Christmas Cat
Dec. 14th, 2020 02:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydamorehouse
Image: my big fluff button under the tree, having captured an ornament.
We trimmed the tree this weekend. I'd take a picture of it, but photos never do Christmas trees much justice, IMHO. Perhaps because the eye needs to roam between the lights and the individual ornaments to truly appreciate the personality of an individual tee. For instance, our trees always have a whole flock of birds hidden among the branches, antique blown glass of my grandmother's, a high heel wearing crocodile, several Star Trek ornaments, Captain America, and other curios gathered over the years.
Because Willow is still young, the bottom half of the tree is still trimmed with unbreakables (like the one Buttercup nabbed.)
Normally, we would never put up a tree quite this early, but there is a Christmas tree shortage and so when we saw a full lot on Wednesday, we impulse bought a tree and brought it home. In the past we've waited until Solstice, but we just don't think there will be much to chose from by then.
What about you? Do you do a tree? Are you lighting candles on a menorah? Preparing your list of grievances for Festivus? Reading up Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica for Newtonmas? Reciting poetry for the Iranian solstice celebration of Yaldā Night? House cleaning for Ōmisoka? Brushing up on your Esperanto for Zamenhof Day? Anyone I know celebrating Kwanza?
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Date: 2020-12-14 08:43 pm (UTC)We don't do a tree. My mother does. My brother just sent me a bunch of photos of the tree, the mantelpiece, the lights on the deck and the front of her townhouse, etc. It all looks just as it should.
I've occasionally decorated a little Norfolk Island pine tree when I had one in a pot, but they really don't seem to like indoor living in our house and generally sort of give up after three or four years, so it seemed wrong to keep getting new ones to demolish.
P.
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Date: 2020-12-16 12:12 am (UTC)Yeah, I think we started getting a tree when Mason was little? I say this because I'm not sure we would have without him? Though, maybe. Shawn grew up with all the Christmas decorations, so she's really fond of all of it My folks, who are Unitarian, did a tree some years, but other years decorated the fig tree growing in a pot.
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Date: 2020-12-14 09:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-12-16 12:14 am (UTC)And, yeah, when we do rituals we have to count whiskers afterwards. You'd think these mighty predators would know that flame = hot.
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Date: 2020-12-14 10:17 pm (UTC)Normally Richard buys an 8-foot tree and spends a week carefully filling it with blinking, flashing, color-changing lights, starting from the inside and working his way out to make sure it is 3-dimensional. Then we add a hundred or so of his hand painted ornaments, carefully hanging the smaller ones at the top to create an illusion of perspective and increased height (this is what happens when you let an MCAD trained artist decorate a tree). At the end I add a few dozen birds, because birds were my favorite when I was a kid. And we pick our favorite dozen ornaments to put on rotators and start them all spinning.
But this year we have cancelled Christmas, so why bother? No singing party, no game parties, no Minnstf meetings, and no grandkids. So we're planning a small table-top tree decorated in Throwback style. He's planning to use the old mismatched lights and decorations that don't fit his fully evolved effervescent tree style. Quiet little snowman lights that don't even change color and that sort of thing. We're planning to go tree shopping tomorrow. Merry Christmas.
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Date: 2020-12-16 12:17 am (UTC)We normally spend Solstice and Christmas just ourselves and it's our favorite time of year because I have two introverts at home. However, I'm aware how lucky we are that our tradition has always been = home, alone, together. No one is disappointed we're not visiting, because we never did any of that. (I don't know if that's a good thing? But, at least this year it's the same thing, if that makes sense.)
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Date: 2020-12-14 11:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-12-16 12:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-12-17 12:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-12-15 03:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-12-16 12:19 am (UTC)What a great job, btw! Religion reporter! I would have loved that.
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Date: 2020-12-26 06:40 pm (UTC)The job was great fun and very educational.
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Date: 2020-12-15 01:34 pm (UTC)We bought a tree for the first time; normally we all travel to various places, so we are adapting and making some of our own traditions this year.
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Date: 2020-12-16 12:20 am (UTC)And, yeah, as I said above, we're fortunate in that we never used to do much visiting this time of year. Ironically, what we loved about Christmas was a chance to all be alone, together--sitting in our respective chairs under piles of blankets and books.
It's tough to have to make new traditions, especially when the kids are expecting things. Are your kids dealing okay with the holiday changes?
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Date: 2020-12-22 01:45 pm (UTC)The nephews are young enough at 3 that I don't think they have clear expectations based on what we did last year, let alone the year before. I'm sure if asked they would like to go see Grandpere and Grammy, but they don't have that attachment to it that an older child would have. They enjoyed putting up a Christmas tree with us.
I do love being alone together with books-- that's one of my favorite things about visiting my IL family normally. Glad we can both enjoy some of our usual things!!
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Date: 2020-12-15 04:47 pm (UTC)Our Modern Neo-Technopagan Winter Festivities Symbol Holder stays up all year. We'll turn the fiber-optic lights on a couple of times between now and Christmas.
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Date: 2020-12-16 12:22 am (UTC)Your celebration of the season sounds perfect.