The fireplace is lit and crackling in the back ground. Hot
cocoa is ready to consume. A box appears from the basement that doesn’t
see the light of day but only twice a year. This box carries exciting
cargo. This cargo is a 12 feet tall Christmas tree and Christmas lights.
The seasonal music is turned up and the building begins.
First, the tree goes up; yet this is my least favorite
part, it has to be done. Then, the branches are spread out to fill in
holes that have formed from the tree being stuffed in a box for a year.
Lights, lights and more lights are next. They can be found in any color
you desire; however, we normally go with the old fashion clear lights
that twinkle extra bright. Once they are on the tree and plugged in the
scene starts to take shape
The only thing left, which is my favorite part, is the famous hanging
of the ornaments. Every year my brother and I get a new ornament from
our parents. We pick it out ourselves and write the date of which it was
received on it for posterity sake. It is fun to look at the ornaments
we have gotten from past Christmas seasons and remember what that
particular year’s Christmas celebration was like. If you look at all my
ornaments you would see that most of them are animals, geometric shapes
with some sort of sparkles. And the normal round ball shaped ornaments
that have writing of some sort or another on them. Along with the random
ones that were thrown in here and there.
After the tree is up, lit, and decorated there is only
one last thing my mom and I do together. We turn off all the house
lights leaving on only the tree lights. With the fireplace still
flickering we sit and look at the Christmas tree in all its awesome
glory.
After the Christmas excitement is over and the
celebration seems to have passed too quickly, it is time to unravel all
the time it took to make the beautiful centerpiece. It seems it comes
down a lot faster than putting it up. It doesn’t take as much precision
and patience. That box that brought so much joy to the living room
reappears from the basement, but this time it brings a dreaded feeling.
This is the second time it will see the light of day in a year’s time.
All the ornaments come off with less thoughtfulness and are put back in
the box they came from not one month before. The lights are pulled off,
rolled up and thrown in the tree box. The remaining feelings are pushed
aside as the tree is laid in the box. The last action to this process is
for the box to return to the basement until it will bring joy in time
for the next Christmas season.
Written by ~ Elizabeth Pape
