Day 37 of 365 - That Holiday Sparkle is Calling to Me
Today we had some snow. It's not cold enough for it to stay and it's already melted. But, once the snow is in the air in November, the holiday sparkle awakens in me. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to believe in the magic potential of the Christmas season. This was inspired not only by my religious education about the miracle of Christmas, but also by the increased generosity of spirit people displayed at that time, by the heartwarming shows I would see on TV and, by all the sparkly decorations that appeared. It all seemed so magical and immersing myself in that felt really good.
We didn't have a lot materially when I was growing up, but, my mom always tried to make the holidays special. She was a very good baker and would make lots of cookies and squares. She liked to decorate our home. My dad was a carpenter and he made large plywood hand painted ornaments to put on our front yard and even a roof high candy cane to prop against the house.
When I became an adult and married, and especially once we had children, I still wanted to bring a little holiday magic to our living spaces. Nativity sets, ornaments, decorations and lights were chosen with care. Even though what I have displayed over the years has been pretty modest in comparison to what other members of my family choose, it's still meaningful to me.
Once the cold, dark nights of November arrive, I feel a hankering to string up holiday lights. That's the first part of the magic for me. I usually don't turn on outside lights until December but if I can, I like to get them up before the weather gets too nasty. Now that I live in an apartment, that display is limited to my balcony, so it is not elaborate but it still makes me happy.
So, sometime in the next week, I will wrap my light strung garland around the railing. I will hang a garland decorated with oversize ornament balls from balcony ceiling hooks and I will plug the lights into a timer. Inside, I will string a strand of colored lights inside on the window of the den, so I can see them when I'm in here to use the computer or watch TV in the evening.
And, although my holiday consumerism is now significantly dampened, I still enjoy seeing the decorations in stores as well as all the decorated greenery which appears. Just today, outside a grocery store, I saw some lovely potted arrangements of greenery with sparkly accents and ornaments, the kind that would look great by a front door. It just makes me smile to look at them.
I don't even have a particular talent for coordinated decorating. But, I've collected a lot of Christmas decorative items over the years and kept a lot of them even when we left our house. I've been gifted various things over the years too. So, each year, I just select from them what I want to display. It's fairly eclectic, but meaningful to me.
Over the next few weeks, more of these things will start showing up in our living space. I will remember where they came from and what they mean to me and I will fully enjoy that holiday sparkle.
We didn't have a lot materially when I was growing up, but, my mom always tried to make the holidays special. She was a very good baker and would make lots of cookies and squares. She liked to decorate our home. My dad was a carpenter and he made large plywood hand painted ornaments to put on our front yard and even a roof high candy cane to prop against the house.
When I became an adult and married, and especially once we had children, I still wanted to bring a little holiday magic to our living spaces. Nativity sets, ornaments, decorations and lights were chosen with care. Even though what I have displayed over the years has been pretty modest in comparison to what other members of my family choose, it's still meaningful to me.
Once the cold, dark nights of November arrive, I feel a hankering to string up holiday lights. That's the first part of the magic for me. I usually don't turn on outside lights until December but if I can, I like to get them up before the weather gets too nasty. Now that I live in an apartment, that display is limited to my balcony, so it is not elaborate but it still makes me happy.
So, sometime in the next week, I will wrap my light strung garland around the railing. I will hang a garland decorated with oversize ornament balls from balcony ceiling hooks and I will plug the lights into a timer. Inside, I will string a strand of colored lights inside on the window of the den, so I can see them when I'm in here to use the computer or watch TV in the evening.
And, although my holiday consumerism is now significantly dampened, I still enjoy seeing the decorations in stores as well as all the decorated greenery which appears. Just today, outside a grocery store, I saw some lovely potted arrangements of greenery with sparkly accents and ornaments, the kind that would look great by a front door. It just makes me smile to look at them.
I don't even have a particular talent for coordinated decorating. But, I've collected a lot of Christmas decorative items over the years and kept a lot of them even when we left our house. I've been gifted various things over the years too. So, each year, I just select from them what I want to display. It's fairly eclectic, but meaningful to me.
Over the next few weeks, more of these things will start showing up in our living space. I will remember where they came from and what they mean to me and I will fully enjoy that holiday sparkle.
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