Janice Edie's Victorian
Christmas home on Broad street. As we went from room to room we
saw the thousands of lights, the myriad of Christmas decorations
and. . ., well I am a guy and guys can't remember Christmassy
things! My name is Scrooge! Really, it is! All I could say was
"thank God I am not married to Janice!"
Carole
decorates a tree beautifully. Each year she has a different theme.
One year it will be toys, another angels, and yet another candies
and so on. She watches for her theme characters whenever or where
ever she shops. My job is to screw the dam tree to the floor and
get lost! Occasionally she will ask me to find an extension cord,
or to check an electrical ornament that didn't light up. I just
tell her to throw the blasted thing out!
If you are
wondering where this Yule time attitude comes from, I will tell
you exactly where and when it began. Christmas number one, - 1970,
at 16 Tremont Drive Apt. 1201 in St. Catharines. I will never
forget the humiliation! I told you in my column last year how my
father never put a tree up until after we were all tucked snugly
into our beds. Finally, I had my own house, well apartment, and
that was going to change. Carole agreed! Mind you I was thinking
December 15th. Carole on the other hand said, "we buy all
these decorations and do all this work. . ., might as well enjoy
it for a while!" On December 1st, we found a tree lot and
purchased a short needle pine. It was perfect. A lot better than
my Dad ever had and not nearly a big; only about five feet! The
tree was bought, now to the mall for decorations, -lights, those
fragile ornamental Christmas tree balls, tinsel, an angle for the
top, and of course that proverbial extension cord. Within a day
the tree was up. It was tied to the wall, well watered and
beautifully decorated. Sparsely by today's standards but still
beautiful.
One evening, arriving home from work we
noticed a couple of the ornaments smashed on the floor. We had a
cat, an illegal cat! After a scolding and clear instructions to
leave the tree alone, we felt comfortable going back to work.
Again arriving home we found the cat did not take instruction well
as more balls were smashed on the floor. This went on day after
day, until one evening while smooching, we heard a smash and saw
one of the ornaments fall to the floor. The cat was sitting on the
chair beside us. She had been blamed and it was not even her fault
.
A check of the tree, I found even though well
watered, it was bone dry. Too dry to make it til Christmas! I was
going to have to purchase another tree. As I began removing the
lights, the needles were falling off by the tonnes. I lifted the
tree a few inches and tapped it on the floor. Every last needle
came off. A Charlie Brown tree for sure! It was about December
20th and I needed to get this tree out of our twelfth floor
apartment. I could toss it over the balcony! But then it might
crash through some ones window. The only way was to wait until it
was very late and sneak it down the elevator, hoping no one sees
me with "last years tree"! In the dim of the night I
silently snuck to the elevator, got on and pushed "one."
At the eleventh floor the door opened and in came two people. I
had to explain! No sooner was this explained and the door opened
at the 7th floor. Another explanation! Then at the r floor. I had
never before or since had so many of my neighbours in the elevator
with me as that night! Who needs Christmas anyway?
Merry
Christmas to you and yours, and may 2005 be your best year
ever.
P.S. If anyone has any photos of the Edie home at
Christmas, I would like to add them to this story.
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