When exactly does the Christmas season begin?
For some people it never ends. Our old friends in Ridgeland, Gay and Luther Street kept a Christmas tree up year-round in their house. Gay made Christmas ornaments, and although it tended to be seasonal, she was in her workshop 12 months out of the year. Luther cut the blanks from a quarter-inch thick piece of fine grade plywood. Then Gay would do her magic with her pens and paint. So, the tree in the living room sort of kept them in the spirit of the season all year.
For others, there is a definite beginning to the Christmas season. For years, Teresa White in Brandon has had a ritual for the day after Halloween — take down the ghosts and put up the reindeer. Teresa doesn’t just decorate a room or two. Her whole house has ornaments, garland, and angels on the mantle and over the doors. It even spills out into the yard. Teresa says husband Jimmy may not be as gung-ho over the decorations as she is, but he tolerates it because he knows Santa is watching and doesn’t want to be put on the naughty list for being a grinch.
But our buddy Larry Massey says he has observed a definite beginning of the Christmas season. He should know. Larry and his wife Sue run the Rosebud Christmas Tree Farm near Walnut Grove in Leake County. Larry says Thanksgiving afternoon is his busiest day of the year. As soon as the table is cleared after Thanksgiving dinner, families pile into their cars and go get a Christmas tree to decorate that evening.
I like the logic Larry applied to opening a Christmas tree farm after he retired from raising cattle. He said he wanted to find something everybody needed at least “one” of to sell. He settled on Christmas trees.
My daddy was a big fan of Christmas. When I was a kid, we’d have a tree up the first week of December. Daddy would let me help put a string of “big” lights on the boxwood beside the front steps. My older sisters made snow with Ivory soap flakes and put it on the tree one year. I could feel the Christmas spirit of anticipation all month long. Mostly because of the tree.
This year, well — the kids are long gone. They’ve all grown up and live in Texas and Alabama while a couple of them still live here in the area. We don’t get to see the grands and great grands all that often. People (including us) are too busy. So, it’s hard to conjure up and sustain the Christmas spirit anymore.
My hope for Christmas is that we’d all find a spark of hope in our hearts that can’t be dashed by our environments. And we’d pass that spirit along to others. Seeing smiles on faces that come from deep within would be a great gift for all of us!
