One of my favorite things about Christmas is decorating the Christmas tree. The trimming of the tree occurs usually the day after Thanksgiving. I never tire of watching the twinkling lights.

I prefer an artificial tree rather than a real one. I cannot reconcile killing a real tree just to use for a few weeks. We drag the old battered box down out of the attic. As I am putting the limbs together and fluffing the branches in the background Christmas songs are playing quietly. Once the tree is up, I bring out the storage container with the lights in it and begin to check for burnt fuses. I pull all burnt bulbs and replace them and string the lights together. They work fine. I unplug them and begin to string them around the tree one strand at a time. The trick is to begin at the bottom but inside the tree nearest the pole. And gradually wind your way to the front and then move up to the next level and repeat until the lights are wound to the top.

I plug the lights into the outlet and it is always a rush when the tree lights up. The tree appears to glow from within. Next is to find the plastic container that holds all the ornaments. Placing the ornaments so that they shine takes a little time. Song after song streams through my head and in no time the ornaments are on and the tree finished.

One year we lived out in the country. The storm of the century came through and the ice and snow pulled down some power lines. We were without electricity. We had a wood stove and plenty of dry wood inside so I was not worried about keeping warm. The kids seemed a little nervous with the wind howling outside.

I had bought several extra bags of cranberries and had plenty of extra fruit. I thought that maybe if we made stringers of cranberries, apples and oranges for the birds that that might take their minds off the weather. I lit several coal oil lamps and gathered the materials together to make our little project. I encouraged the kids to sing jingle bells. We had a contest to see who could sing the loudest. Winners were rewarded with hot cocoa and we sat down of begin our project. With needlepoint needles we strung cranberries, apples slices and orange slices on long pieces of thread. We made about five and quit when the orange slices ran out. The room smelled of chocolate, orange, apples and hickory we were burning in the wood stove. Our fingers were stiff with juices from the fruits. The kids full of hot cocoa and marshmallows were laughing and singing Christmas carols. The blizzard roared outside as we rejoiced. To this day when I smell hickory smoke I think of that night when we lived in that old country house, flickering coal oil lamps, smells of chocolate, oranges, apples, singing Christmas carols and making garlands for the birds.