We bought our Christmas tree when the trees first arrived in the lots. Ken put it outside in a bucket of water to keep it fresh, until we were ready to set it up, which was right after Thanksgiving. We had our first real tree the last year we were in Galveston, which was Christmas 1969. My friend Martha made us decorations and then right after Christmas, I bought decorations on sale at a very nice store in town, decorations I have used ever since.
In the early years of buying a tree we would all go together to select the perfect tree, but Ken is so exacting with his choice that the boys and I refused to accompany Ken when buying the tree so he happily went alone. Over the years, he realized that the tree farms trim their trees so every tree is perfect. Ken learned to bring home a tree still wrapped in mesh because it was so easy to carry. Ken got smart over time.
Ken took responsibility to set up the tree and put on the lights. My task was to put on the decorations. And Ken lit up the outside of our house. There has never been enough exterior lights for Ken. Our houses glowed at Christmas. I have chatted with many women about Christmas customs and tasks and everyone has told me that the lady of the house puts lights on the tree. Both Suzanne and Christina put the lights on the tree, but not me.
Removing the decorations is always the task of the mother. Very often, when we were away after Christmas, I would ask Elvia, our housekeeper, to remove the decorations and she did. After many years, I discovered that she did not enjoy the task so I stopped asking her. Putting decorations out is much more exciting than removing them.
Today, I removed all our Christmas decorations from the house. It took me thirty minutes. Pretty nice.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment