The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
And it shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly.
I have a huge storage area for my Christmas things. That might not be too amazing except I live in a house with only 2 built in closets. I do admit that the closet where I keep my holiday things is very high and not good for everyday storage so I don't feel too bad.
We have a Smoking Santa (he hadn't heard it's bad for his health) but not this specific one. I find all these little objects charming and it's always fun to pull out the boxes and unwrap things we've been unwrapping and collecting since we were first married. Actually, the first year Tom and I had a christmas tree we cut a cedar tree from a field and made ornaments. On about the third or fourth day the tree was in the house a pod of praying mantis hatched and we had thousands and thousands of them everywhere. I didn't want to kill them so I carefully collected them and put them outside....effectively killing them as it was cold and not time for them to hatch. Oh well...good intentions and all.
Like many of you we have all sorts of things that hang on the tree. Things our son made when he was little, things my sister and I made and sold (I paid my way through graduate school selling christmas ornaments...really) and things I've bought and collected over the years. It's always fun to open the boxes where the ornaments are stored and unwrap them another year. One day someone will sort through my boxes and possibly discard the silver foil paper with a fish on it...it's really a candy bar wrapper ... ditch the funny looking handmade alligator .... bought at a thrift store...or discard the tin can with toothpicks and glitter....made by a college friend... and that's ok. Many of these objects are connections to friends I've know and places I've been that they know nothing about. They will need to make their own collection of things for the Christmas tree and I hope it is as rich and meaningful for them as mine is for me.
We have a Smoking Santa (he hadn't heard it's bad for his health) but not this specific one. I find all these little objects charming and it's always fun to pull out the boxes and unwrap things we've been unwrapping and collecting since we were first married. Actually, the first year Tom and I had a christmas tree we cut a cedar tree from a field and made ornaments. On about the third or fourth day the tree was in the house a pod of praying mantis hatched and we had thousands and thousands of them everywhere. I didn't want to kill them so I carefully collected them and put them outside....effectively killing them as it was cold and not time for them to hatch. Oh well...good intentions and all.
Like many of you we have all sorts of things that hang on the tree. Things our son made when he was little, things my sister and I made and sold (I paid my way through graduate school selling christmas ornaments...really) and things I've bought and collected over the years. It's always fun to open the boxes where the ornaments are stored and unwrap them another year. One day someone will sort through my boxes and possibly discard the silver foil paper with a fish on it...it's really a candy bar wrapper ... ditch the funny looking handmade alligator .... bought at a thrift store...or discard the tin can with toothpicks and glitter....made by a college friend... and that's ok. Many of these objects are connections to friends I've know and places I've been that they know nothing about. They will need to make their own collection of things for the Christmas tree and I hope it is as rich and meaningful for them as mine is for me.
***
Thank you for spending time at Studio 24-7.
This is a busy time of the year
but I hope you are having fun
with your loved ones.
