Tag: holidays

Festive Trees

Trees have been a symbol of eternal life long before Christianity offered this hope through Christ. Then, in the 16th century, the German began bringing trees into their homes during the winter and adorning them with candles; a warm but dangerous decoration.

This tradition of indoor Christmas trees spread all across Europe. The trees were decorated with edibles like popcorn and cranberries, or homemade decorations such as chains or baubles. To this day the lighting of the Christmas tree is a ceremony celebrated indoors and out. In Toronto the tree lighting at Nathan Phillips Square, the Eaton Centre, the Distillery District are all special occasions welcoming the beginning of the holiday season.

This year I visited another kind of display – the 4th annual Mississauga Festival of Trees. The trees are designed by local crafts persons and artists, and each represents a particular theme or a belief; something with a deeper meaning than Santa and presents.

The first tree that caught my eye was called Crafting Change. It depictesthe quilting legacy of Victorian women who created beauty from scraps of fabric and patchwork quilting techniques. It demonstrates the resilience of those 19th century women who used whatever resources were available to them to build lives for their families.

There were several tress devoted to appreciation of nature: a wildlife tree with photos of local animals set on a snow-covered tree trunk, other trunks wrapped in culturally significant threads, ropes and twine, and a hedge titled False Cedars, made of 10,000 paper bundles, showing the disparity between the healing nature of cedar and the world of false materials. The Debris Tree, decorated with bits of garbage was a sobering addition to the display.

Another eye-catching display was called Roots and Branches: Dinner Legacies. Created entirely from perfectly-balanced chairs, this installation symbolized the generations of families who gathered around tables to share stories and celebrations and to support one another. The creation is topped with an olive tree representing peace, prosperity and friendship.

My favourite tree shape was created from vintage bird cages surrounded by evergreen boughs with red cardinals peeking into the scene. The inside of each cage depicts part of the Festival Narrative: holiday preparations in miniature: baking, wrapping gifts, decorating the house, and celebrating with friends.

After the tour was over, I headed back home to take another look at our own tree. This year, for the very practical reasons of saving time and space, Peter and a visiting son hauled our oleander bush in from outside, and we decorated it. Tiny white lights, sparkling silver balls and red cardinals all create a festive look. And the oleander seems very happy in its new role. I think I’ll call it:

Real Tree Enjoying the Holiday Season Indoors With Family.

Sue

PS Like the oleander, I will be celebrating the holidays with family. I’ll be with you again on January 7th, 2025

Traditions

So now that Christmas is over, we can go shopping for next year! Only joking…take at least today off and relax.

After I described our Advent Window activity in last week’s post, several readers wrote to tell me about holiday traditions they have experienced. Some people talked about going downtown to see the Eaton’s or Simpson’s windows, in the “olden days” when such stores existed. The windows always had moving parts: scampering mice, scurrying elves, moving conveyor belts with toys under construction, and a winking Santa sitting in a rocking chair and checking his naughty list.

Then Santa moved inside the store, and kids lined up for a visit and a chance to take a picture on Santa’s lap, while the parents got out their wallets. Next there were the years of Breakfast with Santa. We took our grandchildren a couple of times but unfortunately breakfast was ignored as the kids spent their time checking out the pile of wrapped packages and figuring out which one Santa was going to give them.

A popular neighbourhood tradition – rows of blow-up Santas. We have a few in our area – a Santa with a green parcel in one hand and a candy cane in the other. Walmart must have had a sale. Apparently one street in Toronto, Inglewood Drive, has over 50 of them. Pretty amazing until the power goes off. Then you have a whole lot of “dead” Santas lying on the boulevard. Not a good Christmas look.

Readers reported about several versions of the Santa Claus parade. A friend, who spends the winter playing golf in Florida, wrote about the Golf Cart Parade: Christmas-themed golf carts being shown off by golfers driving around the local streeets instead of on the links. I was reminded of when we lived in the country and the farmers in Schomberg held the Tractor Parade. They would decorate their fork lifts, or back hoes, or manure spreaders, and spread cheer along the main street.

Lots of families share traditional gifts. Sometimes parents buy the kids new pyjamas every year, which the kids open on Christmas Eve and wear to bed. Under any other corcumstances, this would be seen as a cop-out by the kids: ” What? You bought me CLOTHES?” But disguise it as a tradition and everyone is excited.

In our family, my son and I trade an old book that neither of us has ever read; we just take turns giving it to one another. Neither of us can remember how this tradition started. This year it was my turn to be the recipient. The package was disguised as a …Book! Still, I didn’t guess it. Duh

My son is delighted at this turn of events; one year soon he’ll be sneaking into my house ahead of Christmas, taking anything of mine he wants, and wrapping it up for me. And, as my memory fades, I’ll open it and say: “Oh how lovely! I used to have something just like this. It’s perfect.”

Christmas is now just 364 days away. It’s not too early to start planning your traditions.

Sue

The famous book