things change

There have been years where I went all out on Christmas decorating with a tree, greens, candles, angels, Wise Men, Christmas and Santa villages, nativity scenes, etc. I'd start right after Thanksgiving and take it all down New Year's Day. I enjoyed doing it, but it was a lot of work. 

I am fond of Christmas villages. Set into cotton, they look like places I'd love to spend Christmas. At night, with the lights off and their lights on, it became a kind of mystical world. 

There were several problems with doing the villages. Where they would go had to be cleared out. Finding safe places where the removed items could be put for a month got more difficult. I could probably improve that if I cleaned out our hall closet, but the thought of that makes me feel stressed; so...

The last time I put out the villages was 2011. The years after that became a time to head for Arizona and get the Tucson house ready for renters. Sometimes we'd be back for Christmas with family, and sometimes spend it there. I never decorated Casa Espiritu, what we call our Tucson home, as it just did not seem worth it given we'd have to have it all taken down before we left. 

When the snowbirds headed south, we'd be heading north for lambing and heavier hay feeding. It's not that we didn't like the idea of being in the Southwest for Christmas, but we have family up here, who weren't interested in traveling so far at a time when schools and other activities were at their height.

So this year, we are here for the holidays, which is complicating getting the Tucson house ready for its seasonal renters; but with the outside/inside cat adoption still not proceeding smoothly, there was just no choice. We can't leave them, and the four aren't yet ready to travel as a family. This meant I actually did decorate our farm home for the holidays. 

Much as I used to love doing a Christmas tree using old family ornaments as well as special ones I'd collected, we are allergic to the fir or whatever conifer we tried. We consistently got sick from it. Although I've seen lovely artificial trees, we haven't yet felt inspired to buy one-- where would we put it? A few years ago, I did though get inspired to buy artificial greens (again due to allergies) for the fireplace mantle and around the house. 

This year, I decorated with those greens, pine cones I have collected through the years, angels, and tiny birds. The house looks festive, ready for Winter Solstice and Christmas. Many of the decorations went over top of what was already there.

I enjoyed the years of decorating everywhere, just as I enjoyed the years having big family dinners here, but change is part of life. Like other cycles in life, this is good too.