Many surprises came my way this Christmas season. It started off with the arrival of a live Christmas tree with accompanying lights and birds for decoration. My daughter has sent three of these to me before and all three were planted out front and are thriving, not growing fast but are healthy and happy where they are planted. They are Alpine Spruce and have a conical shape with small needles and a nice " fragrance".
My next surprise was to go out my entrance and see that my mailbox had been decorated. I do not usually decorate it so I began to wonder who had done this. My neighbor had been seen walking down the road with greenery in her arms so the secret was out and I knew it was our new neighbor from California. I called her and indeed she was the Christmas elf . The call ended with an invitation to her home to have Christmas Eve dinner with her, her husband and visiting daughter. It proved to be a very interesting meal with foods I had not eaten before. They are steeped in Norwegian tradition and I got to see her amazing Santa collection gathered from all over the world. I had expected to be staying at home so that was a fun surprise.
Normally during Christmas season I have only one day with my family but this year we had two days, with a lot of games and laughing and good memory building. The visit I had not expected occurred the day after Christmas when two friends from my early days in Atlanta came by to see me . I had a tea pot which had been her aunt Martha's. My friend had let me take it home in 1978. I had always felt it should be with her as a memory of her aunt so on this day I gave it back to her to take home. I had enjoyed it all this time and at some point the lid had been cracked but it was a precious family treasure all the same.
Now that the visiting is over, things need to get back to normal, an adjustment in thinking has to take place. Some are going back to their jobs, others taking trips planned for during school break.
We get back to a normal routine pretty fast just by responding to the things going on around us, whether it is children, spouses, or every day events. The unwinding takes a few days and probably does not get us back on target until after we say good-bye to the old year and take up the new one. It will not be as easy to write 2010 on checks, etc., as it was to write 09 for 2009.
There will be seed catalogs coming in and income tax reminders and in my case still some bulbs to be planted. The new year will shake down and settle down and my Daphne will be blooming and greeting me with the most heavenly fragrance ever. The red Camellia is already starting to bloom and the new Yuletide sasanqua is settling into the new spot on the west side of my house. Before I know it the 100 daffodils I planted down near the foot bridge will pop up and make a glorious yellow mass to move and sway with the breezes. It all sounds so attractive to me that I am already eager to get into it all and try some new things for the spring and work my way into the summer. I need to plant a lot more cucumbers to use for the bread and butter pickles which has made a lot of friends for me. Christmas will soon be another fading memory but I hope I never forget the fun we had again this year.
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