Christmas can't come soon enough for me this year! This Spirited Woman is ready for the holiday festivities!
I've already brought the four big boxes filled with Christmas "stuff" upstairs from the storage room. The beautiful Della Robbia-style wreath, studded with handcrafted fruit, tiny Christmas balls, and fir boughs, has been gracing the front door since Monday. This afternoon my husband and I are going to outline the deck with colorful twinkling lights. And soon we'll get our tree.
As I carefully unwrap the ornaments from their sparkly tissue paper, I'm surprised and delighted, as if reconnecting with old friends.
Oh, look, there's the gorgeous angel, star, and bell! Made of a rich blue/green/red patterned material and sewn with a gold thread border, these ornaments are plush and one-of-a-kind. I remember so well when I purchased them in the lobby of the Peace Hotel in Shanghai in 1989, on a brief trip to China.
There's the miniature wooden sleigh and reindeer, and the two adorable two-inch snowmen, all dressed up in their red outfits, complete with white buttons and warm caps. I've had my sleigh, reindeer, and snowmen since I lived in New England, and they're my table decorations every single Christmas. I actually think the snowmen look forward to "coming out of their box" at Christmas time -- I know, that's strange....
And here's so many magnificent Christmas balls, large and small, designed with pearls and sequins on satin of rich yellow, cobalt blue, fire-engine red, royal purple, forest green. They definitely look like jewels! Hard to believe my late husband and I made the balls ourselves from crafters' "kits" in 1970, but we did -- one step at a time.
There's a glittery silver ball with "Linda" written on it in red; the ornament was a gift from a friend in high school. And there are tiny wooden creatures whose legs and arms move up and down when you pull the string -- a cow jumping over the moon, a jumping jack, a kittykat. And of course, there's a twinkling star to put atop the tree.
Christmas comes but once a year -- but the glow of the season lasts all year!
Linda Jay Geldens, www.LindaJayGeldens.com
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