I still have my Christmas tree up. Not laziness on my part...all my other decorations are put away for another year. But this year's Christmas tree, still green and holding its needles, is one I've become very attached to. It's the kind I remember from my childhood, a single balsam. This spindly variety has nearly disappeared from the lots nowadays, in favor of the uniformly shaped double balsam and the "more is better" theory.
When I was a child, on the day before Christmas Eve my father would find the bargain tree, the one picked over, the sorriest tree on the lot. Then full of Christmas spirits, he'd haul the balding, misshapen evergreen on to a Chicago city bus where it invariably became a group effort to get him and the tree on and off the bus. Transformed in ornaments and tinsel finery, we'd pay homage to Christmas with my brothers and sisters singing "Dzisiaj w Betlejem," hands folded in reverence.
With my own family, we shop for the tree on my son's birthday, have candy cane silk chocolate pie at Bakers Square, then head back home to sing "o christmas tree" to the tree. Not quite an instant replay of my youth, it is our tradition...part old, part new.
The tree and me, we have an unspoken bargain. I'll keep feeding it, and it'll shine its best for me...even long after it's gone.
currently working on: illustrating 2 picture books.
One for Hooked on Phonics, and
“Dance Y’all, Dance” Bright Sky Press, Fall 2009
Love the tree and all of its decor! (I can see why you SHOULD keep it up.) My Christmas stuff is still out--although my tree is out in the front yard, on its side, where it must have landed when launched from the porch by my other half. I should drag it to the curb where, perhaps, it may be discovered by a troop of tree-collecting Boy Scouts, but I suppose when I venture out each morning on my way to work, I don't see this ghastly addition to our yard decor until I glance in the rearview mirror and am too far away to turn around and fetch it. Besides, the pine needles might stab my legs, rip my tights, gouge out an eye... Yup! You should definitely keep the tree in your house, in all its glory. It's obviously much better that way. :-)
Posted by: Kory Gott | January 21, 2009 at 11:04 PM
Hi Terri! Good to see you're working on some books- I just wanted to say that your e-mail has been bouncing for weeks, so I don't know what you're getting from the group!
Posted by: Liz | January 24, 2009 at 02:35 PM
Hi Terri! So funny, I just posted a blog post about the fact that my holiday tree was still up, too!
I love your tree. I love the spindly kind of tress with lots of spaces for art and ornaments to hang down. And yours is spectacular!
Good luck on all that book work! Stay healthy and not too stressed!
Posted by: barbjohansennewman | January 28, 2009 at 04:59 PM