What corner is that?

Thanks Rozie for once again

providing fodder for my blog.

LOL

(fodder = photos...)

She put some pictures on her blog.

And I was really thrown.

I lived in this house for the bulk of

my first 17 years.

And I could NOT identify this corner!

It had to look at it again this morning.

And then I noticed the wood wall

on the right side and it all came together.

This is the Christmas Tree corner!

(Until Mom moved her piano there...)

Before there was a swag lamp hanging there.

Before there was a piano sitting there.

(Before there were boxes sitting there...lol)

We used to stand our Christmas tree in that corner.

We spent many many evenings laying

on the floor, squinting to make the lights

soft and fuzzy,

listening to Christmas music on the stereo

just laying there, loving the Christmas season.

Somewhere out there, is an awesome

(staged)

picture of Dad snoozing under the tree.

"Somebody" (ahem) (NOT me!) (for REALS)

 piled up a bunch

of wrapped packages under his free

hand so it looked like he was claiming

his pile and just waiting for it to be

declared MORNING!

I will always remember the year I "arrived".

Dad and I went to pick out the family tree together.

And in a Father-Of-The-Year moment

he let ME pick out the tree.

Not only did he let me pick it out,

when the lot guy came over and asked if we were

sure it was the one we wanted, he said

"This is the one my daughter wants, so this

is the one we are going to take."

I felt like such a responsible adult!

*I might have been all of 8...

Thanks Dad!

We weren't a "throw the tinsel on the tree" family.

First of all, it was called icicles, not tinsel!

Mom had us carefully remove it strand by strand

each year and layered the strands carefully in a

piece of paper towel for preservation until next year.

This was back in the day when tinsel wasn't

silver tinted plastic.  It was the REAL DEAL.

(And for a little family with one salary and 4 little girls,

it was probably ridiculously expensive...)

Each year we would place the balls on the tree

and then you would walk back over to Mom 

and she would give you ONE strand of "icicle"

and you would carefully drape it over a limb.

Making sure it didn't come in contact with a light.

Or drape over a ball.

Or crumple on another limb.

But hang gracefully as though the angels themselves

had covered the tree in icicles.

Our trees were pieces of ART!

(But only if you remember they were decorated

by said 4 little girls and later assisted by one 

little rambunctious boy!)

Aaaaaah,

I could go on waxing poetic,

but I have to get back to work.

LOL