The problem with putting every single ornament you have on the tree is that it takes almost all day to take every single ornament down and put it away. Like the puppy dog ornament I got from my mother-in-law years ago. Not sure why she gave it to us. We’ve never had a dog. But, it went on the tree this year and it also came down. Just now. I wrapped it in tissue paper and tucked it inside the drawer of my organizer, between the ornament she bought us when we got married and the large glass ball I bought at a sale after Christmas at a department store that was going out of business year before last.
Took down the wooden skis and the golden reindeer. The golf ball and the purple glass grapes. The tiny red bird, the blue and white ceramic tea pot and the six royal blue sequenced stars that I bought as a set.
Took down the bright red hearts trimmed in gold, the snowman made of cloth and the fragile Snowbaby riding a swan, who is grasping a vanilla white bow.
Took down the shiny red and silver iron Jennifer sent me this year, a generous gift and a nod to this comment thread. Took down the white ornament we picked up at A Christmas Carol in 1996, and the red apple with a bite taken out of it to reveal a green worm sitting in a rocking chair covered with a blanket, reading a book, next to a blue and white polka dotted lamp on a tiny nightstand.
Took down each ornament in my Lenox collection. The large, egg shaped one, the small train trimmed in gold that my mother gave to me when Blue Kid was small. I wrapped those along with the angel and the mouse, who holds a paint brush and a watercolor set, placing them carefully into the drawer.
Took down each of my Santa Claus ornaments, the ones I collected before The Skimmer and I were married. Some have tightly curled, wild beards, their expressions jolly and happy. Some are trimmed with pearls and some with jingle bells. Some are wooden, some ceramic and some are glass. Some have serious expressions. Most are wearing gold wired glasses and muted velvet clothes. One of them holds a candle. And one of them looks downright mean.
Took down the small silver pillow with the bronze bow that has three tiny white pearls sewn into each corner. The pillow reads L’amour, l’amour fait tourner le monde!
It’s love, it’s love that makes the world go round!
Took down and tucked away the ornaments I’ve collected and also received as gifts over the years from friends and relatives who picked them up while traveling. I have a moose from Alaska, a dancing woman from the Bahamas, a gorgeous and heavy crystal ornament from Sweden, the Old North Church from Boston and a small cuckoo clock from Germany. My best friend sent me a beautiful ornament this year from The White House Historical Association, an old etching of the White House surrounded by silver snowflakes and dedicated to Grover Cleveland. The I Love NY ornament I bought in a tacky gift shop in Times Square when the three of us had made a trip to the city eleven years ago to see The Lion King usually hangs highest on the tree. Because of its weight, it needs to hang from the strongest branch.
Took down the Mickey Mouse ornaments, the Donald Duck ornaments and The Power Rangers ornament. The Thomas the Train ornaments. Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon. James, Percy, Toby. Took down the ornaments that were Blue Kid’s school projects over the years. The garland made from construction paper. The white paper plate with his red hand print. The small white sock he stuffed with tiny wrapped boxes and the ornaments he’s made out of clay, the star and tree. The photos of him on Santa’s lap in 1992. 1993. 1994. 1995. 1996. 1997. 1998. Took down each of his pictures I have put in tiny frames each year. His first, at nine months old, encased in a red and green wooden tree with Baby’s First Christmas written in gold beneath his toothless grin, through to the last one, at seventeen, his senior picture behind glass in a gorgeous miniature, maroon velvet frame. I took them all down, wrapped them in tissue and tucked them away, along with the last Christmas I had him at home as the child I’ve always known.
That’s the real problem of putting every ornament you have on the tree, it takes a lifetime to do it. And it’s all over much too fast.
L’amour, l’amour fait tourner le monde.
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