Ok, ok. I know that this bugs a lot of people, but I love the time of year when the Christmas decorations start showing up in stores. Trees, ornaments, tinsel and especially, lights.One of my favorite memories from my childhood is sitting on the couch in the livingroom, all the lights turned off in the room except for the Christmas tree. That was back in the days of those teardrop shaped dark painted bulbs, each probably about an inch and a half long. The colors were deep and bright and the whole room seemed to softly glow when they were plugged in. I would take off my glasses and the lights would turn into fuzzy colored balls. The smell of a real fir tree would fill the room. As Christmas drew near, under the tree more presents would appear each night (it helped that there were 7 in our family, so even just 3 or 4 presents each added up to a full tree!). I can remember looking intently at each of the lower ornaments (cheap plastic ones that would not break from kids handling them or a cat climbing the tree and knocking it over). Each ornament had a magic of its own, different shapes representing different aspects of the holiday season, the light of a nearby bulb sparkling off it as I turned it in my hand. In my memory it seems that I would spend an hour just looking at and savoring the tree. In reality it was probably a whole ten minutes. But this is one of my favorite childhood memories.
When we first arrived in Ukraine the country was still suffering through the end of the economic downturn. We seldom saw anything relating to "Western Christmas" - December 25. Anything that did appear in a store was related to New Year. Very few items were available for purchase. Now, going into our local supermarket (also a new thing) is not much different than going into a supermarket in the States. The first aisle is filled with artificial trees, ornaments, candles, shiny garlands and dozens of toys to temp any children or grandparents as they come in. I love it!
Mel sighs as I stop and start looking at the ornaments - he knows me well - I am captivated. I have to look at them all, imagining how this one would look on the tree, how that would look hanging in the window. Often he'll just walk into the main part of the store ahead of me, find me a few minutes later, his hands loaded down with several items of food that we need. I am distracted as we wander through the store by every artificial tree standing in the middle of an aisle or on top of the shelves, by every box of candy wearing it's holiday wrapping. I have already bought a tin of chocolate in the shape of a purple Christmas tree to give to a 4-year old girl in our church. I've looked at several other boxes and tins, thinking of who I could give them to and how they would be received.
But my favorite time is just a week or so away. When I get to dig the artificial tree out from under our bed, pull out the box of ornaments and lights and start putting it all together. (Mel is colorblind so all of this is not real meaningful to him. Someday in heaven he will be able to see the magic of the lights!) I will set it up in the livingroom, tweaking it here and there while Cheyenne helps me by inspecting and giving her opinion on everything I do. Then I will light a scented candle on the table and turn off all the lights. With a cup of hot chocolate or maybe just some Lipton Citrus Green Tea in hand, I will sit back and enjoy the tree and the lights.
And I will dream about home. And family. And my grandson and how he is enjoying his second Christmas. I might even cry a little bit. But I will savor it all with pleasure.
Thank you, Father in heaven, for giving me eyes to see, for the colors and scents of Christmas, for the joy we have in doing these things. Thank you Father for Christmas decorations!
