My Christmas tree

If you look very closely at my lame little Christmas tree, you can see a string of cranberries that are at least 55 years old adorning a branch. They are no longer red; they’re black, and as hard as little rocks. Here and there you can see a few bits of popcorn that my first child, Kristin, strung between the berries when she was very small.

These berries emerge every year when it’s time to decorate the tree. My trees have never been anywhere close to perfect, and now it seems I go after a smaller and scrawnier ones every year. I am very fortunate to have friends with a beautiful ranch in Wyoming who invite friends and relatives every year for what some clever person dubbed a “deforestation project.”  The gathering always sets the stage for the holiday season.

I put the same stuff on my tree every year. An ancient macaroni angel, a white plastic snowflake, a mouse made from a corncob, bits of tinsel, a string or two of beads that help to cover bare spots—and a single string of white lights.

This tree, along with another string of lights around my front door and a few greens and ornaments on the mantel above my fireplace and my Christmas décor is complete.  A little shabby when compared with the rows of lights and decorations in my neighborhood and all around town. It makes me think I’m lazy, disorganized and probably cheap, but that’s the way I do it, and no doubt I always will.

And now that I’m thinking about it, it just might be my reaction to Christmas decoration overkill.

Kristin and her sister Jeni have, for better or worse, inherited my gene.  Their trees are bigger than mine for sure, but they lean toward the barren look and these trees are lucky if they get adorned with a string of lights that actually work.

The exchange of notes and cards has always been my favorite part of the holiday season. I love hearing from faraway friends and catching up on their lives—even if it is just a few sentences in an email.

So, if it is going to make you feel any better, or less harried, don’t go for perfection, buy into the “less is more” thing and have an uncomplicated Christmas.

Try stringing some cranberries together to put on your tree. They last a long time!