The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

My "beach angel"

Christmas is the most magical time of year.  It's unconscionable to say otherwise.  It may not always be one's favorite holiday of the year, but you cannot argue that it is not the most spectacular. I'll admit that our consumption economy and the advertising blitz that surrounds Christmas is partially to blame.  I want to jump into the pages of the candle-lit, boxwood and magnolia-draped Pottery Barn magazine just as longingly as the next person...and quite possibly buy the couch, lamp, and rug while I am there.  But, I do believe, always, that the magic of Christmas is deeper than that. 

At church this morning the announcement was shared that a gathering would take place in the afternoon, inviting parishioners to share what family traditions make this season so special to them.  We couldn't go, but it got me thinking.

Christmas is magical because when you sift through obligations to buy gifts, expectations to smile even though you are breathless with stress, and pressures to wear something sparkly at every party you are invited to despite having nothing of the sort in your wardrobe, one thing always remains...tradition.  For many the traditions are religious, for others cultural, but for all they are deeply treasured and quite often revered.

We could spend endless blog posts reciting family Christmas traditions. I'll spare you from all of my favorites except for two:  1. Making Lithuanian sausage and vitatus with my dad and Grant (though very special to me, I will not provide a visual of the sausage making process) 2. Decorating the Christmas tree.

Since the year I was born, my mom has made a point of giving me a Christmas ornament.  More often than not, the ornament has something to do with what happened in my life that year - the Wedgewood Longtail ornament the year we went to Bermuda, the sterling silver bell from "Santa's Sleigh" the year that we fell in love with the Polar Express, one of the Hooper Strait Lighthouse which was the backdrop of our wedding reception in St. Michaels, Maryland.  Other ornaments were give just because they were tricky - the "beach angel" ornament made of an oyster shell and raffia from the Bethany Beach, Delaware annual art show, the wooden Santa with a movable arm which I fell in love with one year while on a shopping excursion in historic Ellicott City.  The ornaments were always either a surprise, or whisked away for safe keeping until we were ready to decorate the tree.  Then, gingerly each year, they were put in a shoe box with my name and finally given to me when I was old enough for a Christmas tree of my own. 

 Of all the Christmas decorations that fill a home, ornaments are among the most personal and telling of life stories.  For that reason, our Christmas tree is always simple.  No fancy ribbon, bows, or tinsel.  Just dangling little memories on illuminated display. 

Painted wooden birds from Nervous Nellies Jams and Jellies
in Deer Isle, Maine



My Wedgewood Bermuda Longtail



From our trip to Pebble Beach last year

Grant's new "tradition" - a shot glass rests in a Adirondach

chair ornament...

...and miniture Scotch bottles hang on the tree

A bell from Santa's sleigh

Our 2011 ornament from a beach vendor in St. Lucia

A beautiful wooden ornament of Trinity Church in
Newport, Rhode Island



This has nothing to do with Christmas ornaments, but I wanted to share my
kitchen table centerpiece...an antique candle mold filled w/hand blown glass
balls, eucalyptus, candles, and holly....not to mention my awesome burlap
ribbon w/real red jingle bells.  Thanks, Aukie!