Tree Memories

Today was the day that we kicked off the holiday season. We slept in (an important representative activity of the holidays), then went to Starbucks for some eggnog lattes before heading a few miles down the road to our local Christmas Tree farm. It was a sunny day but it was cold enough for a heavy jacket: the perfect winter day, in my view. After tramping around the farm for a while making decisions about short needle vs. long needle, and pokey needle vs. slightly less pokey needle, we settled on a 5 ft. Canaan Fir (incidentally, the only type of Fir that will grow in this part of the country), and brought it home.

Once we got the living room furniture rearranged, we set the tree up in its stand and began our decorating ritual, which includes watching White Christmas (with Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney) and singing along while we decorate. ("I'll soon be there with snow...chicka-chick, chicka-chick, chicka-chick, chicka-chick.") Which brings me, finally, to the picture you see here, which is of one of our many Christmas decorations we have picked up on various journeys over the last 7 years of our marriage. This one is from our June 2009 trip to Switzerland with my parents (we found it in a little shop on the streets of Luzern), and I quite like it. It's simple, but I like the hand-painted look, and after all, the Swiss flag is distinctive enough to shine on its own. We have a few other hand-painted balls like this one from various travels (including Seattle, WA and Newport, RI), but I think I like this one the best.

After it got dark, we enjoyed some Peppermint Hot Chocolate (from Trader Joe's) while admiring our tree. And, just to round out the perfect holiday season kick-off, Mother Nature decided to give us a dusting of snow just as we were headed to bed.

Merry Christmas.