In the last few days, I have been thinking it might be time to build the ark. It has been pouring constantly for a couple of days. Last night, the rain, coupled with the wind, sounded fearsome, threatening. The dogs stuck their noses out the door and turned right around to stay inside the house, no dumb animals there. Imagine my surprise when I woke up and saw the morning. It is sunny and 42°. The wind is slight. It is a lovely day.

My house is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. I decorated yesterday but still have more to do. I will finish today and then get my tree this afternoon after my concert. After I wrestle it into the house, I’ll try to get at least the lights on it.

Oh no! Santa is no longer among the living. His round little belly is strewn about the yard. His bundle of toys is gone. Consequently, Nala has moved to the top of the naughty list, but I will shoulder some of the blame. I didn’t put old St. Nick up high enough.

I fear for my tree. I may have to have naked lower branches.

When I was a kid, our tree was in the corner of the living room where the TV usually was. The stand was one of those metal ones with the screws which held the trunk tightly in the stand. My father used to put up the tree. He’d have one of us, either my brother or me, hold the trunk while he’d be under the tree on his stomach tightening the screws. He’d keep checking to make sure the tree was secure then we could let go. Mostly the tree was held fast except for that one time.

I remember when the tree fell. It could have fallen left or right or backwards and been braced by walls. No, of course not. It fell slowly forward out of the stand to the rug. I saw it fall. Ornaments fell onto the floor, a few broke. My parents weren’t home so it was up to my brother and me to save the tree. We got it upright by pulling the trunk. We tried to reset the stand but couldn’t. The screws were too tight. The only thing we could do was hold the tree upright. We took turns.

When my parents got home, my father hurried to grab the tree. We explained what had happened. The stand was tilted to one side. My father did his best to get the tree secured in the stand then he had the solution. He attached a wire to the trunk on each side of the tree then strung the wires to the locks on the windows beside the tree. One of us held the tree while he saved it. That tree did not fall again.

The morning is damp and dark, a leftover from last night’s rain, but it is warm, 46°. I’m going to decorate today. I started yesterday by hauling my scrub pine tree from the cellar. I had to do it one step at a time and use both hands to hold it. I was afraid it was an accident waiting to happen but it didn’t. The tree is in the corner of the dining room, its usual spot, and is lit. I put a small tree skirt around the bottom. It grew legs and moved to the kitchen. I wonder how.

The tricky mouse is still on the loose. This morning the trap was empty and still had peanut butter. That mouse is a bugger.

Christmas has always been special to me. That started when I was a kid. I remember sitting at the kitchen table making ornaments. My mother had all the decorations, pipe cleaners, lace, ribbon, do-dads, bottles of Elmer glue and styrofoam balls, on the table. I remember I decorated what I imagined was an angel. Pipe cleaner arms held a small cardboard book of music. I made a halo, also out of a pipe cleaner. A few gems decorated the front. I even added hair made from string. I thought it a masterpiece. It was voted ugliest ornament.

I was good at decorating sugar cookies. My mother made the cookies using aluminum cookies cutters. We had Santa, a reindeer, a bell, an angel and a tree. My mother made the frosting and colored it red and green. She left some white frosting, beard white. There were small, round cinnamon candies for buttons. I remember using a toothpick to put lights on the decorated tree. I got artsy and added frosting string to connect the lights. I had come a long way from the ugly angel.

We made construction paper chains to circle the tree. We cut thin strips of paper, glued each strip to make a circle then glued the circle to the chain. I loved seeing anything I made on the tree. All pride aside, I even used to put my ugly angel on the tree. When I first bought my house, I had very little money left over after paying the mortgage. I did buy a tree that first year, but I had very few ornaments and only a couple of lights strands. I decide to make a construction paper chain. I glued the circles together and put them on the tree. The look looked so festive and colorful. I used to sit in the living room just to look at the tree.

I remember one night. I could hear the sound of paper. When I looked at the tree, I could see of some of the rounds had come apart. The glue hadn’t held. I took the chain off the tree and stapled the rings together and put the chain back on the tree. Disaster avoided.

My hand-made ornaments got better the older I got. I even made ornaments for Christmas gifts. My friends and family loved them. One year my mother gave me my award winning ugly angel. I put that on the tree every year.