Deck the Halls

Now that Thanksgiving is past, it’s time to move on to another time-honored tradition, decorating for the holidays. Depending on your family background, you may prepare for Christmas or Hanukkah; in our home, it’s Christmas.


Time to tidy up from turkey day and head out in search of the perfect tree. We’re fortunate to live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC, where Christmas Tree farms abound. So we wind through the hills and dales until we arrive at our favorite spot and bundle up against the elements. 


We trek up and down through rows of towering pines to select the perfect specimen, hail a tree-cutter, ride back in a wagon to pick up our prize where it has been trussed for travel, and strapping assistant loads it up. We follow a caravan of tree-topped cars and trucks back to civilization.


The bindings loosed, and our 8-foot Fraser Fir leans on the deck overnight to settle its limbs. Stacks of boxes and bins are trundled from the basement. The next day, the tree is lugged into the great room and installed in a stand. Now the task is at hand: my spouse takes point on draping light strings and hanging treasured ornaments. I reach high while she steadies the ladder to top the tree with a blinking star.


I set up our ever-growing Christmas village. Each year a new shop or decoration joins the holiday town.


Stockings are hung for all of us: humans and fur kids. Next, the Creche is lovingly arranged in its time-honored position on the mantel.


Green mini-lights adorn the greenhouse. Wooden deer and poinsettia take center stage in the windows. A wreath welcomes at the front door.

Do you decorate for the holidays? Is it the same theme each year, or do you mix it up? 

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