Darkness holds the night still.

Long before Christianity appeared along the human journey, people gathered around evergreen trees to celebrate Solstice. For our ancestors, the evergreen and its constant colour, needs and scent, represented the promise of longer, warmer days to come.

In our gathering last night, we decorated the tree connected through time to this ancient symbol of the light regaining its strength over the dark.

In our gathering, our laughter, our shared history and love, we wove the magic of time and this season together into a beautiful tapestry full of the promise of Love. Hope. Peace and Joy.

Ah yes. This is Christmas.

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8 thoughts on “Ah yes. This is Christmas”

  1. Christmas is a special time of the year, not just December 25, but the weeks leading up and then fading away on the other side as we welcome a new year, a new beginning.
    I chuckled as I read your conundrum whether to pare down, declutter, Christmas. I had the same thoughts in 2020, the first Christmas during the Covid pandemic pandemonium. What was more important – healthy and happiness or going the full Monty of decorations. The former won and each Christmas since, including this year, the paring down has brought me to my happy place of decorating our home.
    I focussed on a tree filled with balls of all sizes, colours, leaning towards gold, white ones that reflect the tiny lights at night. Years ago I discovered beautiful hand painted Christmas balls from Poland (sourced at Winners and Home Sense!). Special ones adorn the mantle, while the rest are hung with care as they are fragile. There still are a few balls from my Mother’s tiny Christmas tree, evoking nostalgic memories of Christmases past.
    My dear husband grumbles as he helps decorate the tree in early December and then he proudly stands back as the lights shimmer in the dark, mirrored in the window. Never fails!
    Thanks for sharing your Christmas tree day – new memories made.

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    • Such a beautiful comment Iwona — I think one of the most beautiful parts of our evening was the laughter and joy as we shared memories of some of the ornaments – some of which my sister had gifted my daughters which they still feel belong on our ‘family’ tree. For my youngest daughter, due to travel and the fact they’re selling their home, they didn’t put up a tree. My sister no longer has the energy and C.C.’s son and girlfriend have no room for a tree — so this year it was extra special to share it with everyone — and that’s where the joy found us!

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  2. I’m married to a traditionalist and the concept of paring down is foreign to his brain. He loves to go all out and did during Covid despite it just being the 2 of us. I love how you tied it all together from winter solstice to belt tightening and coming together.

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