Tis the season as they say. I have always enjoyed decorating for Christmas and took over decorating the house when I was about 12. My mom reminds me that I didn't take over taking down the decorations until I moved away from home and no longer had her to do it. I must have scratched my head in confusion that first year when the decorations didn't magically take themselves down.
I have a collection of ornaments that go back years. Each one has a special memory attached. "These were the ones Chip and I painted when I was 10" "I got this one when I was home for Christmas from Japan." "Karen made this one for me." "I had this on my tree in Japan." etc. Each year as I take the ornaments out, I revisit memories of the past. I have a Christmas stocking--white (kind of dingy now) with angels that I got my first Christmas and have hung up lovingly for over 40 years. Several years ago I discovered that the "Made in Japan" foil sticker had somehow survived on the back of the stocking. Perhaps it was destiny that my life would be wound so closely to Japan.
In Hawaii, C and I both loved to decorate the house. I had a tree and a number of clear, glass & crystal ornaments, she had brightly colored ornaments. Together we created a beautiful tree. The first Christmas after she had moved back to the mainland and thoughtlessly took her ornaments with her. I unsuspectingly put of the tree, stepped back, viewed my handiwork, only to discover that my tree looked very anemic with the plethora of clear ornaments. I never missed my dear friend more and even with the color balls I rushed out to buy, I have never felt the tree has looked exactly as it did with the mixture of mine and C's ornaments.
I also have a collection of nutcrackers. I have them setting on my dining room table as a center piece. I fell in love with the Nutcracker ballet and Baryshnikov when it aired on TV when I was eleven years old. I have collected them since, my collection would be considerably bigger if I hadn't lost an entire box of them.
I have discovered that what I enjoy most about Christmas is the decoration aspects of it. I have spent so much time away from my family during Christmas that I am sometimes melancholy on Christmas day. While in Japan, I discovered that if I engaged in normal American Christmas activities, like attending a Christmas chorus, I would like become distraught with homesickness. One negative experience made me wary for the future. Christmas Days that I have enjoyed were at the beach with Paul and sushi for dinner; setting my tiny Barbie sized kitchen on fire making chicken Kiev (OK not so much fun as memorable). As I was coming unglued in the kitchen, the men were wrapped up in Pulp Fiction in the living room. By the time, they registered my panicked cries, I had the fire out--flour burns on electric rings by the way!
This year, I don't know what I will do for Christmas. Paul is now in LA so maybe something with him. Perhaps not Sushi because I am still avoiding it since my poisoning. But whatever, I know that I have friends and family that will be thinking about me and that will be enough
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