November

Under the category of ‘time flies,’ here we are in November!  Hallowe’en is over and we now begin my favorite season:  Christmas!

I must confess that I don’t decorate as much as I did when the girls were little but, I still love Christmas!  I don’t decorate so much for two reasons.  One, my girls are grown and on their own, and two, I just don’t have the energy anymore.  

Cavan suggested bringing in the tree yesterday and I thought it was too soon.  I then realized that with life being so busy over the next few weeks, that perhaps I should start now!  Well, maybe next week.  

Even though I love Christmas, to me it loses that feeling of being special if you extend it too long.  Mind you, extending it into the new year, might get us through a cold and blustery winter! Hm….

One of my favorite traditions during this season, is a special day that I spend with my good friend Viv.  One day in December, usually the first Friday, I take Viv down to the Gardner Museum for the Twelve Trees of Christmas.  They have twelve trees on exhibit, each decorated by a different designer or architect.  Every year there is a theme.  

The very first year I went, my girls were quite small and the theme was ‘Over the Decades’ and they had a beanie baby tree for the 90’s, a space race tree (half US and half USSR) for the 60’s and a Monopoly tree for the 50’s.  it was great.

Every year the theme is different.  This year, it is ‘The Joy of Creativity,’ I’m sure it will be lovely.  Some years have trees that are a bit too ‘artsy’ for me.  I don’t remember the theme, but one year had a huge Christmas cookie cutter.  It was interesting, but a huge metal cookie cutter with no decorations is not my cup of tea.  One year had the ‘homeless’ decorated tree in a shopping cart.

The exhibit is definitely worth seeing.  This year, I discovered that the Allan Gardens has a special Christmas exhibit, with over 30 varieties of poinsettias!  Viv and I are adding it to our annual tradition.  What could be better than adding more horticulture to twelve trees!  I am really looking forward to this year!

The Allan Gardens event begins on the first Sunday of December, so Viv and I will delay our tradition for a week to fit in both.

The first weekend of December is pretty busy anyway.  Cavan is singing with the St. Mike’s choir alumni at Massey Hall.  I think I mentioned that in last week’s blog.  The Friday night is the rehearsal and then the shows are 3pm on Saturday and again on Sunday.  Busy times!

So, God bless everyone as they begin their own Christmas traditions!  Have a blessed week!