Decorations

I know decent people aren't supposed to judge by appearances, but I do. Take Christmas decorations, for instance.

I was taking mine down tonight, and it got me to thinking. I think approaches to Christmas decorations exist on a spectrum from sentimental to ruthlessly aesthetic. Despite the fact that I was demeaning sentiment on another blog just earlier today, I am somewhere near that end in a spot called something like "ancestric practical". I don't insist on putting every ornament on the tree and every doo-dad around somewhere like I did growing up, but I don't mind if things that have, yes, sentimental value are not as beautiful as they might be.

Take for instance, the china Christmas tree that I inherited from my Great Uncle Allen. My gramma used to have one, and I always thought it was the most beautiful thing. I'm talking about those old-fashioned, china trees with the colored lights that shine through because you put a nightlight bulb in the bottom and plug it in. I always wanted my gramma's to be mine some day. I have no idea what happened to that one. Instead, I got Uncle Allen's. And I am pleased.

But the thing is that Uncle Allen's china Christmas tree only has lights in blue, orange and green. That's kind of weird, and the resulting effect is really not all that beautiful. But that is entirely beside the point now. Because it's still a china Christmas tree, and it was Uncle Allen's, and he never got the respect he deserved, and he, of all his generation still living when it happened, probably had the most respect for my career choice. Plus, even though no one else can see it, it reminds me of the beautiful one that belonged to my gramma. So I display his tree, and I'm happy about it.

There are people in the world, however, who decorate for Christmas based on what it looks like, rather than on what they've inherited and collected through a life-time of relationships. I have a precious tree-like thing made from wooden spools by someone else's long-grown children that I put up on my new piano this year. It has pieces missing and frayed yarn bits on it. You might, charitably, call it "folk art". There are people, I've been led to believe who probably would have thrown it away. But it was given to me by a dear, dear lady from my book group -- an artifact made by her own children -- and I wouldn't dream of not including it.

Who are these people who decorate for looks? Who have trees with all matching ornaments or color themes? What are their lives like? Do I know them? Are you out there? What are you sentimental about, if not Christmas ornaments? I would like to understand you better. In the meantime, to restore my reputation as an anti-sentimentalist, let me say that there is also something really relieving about putting all that away and getting the living room back to rights.