Christmas Tree

 

I’ve been collecting Hallmark ornaments for more than forty years. Some depict space ships from Star Wars or Star Trek movies. Several were gifts from friends, family members and piano students. Some say, “Baby’s First Christmas” or “Our New Home.” All of these were in deep storage when we lived in North Yorkshire. During those Christmases, we strung popcorn and cranberries into garlands. We baked salt-dough cookies and dried orange slices to hang on the tree. This year, we almost didn’t put a tree up at all. It didn’t make sense to haul out all the decorations if we were barely going to be here to see them. In the end, we decorated our tree only with gifts and cards we’d received THIS YEAR. I made a few quilted ornaments to help fill it out. This may be the best tree yet. It reminds me of a quote from No Reservations: “It's the recipes you create yourself that are the best.”