The original Guitar Hero

My first guitar. I was almost 2 years old. I don't know what happened to that one (it had strings AND a little crank-driven music box inside), but I do still have a Yamaha 12-string that hasn't been out of its case in a couple of years and is probably hopelessly out of tune. Maybe one day I'll take it in to be restrung and start playing again.

And maybe I'll turn into a unicorn instead.

Equally likely, at this point.

Merry Christmas, y'all!!

Oh... and just out of curiosity, I dug out a photo of my last "real" Christmas tree -- in my little apartment downtown in 1994. Note the lone Nutcracker in the background - my first. Soooo -- First Nutcracker, Last Live Tree.

More Christmas

More photos from Christmas. Still not happy with the night shots, but too lazy to dig out the good camera. This little Nikon serves a purpose (I keep it in my briefcase, and it runs on regular AA batteries) but my Sonys take much better photos. Maybe I'll get inspired and take some artyfarty ones before everything goes back into crates in the garage.

The first thing that I set up each year is, of course, the Advent Wreath. When I was younger, it served as a neat countdown to Christmas day (and goodies.) Now it's more a call to focus and reset myself amidst the tumult.

Then comes the tree, which I posted earlier. Here it is all lit up and magical and stuff.

This year, since the big tree is in the living room, and our living is mostly accomplished in the family room, I incorporated a small tree-let in my Santa display back there.

I have 3 seperate collections -- Santas, Nutcrackers and Snowmen. The first two come out every year no matter what, and are ever expanding. The Snowmen often fall victim to my desire to not put more out than I'm willing to put up.

I still go to the Hawaii Ballet production of the Nutcracker -- a scrumptious one at that -- at least every third year. Not annually, though. Seems to lose it's magic if I see it too often. One of these years I'm going to see the Sendak production of it in Seattle.

Wish you could come see this stuff in person...I just baked spiced fruit drops, and made Black Forest bites too. And Kona coffee. Or eggnog, with a little Cap'n Morgan if you like.



Oh -- and this one's for Deb.

Oh Tannenbaum, my tannenbaum

Du kannst mir sehr gefallen!

And it was ever thus...

My first Christmas: December, 1951. Dad and some of his friends would go out in the woods and cut down trees for us. Didn't buy a tree from a tree lot until I was older and we moved to Florida. Few ornaments, lots of tinsel.

The checkered doll was named "Dot". I carried her around for a couple of years. I still remember the piggy bank, too. And this is about as close as I ever got to horseback riding (except for one forgettable experience on my Aunt's farm).

I love to decorate for Christmas. I start with my Advent wreath and the creche, then the house virtually explodes with holiday accumulata. Unfortunately, I don't like UNdecorating, so I rarely put everything out. This year, I've limited it to my Santa collection and my Nutcrackers (which are always part of the decor no matter what). And, of course, the tree.

This is my 2009 Christmas tree.

It looks very like the 2008, 2007...and back to around 1999 trees, since we have a silk one. We get the pine scent in the house with a real wreath.

I love our tree...it takes about 3 days to get it fully decorated. I use the Martha Stewart method (don't judge me!). It's a 4 step process.

1. Place the lights from the trunk outward, winding each branch seperately. It's a pain, but I only have to re-do them about every three or four years so it's worth it.

2. Hang the shiny glass balls deep toward the trunk. They reflect the lights and it gives it a lot of depth.

3. Hang the special ornaments all round the tree. I've reached the point where I could decorate 2 trees quite easily. We get an ornament from each place we visit, and for many years I made a new ornament each year - mostly angel variations. I haven't done that in about 3 years. Just run out of time/energy.

4. Drape the tinsel garland. I don't miss those individual strands of tinsel at all. I could drape a strand at a time for about 15 minutes, then it was just fling gobs at the tree til I ran out. Garland is easier.

I even have a wee tree on my desk at work, with tiny ornaments I've accumulated from here and there. My Aunt Mary crocheted the doily under it many many years ago.

Maybe I'll get around to taking a couple of pictures of my Santas and Nutcrackers while they are out...until then, enjoy the holidays!