Festive Decor

Christmas is the time of year when people decorate their homes to the hilt. Or some people do. Christmas trees, lights decorations of various sorts. A fire burning in the fire place. All of these are traditional Christmas attire for a house. Alas, little Bearista Bear didn't get to experience a lot of it this year, his very first Christmas.

The fireplace is one of those zero-clearance ones, essentially a metal box with fire-rated lining. But the lining has a crack and so isn't isn't safe to use. But... we did introduce Bearista Bear to the fine art of the candle-place... a fireplace stuffed full of various candles and reflective objects that create a very festive atmosphere in the room. Plus there is little clean-up involved and no wood to be chopped.

The railing between the dining room and the living room was also artfully draped with beads and stained glass stars. Little bear thought it looked very good... although the preponderance of blue in the decor made him feel a little out of place in his green jacket.

And of course... Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without the tree. Decorated from top to bottom in silver and turquoise and blue. A vision of loveliness was this fir. Except... it dried out quickly... far too quickly. It was tall and... well... it fell over on Boxing Day morning, much to the dismay of the cats and to little Bear who could very squished by the tree. No pictures were taken as the primary urge was to lift the 100 lb tree off of little bear. Needless to say, the tree was evicted sans decorations... and little bear got to enjoy it outside for a while.

It was, suffice to say, the quickest dismantling of a Christmas tree. The lesson being... enjoy it while you have it. Don't live in the future... or the past. For you never know when something might tip over... be it a Christmas tree... or some other facet of life. It is a good lesson for all of us. Even without a tree, we can still enjoy the Christmas season... as can little bear. Our enjoyment of Christmas doesn't lie with the tree... or the decorations. We might think that it does, and place a lot of weight and emphasis on those things, but when it comes right down to it, they may not bear the weight of our expectations.

Can we be happy with what we have... and with what comes. Little bear looks perfectly happy in a bare fir tree... a lesson for all.