It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new.
But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful.
There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.
Alan Cohen
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
Groucho Marx
The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Oh, Christmas Tree


Sing Silver Bells
Our first Christmas in Buenos Aires was also our first Christmas in our new home, in BA.
We had finished renovations and moved in, gotten the furniture and settled in at the beginning of Spring .. to parts of the world, that was in October/November.
By Christmas, Argentine Summer was in full swing and we had discovered a few holiday facts .. there are No Christmas Trees.
Oh, there are the tinsel, plastic, cheap , ugly fakes.
There are the large frames covered in lights that are set up in a park here and there .. and some stores have caught on to the idea of over-decorating to draw the tourists in.

But generally, there are no wreaths on doors, there are no lights to be seen from the street and after all those years of being super-critical of those who over-decorated in the US ...
we went through Christmas Decoration Deprivation.
Each year, I take out the little box with the bags of my most treasured ornaments.

They are the ones that are not breakable .. the bulk of 30 something years of marriage and Christmas decorating, stayed behind for the kids to use.
So in my house you will find, a couple of eucalyptus wreaths, and a handful of stars and hearts that are gold and pearl studded , that hang from the knobs on the French Doors through the house and a little "gem" studded star that dangles from the Dining Room chandelier.
The tree is a small brass filigree tree that I bought years ago, to go on the Mantle.
It sits on an antique chest with candles and a small ceramic Santa Claus.
We used to go walking in the afternoon or evening on Fifth Avenue in NYC, at Christmas time.
Enjoying the window decorations, watching people skate at Rockefeller Center and driving around neighborhoods, looking at the homes, decorated to the hilt.
Times sure have changed.
Most days I forget that it is only (12) days until Christmas ..
I send cards via email because the first year here, I could not find one Christmas card.
Eventually, I have found cards, they are not common and are all in Spanish of course.
We won't discuss the mail that my son sent from here on his first visit, the one with the winning lottery tickets, that was lost forever in the world of the Argentine Postal Service.
So check your email ... perhaps my greetings will be there today.
Sent via the computer but with no less Warmest Wishes for a Happy Holiday Season.



Merry Christmas

8 comments:

  1. Hello Candice:
    How very different it all sounds to be and we can well understand a yearning, if only slight, for the Christmases of the past when you were in the United States. But, or so we believe, Christmas is in the heart, where most good things are to be found.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like that star hanging on the doorknob. Couldn't find anything like it. Last year I had a live fragrant tree and some tiny terror(someone's child) knocked the tree down destroying all the ornaments bought on our travels. This year I have a potted Alberta
    Spruce just over 2 1/2 feet that I will post outside the door after the holidays. I decorated it and placed my three favorite teddy bears under it.there's no snow here yet.
    Everyone misses you at the F.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you Jane, home definitely is where the heart is, although our hearts are also in NY with our son and in Fl with our daughter and scattered around the globe with our friends ! :)

    cigale, I can't remember where I bought the decoration, I bought a bunch of them years ago in NY. I think it might have been one of those Marshalls stores. I have hearts with pearls and stars with sparkly stones, they are so pretty on a tree but work fine on the door knobs :)
    Not only are trees pretty but they smell so good too ! I think teddybears under a tree sounds adorable !
    I am sorry to say that I do not miss the F at all. But thank you anyway :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. We actually put up outside lites this year...and have wreaths coming out the wazzoo!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anony, one can never have too many wreaths :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Usually the best decorations are inside the houses, the normal christmas weather makes it hard to have tons of plastic ornaments outside I guess. My mom is a christmas freak, so in my house you can find a wreath, 3 pesebres (sorry, don't know the English word) and lights and Papa Noel all over the place.
    The only thing she couldn't do yet was decorating the 15 meter tall Araucaria in the back yard. I'm sure one day she will though.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The 1st Christmas in B.A. my Mon put up a wreath on the front door.
    A half dozen people come by to express their condolences before it came down..

    ReplyDelete
  8. LOL, Anonymous ! I will remember that ..

    ReplyDelete

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