Christmas Making

Christmas Making

How blustery, this day of Christmas making! The wind sends shivers through the green limbs outside the windows, but the ivory glow from the first strings of lights serves to warm up the inside of the house. The sun shoots through the running wind and makes the patterns on the Christmas card  blush.Then, it  speckles the sheets on the bed where I am writing.

Before creating the card, I had made sure that our two Santa stand-ins were keeping their watch on a shelf by the door and in the middle of my desk. (It's too early to be caught in the act of merriment.) The one on my desk looks on as I dedicate a sentence to him, and seems satisfied with it. 

I had decided that the santa in the snow globe by the door should have a place of honor watching over us from the highest shelf. The globe does its best to sputter "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" when I wind it, but memories glitter inside the dome as flurries. I remember the excitement of shaking it for the first time in anticipation of giving it to my mother, watching the snow cover Santa's red  coat.

Truth be told, not all decorations find their place in the house every year. There are the classics, like the balls passed down from my Nonna–it wouldn't feel like Christmas without their shine on the tree. Others may be missing their hooks or there just isn't enough space with the tree's downsizing. Still others are overlooked for more beautiful baubles.

I hear Christmas tunes coming from the kitchen as I write– Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby replacing the synthesised sound of modern singers for a while. How I missed them all year! They will always be infused into my recollections of Christmas pasts and hopes for future ones.

Photo: Ylanite Koppens

Text: Kristen Mastromarchi