Creating Christmas

 

“Oh Christmas tree. Oh Christmas tree…….’

The children had gathered around the Christmas tree their grandmother had made for them. They knew she could create just about everything in the whole wide world. But a tree!?…”

And that’s where the story ended. Those few words had floated through my mind as I gazed at the Christmas tree that I had created. My own Inner Child had wanted not just the little tree I put up every year, but a tall elegant tree with beautiful decorations. And preferably a real tree.

Several restrictions placed in my life in the past few years didn’t jive with all those preferences - a real tree, tall tree, with elegance, and the time and transportation needed. Quite by accident, I discovered that I had several yards of evergreen garlands threaded on heavy wire with many little ‘branches. Without my permission, a vision began to form. A tree made with my own hands, but what to do about a trunk? Everyone knows a trunk is absolutely necessary to any good tree. So I was stumped - no pun intended.

When I get pulled up short when reality doesn’t fit my imagination I start doing other things. In this case, it was cleaning up the mess I had made with all the evergreen garlands strewn on my living room floor. One of them had pine cones on it. I started to coil it up so it would fit back in the carton I stored them in…………..that looks like a wreath. Again with the imagination! But what the heck. So I made a wreath that now hangs on my front door. I added a couple of jingle bells that had been left jingling around in my stores. A day later found a lovely bauble a friend had made and added the finishing touch. 

All the while I kept thinking about a tree trunk. Putting things away in my hall closet I spied a handful of six foot bamboo sticks. Hmmmmmm……..One would be too thin. What if I made a teepee kind of structure with three of them? I tried it and it just kept collapsing. In frustration, it was masking tape to the rescue. I taped the three of them together to make one solid, and very skinny trunk. Ok. Now what? A tall gold and silver brass vase almost shouted at me to be part of this mad bout of creativity. Did I mention ‘skinny’? So this ‘trunk’ just wobbled around in the vase. Not to be daunted I started winding one of the garlands and then found I needed two. As I worked the garland at the base filled in the gaps to steady my skinny trunk. 

All my little tree needed was to be decorated. Lights came first as always. I started with multicoloured and changed to tiny little blue ones. Then my one purchase - a $3.00 roll of gold ribbon with wired edges - an important part of my early vision. Still not quite done. Delving back into my store of decorations I found my beautiful, tiny, and shiny Christmas balls and hung them carefully. Standing back, my not so tall, not quite elegant tree looked a bit Charlie Brownish, but absolutely beautiful. But……one more touch. My angel with feathered wings!

There. I may not have trudged out in the snow to chop down my own tree in a beautiful crisp cold winter day, but bringing this beautiful tree to life has been so very satisfying and brought a lovely touch of Christmas to my home. 

“The object of the artist is the creation of the beautiful. 

What the beautiful is, is another question.”

~ James Joyce,  A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Author's note: Edited February 24, 2024