Merry Christmas everyone on this mild December day.  Some years Christmas day can be very mild, the nicest I can remember it was 7C (45F) on that day.  And we didn’t have much snow that year.  I can also remember some Christmas’ when the temp dropped to -30 to -40C (-23 to -40F).  Those were cold days indeed.  Good days for staying indoors and drinking coffee!  Too cold to enjoy anything outside, that’s for sure.  Though I do remember going out snowshoeing in that temp on one Christmas day.  I used to be a little crazy at one time.  Now I’m even more crazy.  But we’ll talk about that some other time.

Even though my dad always took pics each Christmas, I don’t have a single picture in my collection.  I did have a few, but they were damaged beyond salvaging when my apartment flooded 4 years ago.  Sigh.  Lost a lot of my old family pics at that time.  These things happen.  But I remember those Christmas days quite well, most of them anyway.  Our Christmas tree hunts always paid off with a beautiful tree once it was all decorated.  We never followed a particular color theme that is so popular today.  We had a mix of old and new decorations.

Some of those decorations were very old, going back to the late 1800s/early 1900s.  Glass ornaments of different sizes and colors, most were from the 1930s and 40s.  So many that we never could use them all on our tree.  And, of course, colored lights, tinsel, even some old metal “icicles” from the 1920s.  Some clip on candle holders that were even older.  Plus so many other ornaments and decorations that went in windows, hanging over doorways and from the ceiling.

Mom would start putting up decorations on November 1st.  All the room decorations were up by the end of November and the tree was put up December 1st.  Everything was taken down and packed away on January 2nd.  Some people celebrate mostly on Christmas Eve, but Christmas day was our main time.  Gifts would be opened early Christmas morning, then mom would make a special breakfast, usually crepes which are an absolute favorite of mine.  Wish I knew how to make those, mine never turn out right.  Sigh.

Wish I had some pics to share of those Christmas’s past.  I will show some old winter pics of where we lived at one point.  It was a country location beside a small lake.  And we always had a lot of snow out there.  Muffin is curled up with me as I type this.  She had a busy playtime this morning, so she will likely sleep for quite a while.  I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

© 2019 Steve McLeod.