Christmas at the Scully-Ashtons' House

Greetings and the best of the season to you Adele,
I find that Christmas brings back so many memories from my childhood and talismans from the past. Objects, colours, music and smells trigger a nostalgia for days gone by and people from another time of my life.

Leslie brought this little decorative, ceramic house into our home at least 15 years ago. At first I thought it was rather kitchy (and it is) but now it gives me great joy to light a candle it every day in the dark early hours of the morning and bring light, warmth and joy to our kitchen table. New traditions can be developed and old ones left behind.

One tradition that fell off of sleigh of this Christmas season was our Advent calendar. That is another daily ceremony that we held in our house since our kids were very little. It was a simple set of 25 small, brown envelops mounted on black foam core in the shape of a Christmas tree. Each envelop had a number on the back for the day of the month and a colourful seasonal picture on the front. The envelops would be flipped each day as they were used until Christmas, slowly decorating the Advent calendar tree. Everyday the kids would come down early and open the envelop for that day and pull out a clue for finding a treat. Leslie or I would write hilariously bad short poems, puns or cryptic clues to guide Myrna and Dashiell to a little chocolate or treat. This year they both decided that they didn't need to do the Advent calendar, they had grown out of it. I know that I was far more saddened by the passage of this Christmas tradition then they were.

One tradition that still carries on at this time of year is decorating a tree with ornaments from years gone by. The Christmas albums get put into rotation (Charlie Brown's Christmas tops my list of favourites) and we pull out the boxes of old decorations and remind ourselves of when each little shiny bobble entered the fray. 

We are not a religious family, so the little figures from various commercial portrayals of Christmas stories are also a part of our seasonal regalia. The "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" animation from 1964 sparks great sentiment in me. So the little narrator snow man figure with the voice of Burl Ives really brings me back to my childhood. He sits beside the tree as a guardian of the past.

Topping our tree this year is Bumble, the misunderstood, abominable snowman from the same Rudolph animation. Look at that toothy smile. He just needed some help (and a good dentist) to be the best that he could be.

 

A much less known Christmas animation (for good reason) "A Year Without Santa" made in 1974 by the same animation production company features Frost Miser and Heat Miser.  Mr Frost wants a cold snowy Christmas and the misanthropic Heat Miser figure wants to have a green Christmas. They sit on the ledge above our tree battling over a cold or a warm season. Heat Miser seems to be at work this year and I must admit the lack of snow and prevalence of green is making me feel a little less of the Christmas season.

If you haven't seen this hilarious film, here is a brief clip with full musical and dance production in animated form.

Finishing off my walk down memory lane and the path of Christmases gone by is a little decoration that we put on our tree every year. It is a diminutive pair of suede, slip on shoes that Myrna wore her very first Christmas 22 years ago. How the time does fly.

Thanks for taking this little nostalgic journey with me as I shared our Christmas past, present and look towards the future.

I wish you and yours a memorable and loving Christmas.

I look forward to celebrating with you sometime over the holidays with cup of warm tea.

Hugs,

John