Slightly Off Center

I actually got our Christmas tree a week ago Monday; I'd dropped boxes at UPS and money at the Credit Union, so I biked over to the tree lot at the rental place on River Ave. They, sadly, had no table-top-sized trees, everything small had sold opening weekend. The lot at the Legion hall had the same story, so I wound up biking a mile down River Road to a big outfit that sets up every year with red and white striped tent, next to a little red barn that I think is a body shop, or something.

Their smallest tree was still four feet tall, and I was about to take it and cut it down, when I noticed one hanging from the awning of their RV. Is that one for sale? It was, in fact, 3-and-a-half feet high, 35 bucks. I bungied it into my basket, and pedaled back home.

Got it in the tree stand, slightly crooked--it's damn near impossible to hold it straight with one hand while turning the set screws with the other andstanding far enough back to see if it's leaning. I finally just gave up and cranked it in tight. Like me, it's a little off-center.

Watered it and watched whether the cats were gonna bother it for over a week, before we finally had a chance to get out the ornaments. For once, Tiki didn't want to play with the light strings, though Flynn was more than happy to help Denise pick out ornaments.

Almost every one tells a story. Some were made by friends, potters we know: Michael Fromme, Barb Haddad, Dan Young, Robin Russell. Some we bought from neighbors at art fairs, like the lovely copper-plated oak leaf. Some were gifts from friends over the years. Some we made ourselves, in the porcelain ornaments class I taught for ten years at the UO Craft Center. One of the loveliest ones is Denise's work, a beadwork candle she made after taking a class at the Craft Center. I always try to position a light behind it, to let it shine.


None of our current cats are really that naughty, but we used to have one who'd steal ornaments, so we tend to put soft and non-breakable ones at the bottom of the tree. (We're still looking for the little stuff pig from Oxfam that Sparky stole one year.)

Cats are a consistent theme, of course, though not surprisingly, bears also make an appearance.

Mostly they're from here in Oregon, though a couple date back further. I made the little gold-foil Santa Bear from scrap stock and acetate at La Crosse Printing, and the little rocking horse was a gift from another art major back at Viterbo.

Other things just caught my eye--the hand-painted wooden owl, the iridescent copper leaf. Following the art fair circuit, there's always beauty around.

And there's always memories in the box, brought out and scattered over a little tree, to light our way through the darkest part of the year.