Having just waddled through an awesome Thanksgiving feast, our thoughts are now turning to the upcoming Christmas holiday season. It’s been a long, long time since we had a house and our own tree to decorate. I can’t help but get into the spirit.
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There's something a little sad about taking down the Christmas tree. All that extra glitz and flash of the holiday lights and decorations disappears when the tree goes out the door, leaving a thick trail of brown needles on the floor behind us. We took down Lin's tree today. We de-decorated.
All the ornaments were carefully wrapped and packed away till next year. All the lights came off and we tried our best to keep them in some order, so the untangling episode of this year would be minimized at Christmas 2014.
It was an ordeal trying to lift the 6-foot tree out of the tree stand without spilling the water and then dragging the bare tree on a tarp out of the house, down the deck stairs and out to the woods.
No matter how hard we scour each branch of the tree, there is always one ornament hiding. We assume it doesn't want to be packed away. This year it was the pickle.
Lin has a tradition, however, of cutting up the tree and burning it in the chiminea. It symbolizes saying goodbye to 2013 (good riddance, we say) and beginning to prepare for the new year ahead. Since 2013 was not a particularly good year for us, I was pleased to be participating in her ritual. So on a cold, gray day, we cut up the tree and sipped hot cider and rum while watching the remnants of 2013 blaze up and swirl away in smoky, sparking clouds.
As we say goodbye to the Christmas tree and 2013, a little reminder that First Foot Day is celebrated on New Year's Day in several countries including Greece and Scotland. The first person to set foot in your home (or on your boat maybe?) after the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day is thought to bring good luck. It's not usually a resident family member and the person cannot be in the house at the stroke of midnight. The visitor usually brings some traditional gifts like bread, a coin and perhaps some whiskey or wine signifying that you'll have enough to eat, drink and spend for the upcoming year.
Start the First Foot tradition by spreading the word in advance and then visiting friends and neighbors with the traditional gifts to insure their good luck in 2014.
And lest we forget ... on the Sixth Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
Six shiny shackles
Five I miss you's
Four galley updates
Three e-mailed errands
Two bigger duffels
And a Christmas morning greeting on Skype
Shopping for a Christmas tree is serious business. Lin likes getting a tree early, so it can be enjoyed all season long. We've chopped down our own trees in the past at Christmas tree farms, but being in an urban setting as we are now, it's easier to find a local nursery with a Christmas tree lot.
Choosing the right tree requires lots of patience since everyone has to agree that it's the right tree. It's almost a sacred ritual ... except when the temp is below freezing, then the sacred aspect is overtaken by the fact we're freezing our butts off and the decision-making process can, on occasion, suffer a bit.
Christmas trees trace their roots to pagan customs, as do many of our seasonal rituals. Long before Christianity adopted the custom, the evergreen was a symbol of life eternal in the midst of the dark days of winter and the cold and snow. The decorated Christmas tree can be traced back to the ancient Romans. They decorated trees with small pieces of metal during Saturnalia, a winter festival in honor of Saturnus, the god of agriculture.
So what's our criteria for buying a tree. Well, first of all, it's got to be real. No pink, turquoise or flocked snow, and no artificial trees allowed. No Charlie Brown trees. It's got to be tall … but not too tall. It's got to be full … but not fat. There must be no bare spots. It must be shaped beautifully … but maybe have a flatter side, so it fits nicely against the wall or window. The top of the tree has to be perfectly formed to accommodate the single gold star we mount there. The trunk has to fit into the existing Christmas tree stand.
Despite the below freezing temps and the strict criteria, we managed to find the perfect tree, a fine Balsam fir, along with lots of other greenery in about 30 minutes.
We brought it home, set it in its stand, gave it a big drink of water and let it sit overnight to relax in its new home. Decorating will come later.
Hi there and welcome to Just A Little Further!
We are David and Marcie Lynn and we've lived aboard our Liberty 458 cutter-rigged sailboat since 2000.
What began as an urge to travel slowly and economically at our own pace ended up an adventure of a lifetime.
Well, here we are ... nearly 90,000 miles under the keel, 5 continents, 5 Great Southern Capes, 36 countries and almost two decades later, still taking one passage at a time and going just a little further.
