MY CHRISTMAS TREE

First and foremost, I would like to thank (and blame) my mom and my sister for getting me addicted to Christmas ornaments. I am a sucker and a half for them (to say the least). My mom is the one who officially started it all the Christmas that I was 17 or 18. She gave me an adorable box filled with all sorts of ornaments. And she has continued to give me more ornaments over the years. As has my sister. We have this tendency to find super marvy ornaments and then proceed to purchase them for ourselves, being sure to pick up an extra to send to the other. A couple of years ago, I was actually curious enough to count every single ornament I had (either putting them up or taking them down...I can't recall). You want to know what that number was? Me too. I can't remember. But I think it was somewhere around 200. And I've added quite a few to my collection since making that count. Maybe I'll have to tally them up again as I take them down this year.

Another obsession I have is with the lights on my Christmas tree. Lighting my tree has always taken me a good, solid day as I wind the strand around branches and make sure that it turns out perfectly. This not only takes a whole lot of time, but a whole lot of lights, too. My record was a couple of years ago when I put either 2100 or 2200 lights on a 9-foot Noble Fir. There was no need for any other light when the switch was flipped on that puppy.

As much as I love a perfectly lit tree, I decided to tone it down a little this year. Instead of shredding my skin with the pine needles, coating my hands with sap, and spending the better part of a day lighting our tree this year, I made a very concentrated effort to keep it simple. I did a very basic lighting job, taking the lights around the inside and outer edge of each "level", tucking the strands back a bit as I went and not worrying about it being perfect. In the end, I spent less than 2 hours (maybe 90 minutes?) on lighting the tree and put "only" 11 strands on. As much as I miss having the entire tree covered from trunk to tips and the blinding light that I'm used to, I have to give myself a pat on the back and say that it turned out surprisingly well. My ornaments still took a good amount of time to put up, but it's done:

Now, back to my obsession with ornaments. My collection is very eclectic and has no theme whatsoever. I've photographed a few for your viewing pleasure...

Here are some of the many animals on my tree. Some have no meaning behind them, others have a story or a reason for being on the tree:

The squirrel, for instance, is named Rocky. One year, when I was a teenager, there was a squirrel in our neighborhood that used to come and snack on the seed in the bird feeder out front. We took to feeding him graham crackers and soon enough, he was literally eating from our hands and would sometime come running from another yard when we'd call him.

Two more with meaning are the donkey and the sheep. These represent the donkey that carried Mary into Bethlehem and the sheep that were with the shepherds the night Christ was born.

Next we have some of my Santas:


I can't think of one with a special story behind it right off the bat...I just like finding different ones to add to my collection.

Here's a glimpse as some of the various other ornaments I have:

I especially love my all little Scandinavian ornaments and people - like the boy and girl that I picked up in Solvang this spring. They represent Hudson and Claire, of course. And the girl on the swing...we had one on our tree growing up and to this day, it's one of my absolute favorites. Then there's the little woodcutter that my mom picked up for me in Germany a few years back. I love him and the sentiment that goes along with him. And here's one for those of you who aren't in my family: who can tell me the title of the story that the little set on the top left is from?

Finally, the most important ornament on our tree:

This one holds a place of honor at or near the top of the tree every year. It was given to me by a dear friend and is the only nativity ornament I have. It is made of olive wood from Jerusalem and has been and always will be extra special to me.

Next up: A much delayed post about a rather chilly night back in November...