In the continuing quest for contentment, I decided to do more decorating for the holiday season. Christmas used to be my favorite time of year as a child, and not for the gifts. It was more the general feeling of happiness and joy that people seemed to have during this time of year. Of course, as a child, I wasn’t aware of the stress and sadness that adults often feel at Christmas time.
What I remember with the rose-colored glasses of time are the sights and smells and sounds of Christmas: the decorations, inside and outside, that turned a normal house into a twinkling wonderland; the smells of homemade cookies and pies and candies; the sounds of Christmas music everywhere. I especially remember Christmases on Nutt Road, the house where I lived as a teen. My stepmother Norma always went all out for Christmas.
In an effort to recreate some of that nostalgic feeling, I wanted a centerpiece for my dining room table and not just a poinsettia, which seems to be what I always end up with. I wanted something that I could use year after year. I spent a couple of hours last Saturday wandering the stores in town trying to find what I was picturing in my mind – something with a hurricane candle and greenery – with no luck. Then I spent another hour on Google and discovered that I could have what I was picturing, for a hefty price! But some time spent on Pinterest looking at centerpieces and I decided I had most of what I needed to make my own, albeit not with a hurricane candle. All I needed to buy was some candy canes, which I buy each year anyway.
What do you think?
Candy canes go very well in mocha, don’t ya know?
It grew right outside our kitchen eating area and the birds loved it during the winter!
It’s funny, though. I remember the Christmases of my teen years with great fondness and nostalgia, and yet those Christmases were precisely why I purposely toned down my Christmas efforts as an adult. It always seemed like my younger siblings had a hard time coping with all the build-up of Christmas and by mid-Christmas day, after all the presents had been opened, there was a pervasive feeling of disappointment, as if the reality could never quite match the fantasy. Sometimes, though, I really miss that full-blown fantasy!
pretty – I like the simplicity of this, easy to move and easy to replace if those mocha call for a candy cane 🙂
Beautifully written.