January 6, 2019

TAKING DOWN THE TREE




My hands are perfectly steady when I start,
this isn’t such a memory filled tree as many others were
but I have liked it the best of all.
Soon, I discover, I cannot remember where things go.
There are boxes with little partitions for each item
and I am left wondering what goes where.

Not the tear drops.  I know them well
and only discover that I don’t have enough
tissue padded slots for each one, for each size.
The sixties worn ones have spaces, I discover, but
there aren’t enough balls any more. 
I thought I Had bought dozens of these old things
online, and they arrived weirdly wrapped.
I remember that.  The green and blue pepper
box, that takes some finding as does the 4 top
box for the blue ribboned balls.

My hands grow shakey as the dust flies around my head
I sneeze, I cough,
I drop balls, and they fall like raindrops do
from grey skies outside this morning.
The first few don’t shatter, and I feel glad.
The rest plummet to the wooden floor
not bouncing, not rolling away, but exploding
into memory of the tree I liked best of all.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

  • Himself:  Working all day on Bobbies Boxes.  She’s in New York.  He’s having a lot of fun with this.
  • Myself:  Taking down the tree, getting rid of books as I brought some home,  and don’t accept any new friend messages from me on Facebook.
  • Reading:  A Joseph Hansen.
  • Gratitude’s:  That I got the tree down.



  • 15 comments:

    1. I'll start my round of where does this go tonight. I usually get the tree down New Year's Day, oops! Your tree was so beautiful.

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      1. Yes, it was. It was the plastic snowflakes that filled in the spaces and made it sparkle.

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    2. I hearing now from those who put up trees about the effort to take them down. I'm glad I didn't decorate this year. Nothing much to put away. Helped save my sanity.

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    3. I hope nothing very, very precious broke!

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    4. You did great, they are all boxed.

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    5. I broke a bulb this year. The first in a long time. This year's tree was special because the grand's did it. I want the tree down fast and away. I don't like things lingering past their prime...LOL>

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    6. It's a heart breaker when the ornaments break.....especially the vintage ones. But...congrats on getting Christmas stowed away until next time when, if all goes well, THAT will be the best tree of all.

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    7. I did a purge of the Christmas decorations this year so that, if I am alive next year, the decorations are easier to access. Funny how I always think in terms of, if I am alive next year!

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    8. Beautiful how you captured the feelings of memories tied to the ornaments that are slipping away and sometimes breaking.

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    9. A lovely tree and observation Patti makes. I didn’t decorate this year — settling for some traditional live holiday flowers/plants. I still remember lovely ornaments on our tree from my childhood that my mother had to part with so many years ago.

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    postcards

    Celebration of Life