Angel Cloud Of Dreams

The big day is almost upon us. We are dreaming of angels.This tree topper was a gift from the Financier to his mother when he was a small child in Pennsylvania. It is unlike any other decoration for this or any holiday. When it was first seen proudly placed at the top of my mother in law’s tree the first Christmas after we were married, it’s beauty was not immediately apparent to a young mother far from her own home in Oklahoma. It was named the brain angel, for what was later explained patiently to be a cloud looked like a blue plastic brain to these cynical eyes.We have it now as a treasured memento with meaning beyond measure. There is no tree here this year. Weekend trips and just general lack of excitement about getting a tree and decorating it have found us out of time.A small vignette on the shelf in the addition that is lined in lights and beads holds santas, snowmen and a stuffed manger scene that I made from unbleached muslin copied from a picture in a book about Christmas crafts in the mid 1970’s. A fine pointed sharpie and child’s watercolors have lasted well all these many years. We have bought and given away more decorations than anyone should ever think about owning. Continual downsizing has left us with only those things most precious to us.We will be spending time with our family, exchanging just a few gifts, eating good food with an emphasis on cookies and and thinking of past Christmases. Furtive glances into the future of next year’s garden will sneak into the mind’s eye. The decidious azaleas that bloom in April and May might be in our dreams.Or the butterflies of June, with warm flower scented breezes and colors to tantalize human and insect alike.
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May your Christmas 2008 be a treasured future memory.
Frances