Christmas Decorations

Well, yesterday I put my Christmas decorations up.

Got the Christmas tree out of storage from the back porch. Got other boxes of stuff out of the closet. I unpacked the branches of the Christmas tree, sorted them out on the living room floor into piles by color-coded tags, and fit the branches into place one at a time. I was surprised how much easier it was this year than last. The top of the tree fit on all in one piece. Then I wrapped the string of Christmas tree lights around and around the tree.

Hanging the ornaments proved to be the hardest part of the task. I wanted to hang the ornaments so they were evenly spaced on the tree, and of course you also have to find the right branch to hold the ornament. Then I put the star on top, and done!

I also have a fiber-optic light-up poinsettia and a ceramic church with colored lights which I set up under the tree. Borrowed an extension cord from behind a bookcase in the upstairs hallway (no more vacuuming in the hall upstairs for the rest of this year) and I now have everything plugged into that extension cord in the living room.

I set up my nativity scene on top of one of my stereo speakers— wooden stable and porcelain figurines. My lava lamp and other knick knacks are displaced to the floor behind the speaker for the duration of the season. And that's it. Everything is set up.

By the way, the nativity scene has always been a very special part of Christmas for me. When I was a kid, my dad would set up a large nativity scene between the house and the church— large figures cut from sheets of wood and painted in bright colors— "the woodens," I called them. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph; shepherds; Star of Bethlehem strung on a wire overhead, with a light bulb in it; and of course the Wise Men. Looking at the woodens as a kid, I somehow got the idea that the Wise Men were bringing baby Jesus not gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but a stick of butter, a coffee pot, and a sugar bowl.