SMFairytales: The Magic That Is Christmas

I LOVE this time of the year! LOVE it!

There is excitement building as early as the fall in anticipation of just this one day. Some stores have the decorations displayed at the same time as Halloween. As you shop in summertime while on vacation, you occasionally find a store dedicated solely to Christmas decorations and the like. This is where you’ll find me….in the Christmas aisles….planning! I always made it a habit to buy an ornament every place I went on vacation. It’s a great thing to do, especially since the refrigerator magnets from my vacations had taken over the kitchen!

I have a friend who once told me that her favorite holiday decorations were the ‘kitschy’ ones about her neighborhood…a bit of tinsel, an occasional pinwheel, lights strewn about haphazardly, wreaths and decorations a little off-kilter….they were her favorites. I was driving her home from a company Christmas party at the time and we chose to take a couple turns through her neighborhood for a viewing of the ‘kitsch’. “These are the decorations that express their true nature; they’re from the heart. Anyone can copy perfection from a magazine in perfect rows of white lights. These capture my heart as I get to know the neighbors through their art.” she said. Thank you Lynne. I agree. Every effort counts.

Any single candle in a window, any wreath on a door, bulbs tied to the limbs of an unsuspecting tree and the Glass Wax stencils on windows, all warm the cockles of my heart! I love every car that has antlers on the windows (shotgun!), every grill on a car with a wreath strapped to it, lights adorning anything, and my all-time favorite is a single tree decorated with lights in somebody’s yard.

Just take a gander at some of these beauties. You’ve got to admire their enthusiasm for the season! They’re truly over the top!

And why do I love these things? Because for that moment you pass a stranger’s house, new neighborhood, store window or business decorated with lights, it reminds us we are one. It displays our commonality. Each gingerbread cookie is a joy to behold. Each strand of tinsel is a celebration. Each ribbon and bow a wrapped up treasure of the season. Each sparkle of glitter a star studded celestial festival of heavenly lights on Earth. Each moment experienced in the season a miracle of unity….’ Magic in the air.’

What better way to end a year but in celebration of ‘Peace on Earth’ as we plot, plan and prepare for the upcoming year.

So bring out the gifts, wrappings, ornaments, lights, and all the shimmery stuff. Don’t forget the banquet of foods, wassail, strung popcorn, homemade cookies and ribbon candy. Light the candles, sing the carols, mull the cider and add marshmallows to the cocoa for today we feast life in any and all capacity, large and small. Call the family and friends, neighbors and strangers alike and sing and dance like Old Fezziwig.