Oh Christmas Tree

Call me crazy. Here I go again. I drove down Main Street in my hometown the other night, and it sure didn't look like the "Main Street" that has been talked about for the past three months. The luminaries were lit and the houses were too. The little kid that lives inside me was dazzled by the old fashioned sights and sounds of Christmas. Last year, a giant pine tree that stood alongside Hawley Pond in our own Ram's Pasture was taken down during a windstorm. It was a huge blow to my New England home town. (No pun intended.) That tree always irritated me around this time of year, though. It never seemed  like the right choice in my mind's eye. This year, our Christmas pine is much smaller, but my eyes seem to welcome it just the same. Christmas and all the other holidays are something we can count on in our tradition. I've been crazed with shopping, and trying so hard to curb that spending too. I can't seem to convince my husband that shopping is a patriotic act! Christmas is smaller this year, but small is the new BIG! Like the tall pine, all the buying and having and craving never seemed normal. So now...it's the smaller that means so much. I may be out there shopping, but this year it's all about finding that just right gift for each of the people on my list. Less is more and small is big. The lessons just keep on coming.  (The photo above was a gift from my new friend, Bunnybua, a soon-to-be world famous graphic designer from Thailand. Be sure to visit her website at bunnybua.com.)