A Beautiful Site

Magical is the only way to describe Christmas at our house. The first Saturday morning in December we dig through the records and find all the Christmas albums. Andy Williams, Burl Ives, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Judy Garland and so many more. Andy Williams is my favorite. I stack as many as the record player will hold which is about six. I set the rest aside to be used in a few hours. This is an all day process.

We bring in all the boxes filled with Christmas treasures from the cellar. I open the box on top to find last year's Christmas cards. They look perfect lined up on the header that shows where the porch used to be but now is part of the living room. That made it twice the size, but it’s freezing cold in the winter since it’s all single pane windows. Makes for beautiful frosted glass though when you are outside looking in. So pretty.

Mom, Laurie, and I each take a box and open it. We start decorating with whatever we find in there, classic tunes belting out on the record player. The glass Santa plate comes out and I fill it with ribbon candy, also leftover from last year. They're just too pretty to eat. Our stockings hang on the wall behind mom and dad’s chairs. Soon they will fill with nuts, candies, and oranges. Mom puts ribbon on all the lanterns. We all line the windows with white lights using the nails left in the wood just for that purpose alone. The porcelain Christmas tree's place is on the console this year. I wind up the music box and listen to Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas while the record player drops the next selection down. It's a mix of all my favorite singers and songs. I love the swish and slide they make as they drop onto each other.

The living room is looking like it belongs on a Christmas card. But we are not done yet.

Dad says come outside to pick which tree we like best of the two he brought home. We pick the one with the least holes. Mom and dad bring it in and he slides it in the holder he made out of a three in piece of pipe and ten horseshoes. Sturdy as all get out, but there’s no way to add water to keep it from drying out. Oh well. He gets it standing straight up, almost. There’s several substantially bare places that need filled but that’s what dad got the second tree for. He cuts off boughs and uses his knife to sharpen the ends. Then he drills holes in the main tree to fill it in. Genius! After a good hour the tree is looking plush. Once it’s good and full, we are ready to add the lights.

But first, It’s time to turn over all the records to listen to the other side. Once that’s done, we start checking each bulb, slowly untangling the mess of strings. The process is comical. Mom will be standing in the living room and by the time the strand of 25 is straight, I'm clear in the kitchen. There's been talk of trading them in for newer, white lights. No way! The colored lights with their giant bulbs are my favorite even though they get super hot.

Next comes all the ornaments that we got from our family Christmas party. Handmade angels and snowmen made with love by Grandma McDonald. Then out come the glass bulbs of all shapes and colors. Mom reminds us to be extremely careful with the glass ornaments. Once they find their perfect spot on the tree, I love to watch the lights dance on the glass in each ornament. No matter how careful we are, we always lose at least one a year.

Mom takes out our tree topper that tapers up to a point. It is ten inches tall and the prettiest topper I’ve ever seen. Dad puts it up against the tree to judge how much more he has to cut off the top to fit the topper in. Clippers are found, and six inches have to come off the top. The tree is almost complete. We shut off all the house lights, grab a cup of hot cocoa mom made and curl up to watch Santa Claus is Coming To Town on the TV. Mom made huge bowls of popcorn to string as we watch. It takes nearly the entire movie for all of us to get a string long enough to drape across the front of the tree. Dad tries to help out, but his string only spanned a few feet. He couldn’t help but eat most of what was in his bowl.

Tinsel is the final touch for the tree. We each gingerly take a handful of strands and begin placing them on each branch. I get the bottom layer and start throwing five or six at a time. Mom stops me and explains, “Andee, you have to place them on a few at a time. That way we have enough for the entire tree.” It takes fooooreeevvveerrrrr. When we finish, the tree is glorious in its glittery majesty. In my bed later that night I snuggle under my quilt, stare at the soft glow of the twinkling lights, and dream about what Santa is going to bring me for Christmas. Usually I get slippers and new jammies for the year. I hope it’s a pony. If that’s too much for Santa’s sleigh then maybe a barbie doll. I try so hard to keep my eyes open. I don’t want to miss a moment of the Christmas wonderland. Dad’s already asleep in bed, Mom is watching White Christmas but she’s asleep in her chair also. After long I can’t help it, I give in to sleep. My dreams are filled with lights, ornaments, and Andy Williams singing Silent Night.