So it’s almost Christmas, and we here in Whimsieville have been listening to a lot of Christmas music lately, and there’s this one song we keep running into, and it begins “Have yourself a merry little Christmas…” And when I take a look around Whimmsieville I see that a lot of the ways Miss Chrissy has been getting ready for the season are indeed little, and very understated.
You see, once upon a time (between when Miss Chrissy was a little girl and had several Whimisies of her own…including me!…and now, when she is a properly grown lady), she had two children of her own, and during those years, she tells us, Christmas was always a BIG deal! The tree was big! The presents were big! (And there were plenty of them!) And the light display outside the house — big, big BIG! But now that her children are grown and have moved out on their own, and it is just her and Mr. Russ, there’s no particular need to do holidays so super big. A little bit of Christmas spirit can go a long, long way.
And so I took a look around, and asked my fellow Whims to take a look around, and see if we could spot all the fine little ways Miss Chrissy is choosing to celebrate Christmas. And this is what we have found.
First of all, you’ll notice we do indeed have a Christmas tree, but as you can see, it is only about as big as me, a Whimsie (which is not very big at all!) But the decorations are colorful and bright, and oooh, such lovely lights! This is not a real tree, it is only artificial, but it actually looks so real, if you didn’t know better, you would think Mr. Russ had gone out in the backyard or to the local park and cut down the very top of the tallest tree. But he didn’t. Miss Chrissy just got this very pretty little tree in the Amazon, and all those lovely decorations are simply a smattering of what is left over from those times long ago when there were children in the house and the Christmas tree would reach from the floor to the ceiling. Miss Chrissy says it is nice to remember those days, without actually having to deal with all those boxes upon boxes of ornaments.
A little tree like this is actually just perfect for a little place like Whimsieville.
Now here’s Trixie, and it surprised no one that she instantly gravitated to all the tiny little Christmas presents that are just about to be placed under the tiny little Christmas tree. First of all, all these tiny boxes are delightfully pretty! But even more intriguing…what could possibly be inside each of these miniature treasure chests?
Personally, none of us mind that these gift boxes are so tiny, because you know what they say: Good things come in small packages! That can very well be the case with Christmas gifts, even as it is the case with us Whimsies! As Whimsies, we would not be averse to a gift of a little bit of jewelry (but not too much…). More exciting would be some pretty hair ribbons! Or even a tiny little book to read. And also I wonder (as Trixie has suggested)… is it at all possible there could be some delicious Christmas cookies in any of these boxes??
Miss Chrissy has not yet dared to place tags on any of these presents, knowing that Trixie might not be able to control herself, and could very well scurry out of her bed in the middle of the night to find her present under the tree and open it…and thus, ruin her surprise on Christmas morning! Oh no, that would never do! So, for the moment we will all have to be content to simply look at these pretty little boxes and wonder what could possibly be inside!
Tootsie, on the other hand, has been intrigued by a couple of very small ornaments that are in fact, so small, they fit very nicely on this little ledge at the end of the fireplace. The first one is a Polish…somebody or other…we’re not exactly sure. But we do know, from what Miss Chrissy tells us, that when one of her favorite aunts visited Poland many, many years ago, she brought back this little Polish doll ornament as a gift. The ornament used to hang on those much bigger Christmas trees from decades ago, but nowadays, Miss Chrissy is fine with giving this very special international ornament a place of honor by the fireplace, where it is so easy to appreciate.
The other ornament here also has a special story. When Miss Chrissy’s children were young, she once went to a class for painting Christmas ornaments, and she chose this Sleepy Bear, because it reminded her of her son, Joey, who had a favorite stuffed bear he would always sleep with. The bear’s name was “Love-a-Bear” and though Joey has long since outgrown him, Miss Chrissy actually still has Love-a-Bear, and it’s unlikely she will ever part with him. Unless…maybe…someday Joey has a child of his own, and wants to give that child a Love-a-Bear? Who knows what might happen!
Finally, Tillie has found some tiny candles which lend such a special glow to the Winter evenings here in Whimsieville. Technically, there are not Christmas ornaments, they are all-around ornaments, but doesn’t it just seem like Christmas is the perfect time for lights in all shapes and sizes? These candles, by the way, are not actually candles, they have batteries to light them up, which in some ways is much nicer, because they never melt and disappear, and there’s no mess, and no chance of knocking one over and causing a fire! On the other hand, they are not scented, and as everyone knows, the scents of Christmas are so wonderful, why not take every opportunity to enjoy them?
Well, that’s what we’re going to get ready to do right now, as we settle in with some peppermint cocoa and frosted Christmas cookies.
I would show you some pictures of us enjoying our cocoa and cookies but at this very moment, the kettle is about to boil and… Hey!…Wait for me, guys!
