The humming bird's(?) isinglass (?) tail feathers have suffered from years of love and travel and simple age, but this is still one of my favorites. I suspect this was not from the family, but one of the elderly neighbor ladies who passed us, as the only family in the street with children, their decorations as they decided not to put up a tree for themselves anymore.
The Peacock as well has aged, still holding a place of honor on the tree. The bright pink ones are from an aunt who liked stylish trees, had a silver one with blue and white balls, with the color wheel. I loved sitting alone in her front room, bathed in rainbow colors.
The hand-blown purple drop is another that I have spent many a childhood hour gazing into. My brother hated the chubby baby santa, worn of it's color even then. I have a strange affection for the creepy wee thing.
The clot of wires disappears at night, and the lights distract from the utilitarian. I used to see tinsel (Icicles) as indispensable, but with Moby's love of linear comestibles, we gladly take a plainer tree.
Somehow, all together, a sort of magic is created. Fragile but enduring.
7 comments:
I LOVE seeing others' holiday decorations. Thank you for sharing yours!
:-)
It's like a Tibetan Buddhist shrine: affection and savoring the past trump aesthetics, every time. A great gaudy jumble of love.
My wife has an amazing memory, many of the ornaments on our tree come from a specific place, time or circumstance and she remembers pretty much all of them. I look at them not so much as new for having forgotten them, but remembered from having been on the tree the previous year.
With two kids and a third on the way and our fairly consistent participation in our parish, we obviously are taking Christmas somewhat further than you are.
Word Verification: taylant
My taylant is to misspell words.
I love seeing your tree up close. I have one of those hummingbirds (?) isinglass (?), too. One of the few ornaments I still have from my childhood. Yes. Magic -- fragile, but enduring.
Seeing this has inspired me to try and put up some photos of my tree things too when they go up. I think it is a hummingbird you have there.
Thanks for stirring memories. I wish I had some ornaments from my childhood. Our oldest ornaments go back some 30 years, to the early years of our marriage, followed by "Baby's First Christmas" ornaments for two now-grown men.
Don't tell her I told you this, but my mum recently mistakenly threw out her accumulated Christmas decorations of 40-odd years.
I was hearing tearful stories about the battered, cat-chewed fairy and my grandfather's favourite dangly Chrsitmas boots all weekend.
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