I thought I'd share photos of our mantle decorated for Christmas. We’ve had to forego all other decorations including a tree due to the furnace snafu, so our mantle feels a bit extra special this year. We are cleaning up oil soot again around the house after we had a second (yes—believe it or not) episode of our furnace poofing subtle yet invasive oily dust all over the house (hence my lack of posts in the last few weeks). Every square inch of the house was professionally cleaned by a team of folks through our home-owners policy, but now they’ll have to re-do much of what was already done. Many items can’t be saved, like window treatments, rugs, food and things that Sosi routinely puts in her mouth. Uh—that’s just about everything. We’ve finally figured out the problem with the furnace pump, but not after a few weeks of us pulling out our hair. Ahhh—trying to keep things in perspective…
Our mantle includes a Bolivian nativity that Donovan gave to me the first Christmas we were married. I just adore the round plumpness of Mary, Joseph and the Kings. Baby Jesus is nestled between them in a bed of evergreens. We also have a silver cross that we brought back from Ethiopia along with a painting from Ethiopia depicting a new Jesus surrounded by his family, shepards, animals and an angel. The best part for me is the holy top of the mantle combined with the sweet sentimentality of the lower half. My dear Aunt Kay, who is more like a grandmother to me, has knit stockings for all of the family members since before time. Her trademark is the angora that she uses for Santa Claus'’ beard—the older the stocking, the fluffier his beard. So, I have mine from 1976, Donovan’s from the year we married (1998) and this year Aunt Kay sent us a package with Noemi’s stocking. This was the first year I ever hung stockings; and I love them. And if Jesus gets wiggly up there on the mantel and looses his balance, Santa’s soft beard will cushion his fall.
Wherever you are, however dirty and disrupted your house, however anxious you are for your someday-coming baby, may you be filled with a sense of peace this Christmas…and maybe even a little jolly.
1 comment:
I'm sad for your stress, especially this time of year:( But you're right. It's all about keeping perspective. And your mantle looks beautiful!
Oh and we, too, have someone who knits stockings for our entire family. Every child that enters the family is giving a stocking with their name on it. At this point she's made them for half my aunts and uncle, all my cousins, and the handful of great-grandkids. And believe it or not, it's the same stocking as the one with your name on it! The Santa-in-the-box!
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