decorating

Happy Birthday, Richard Hughes!!!

I won’t be decorating my apartment for Christmas this year, and I didn’t decorate last year, either. The reason why is complicated—it stems from the fact that my apartment is in a state of disarray and flux (again: complicated). Once I finally buy a house, I will resume decorating for Christmas.

It saddens me, because I was raised in a home that was always decorated for Christmas, and it’s a tradition I really appreciate. Plus I have several boxes of truly kick-ass Christmas decorations. My tree ornaments alone fill me with delight. In 1999 I began following my mom’s lead, picking up an ornament whenever I traveled anywhere. If only I had thought to do that earlier! I also buy ornaments that reflect my personality in some way. I’ve always loved pandas, so I have a cute panda ornament, and I’ve always loved Rowlf the Muppet, so I have an ornament showing Rowlf wearing a crown of holly and berries. I have a University of Scranton ornament to reflect my alma mater and Amish ornaments to reflect the area of Pennsylvania in which I grew up. Plath, Freyja, and Shoah all have their own ornaments, and I also have a few ornaments from my childhood (the rest still get hung on my mom’s tree every year). My goal is to someday replace all the generic filler ornaments on my tree with meaningful ornaments. My goal is also to buy a pre-lit tree, because I am a lazy bastard.

In terms of Christmas decorations, my taste veers more toward emulating nature. (I know—how very pagany of me!) Evergreen boughs, berry clusters, lotsa candles, etc. I have one star made out of berries and another star made out of berries, bay leaves, pinecones, and grass (all faux, of course, but surprisingly realistic). One year I made a big candle holder out of twigs, and while it sounds like a summer camp arts n’ crafts nightmare, it’s actually pretty cool.

This has nothing to do with nature, but I also have a purple velvet stocking for myself and personalized stockings for Plath and Freyja. Plath’s is shaped like a fish and Freyja’s is shaped like a mouse. Maybe I’ll at least hang those up this year...


song heard most recently before posting: Vogliatemi bene—Giacomo Puccini