I am a collector of the fully-dimensional, hand-blown, German glass figural ornaments. The subject of each is completely varied: some are traditional Christmas figures - ie., angles, Santa, etc. But others are whatever the artist has imagined - birds (blue jays and cardinals), polar bears, candlesticks, lollipops, butterflies, toques, hamburgers, ice skates, fish, etc. All as colourful and fantastical as the season itself. I have more than 100 of these ornaments - and only one of each (and am adding to my collection constantly) - so that no two ornaments on my tree are alike. While I'm lowering and fluffing each layer of branches on my 8' tall artificial balsam, I lay a string of about 300 coloured mini-lights in the interior - and a further string of about 500 white mini-lights on the tips of the branches. Years ago, I cut ropes of thick golden tinsel into 12" lengths - each of these pieces I tie loosely into the shape of a pretzel - which I stuff between the branches - like frosted golden snow. Once all the ornaments are on (with, yes, the largest at the bottom, graduating to the smallest near the top), I hang several strands of golden beads over the whole affair, with long draping loops, like a beautiful golden spider's web. Last - is the many-pointed, golden Moravian star for the top. When the lights are turned on, the effect is absolutely stunning.
I am truly a "Christmas Junkie". There is an old saying: "More isn't always better; sometimes it's just more." But when it comes to Christmas, I firmly believe that more is MORE - and once that tree is up and fully decorated (sometimes it takes several days to produce the desired effect), then up go the wreaths in the windows, the village under the tree, the nutcracker collection, the Fitz & Floyd goodies servers, etc. The old song from Jon Johnson (pronounced Yon Yohnson), "I Yust Go Nuts At Christmas" describes me to a "T". Though I could happily do without the gifting frenzy - I absolutely love everything else about the season: the smell of apples and cinnamon, people's breath in the cold air, the snow, the gathering of family and friends, the food - all the ways we love and nourish each other seem to be more freely and generously given at that time of year - and I just love to bask in the whole season.
Char_BC
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