We're just five days away from Christmas, and the vibe here in El Reno, Oklahoma, is better than it was in Oklahoma City, in that I am not hurried, and nothing feels as if it is too pressured. If I want to put up a tree, I will, and I did. If I want to go see lights, I might. There's a place to do that. But for me, and for a great number of people, Christmas isn't about presents, and it's not about lights or shiny things. It's about remembering the days that led up to the birth of Christ; something far more important than running around buying gifts and making sure they're wrapped just right with the right colors of paper and the invisible tape so no one can see the seams. (People actually do that.)
So, here, at the Stringfellow homestead, Laura and I have set up the tree together. I put it up about 10 days before Christmas, to give the cats a few days to acclimate to it. I don't put lights on it, and I don't put the bulbs on it, not until it's been seen, sniffed, and thoroughly examined and finally ignored by every cat in the house. This year, we have three cats to consider: Bilbo, Frodo, and Pippin (are you sensing a theme?). If the cats can't be bothered, we decorate.
Laura pulled out the long strand of lights, and before she plugged them in, she wrapped the tree with them. When they didn't light up, I saw her face! It was hilarious. Yep, that's why you plug them in first. So, Amazon it was! I ordered them around 6:00 p.m., and just before 7:00 a.m. the next morning, we had lights. There were 200 little multi-colored lights on sale for something like $7, so yeah, that's the way to go. She plugged them in, they worked, she strung them, and I set off with the ribbon, the garland, and all the cute little unbreakable bulbs and hangy-things. Jeannie gave me a couple, too, little Charlie Brown characters! They're up there inside that cheap little wonderful tree.
I think I bought the tree last year for around $30 in the summer, thinking to myself that buying a tree in August made sense. It did! We put it up, it looked rather sparse to be honest, with lots of "holes" or space that needed to be filled with garland, bulbs, lights, ribbons, and I even put my Christmas cards in the tree -- and a few toys; just for fun. I typically, well sometimes, put candy canes in the tree as well - but I haven't done that this year. There's still time. I could run to Dollar General and pick up a box.
Because there are a few things that can't go without doing, I ran to Dollar General and to Family Dollar to find the worst chocolate ever made: Queen Anne's cordial cherries. You know you love them, but the chocolate is nothing to be desired. We do it because it's what you do. If anyone actually got around to making cordials that tasted better than Queen Anne's, I wouldn't know it - I should find out. I eat a box every year, but I don't complain that they don't rank among the best-made chocolates. I smile and remember all the times I ate them as a kid.
I like ribbon candies, hard candies that you can't buy any other time of the year. I like peppermint bark, rainbow candy canes, and anything made by Reeses that is shaped like anything that is supposed to be festive. I bought a bunch of garland for the tree, and super cheap, cute ornaments that I thought I simply had to have. I have them now. I don't have to do the same thing next year, but I bet I do anyway. I think I will. I think that after a few years, the tree will finally be full and I'll say, "OK, that looks good."
I thought I'd get around to hanging lights around the windows, but no, I didn't do that. I thought I would search the garage, where all of our stuff was put when we moved, to see if I could find the plaid tree skirt. I didn't find it. I threw a throw blanket around the bottom of it and called it done. It's pretty. The dogs like it. I will have to drive back to one of the stores and get a set of reindeer ears to put on the dogs, maybe an elf hat, or something silly -- that's another tradition you have to keep going if you have dogs. (Cats never really cooperate when I try to force the issue.)
This is the first of many Christmases in our new home. It should be special, and it will be. We can't have a fire in the fireplace until we have it checked and certified, but we can decorate the mantle. We'll buy the moving reindeer next year, and maybe hire someone to do the lights outside. Laura may volunteer to do it too; you just never know. I'm not going to crawl up onto a ladder and stretch over things to put them up. I see online they have new types of fast, easy, fun, safe lights you can put up with light adhesive -- that makes me happy.
We have hot cocoa! We have the dogs, the cats, the smiles, the hopes, and the promise that this season, and every Christmas season, is possible only because Jesus came down from His throne in Heaven to humble Himself to the point of being born of a woman, in the lowest of places, and because He determined that we were worthy to save - we are saved. Glory to God in the Highest! Merry Christmas to every last soul on the Earth. Our King is alive, and He will return.
Merry Christmas from our home to yours.
Photo Credit: Me. (I bought 4 bags)
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