Ready for Green

Springtime view of Woodrow Wilson Bridge (5/2020)

Quiet reigns. The days are getting longer. I’m relaxed. My stress level is low. The trees are bare. Cold is king. Well, not South Dakota/Minnesota cold, but, chilly by anyone else’s standards. I miss the green leaves. Before we moved to RVA, January was precariously unpredictable and I often shoveled snow. But now, just 90 miles south of the DC suburbs, snow is a rarity. Thank God.

Yesterday and today I “un-decorated” the Christmas tree. This was a solo event. Diane does the rest of the house so all things are put in their proper boxes. The kids used to put the tree decorations away (well, most of the time). This year, it was just me. I had four boxes to fill with the tree’s leavings. It was a surprisingly nostalgic time, for years my role in Christmas tree decorating was minimal, either the kids did it, or Diane and Kyle did it. I watched from afar, taking pictures, placing a few, kibitzing and enjoying the time. During this year’s tree devolution, I touched each of the decorations. Some of them I hadn’t held in years, since they were first gifted or purchased. Incredibly, I remembered everyone of them, why we’d liked them, who’d given them to us, and the relationships we’d had. Some were signed by the givers, “Love, from Kathy” for instance. Others were handmade by the kids…you know those popsicle sticks glued with Elmer’s onto colored paper to make mangers or Christmas trees or whatever… Others had little pictures in them, taken during that year: a young me with a one & a half year old Kirsten sitting on my lap pointing to something off in the distance; a smiling Kelsey, head tilted down, eyes looking up in that impish “Now what?!” look; and Kyle, confidently taking on the next gadget in his life. Tugging on heartstrings? Oh yes, a symphony of those strings. But now those decorations are all in a box, headed to the garage where they’ll be put on a shelf with a thousand other memories. Waiting to be played again.