Home and The Holidays

I don’t know about you but I think for most people when they think of the holidays they think about home and family. Then maybe the food; dishes and treats that are only made once a year. Traditions are a big part of the holidays too. How does a tradition get started?, I wondered. Once, my daughter was reminiscing about the holidays and mentioned some things that I hadn’t realized I did every year. They were symbols of the holidays for her. I knew then that those things had become our traditions. One of our traditions began when we started putting a live Christmas tree out on our deck at Christmastime. We add white lights and this year I'll put ornaments on it. There's nothing prettier than after it snows. The tree has a sort of muted glow from all the tiny white lights. We always hang bird feeders on it so we can watch the birds up close throughout the winter. After several years of feeding the same birds they have just become part of our menagerie of pets. We look for the cardinals, the finches and the little brown wrens. The juncos and nuthatches as well as the little chickadees and doves all make up our flock. Enjoying our outdoor Christmas tree has become one of my most favorite holiday traditions.