THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 24, 1995 TAG: 9512220235
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
This year I have been reflecting more than usual on what a treasure trove of memories is stored away in my old, faded dusty boxes of Christmas tree ornaments.
It's not that reminders of people and events don't exist all around. My mother's table is in the bedroom, a clay bird my daughter made in nursery school is in the playroom and a metal sculpture of an egret given as a gift by a friend is on the book shelf. They are all remembrances of friends, relatives and times past.
But the ornaments, forgotten throughout the year, come out only in December. So they get special attention. For a couple of hours during the holiday season, I am forced to slow down. I pick up each ornament, check its condition, twist it back in shape, blow on it or fluff it up and give some thought to where to hang it.
And in that time, I think about the past, not one event or one person but years and years of my life compressed into a couple of hours of fingering tiny, sometimes threadbare ornaments.
The beautiful glass seashells were my mother's and they recall a few short, bittersweet years. Not long before she passed away, my mother moved from her home in Richmond to a small apartment here. She bought the shells for her little tree because she wanted the tree to reflect her new home at the Beach.
On the other hand, some well-worn, but once also beautiful ornaments - a silken ear of corn with tiny jeweled kernels at one end, a sequined fan and two glass birds connected by a golden strand that hangs over a branch - were also my mother's. But they remind me more of my own childhood.
She hung them and other fancy ornaments on a small artificial table tree each year. That special tree was separate and apart from the big cedar tree we also decorated when I was growing up. I remember thinking the little ornaments were the most exquisite baubles in the world, that the stones and sequins were real jewels and the shiny fabrics, the finest of silks and satins.
Then there is the pair of cat and dog ornaments that were made from felt for our family specifically because we had a cat and a dog at the time. The ornaments were stuffed and sewn by our friend who lived across the street. She has long since moved to Colorado from a neighborhood where I no longer live either. But she and the old neighborhood roll immediately onto the screen of my imagination.
A felt musical instrument and a Little Red Riding Hood bring back memories of yearly December shopping trips when the kids and I went out so that each could buy a special ornament for the tree.
A yellow, wooden school bus, cut with a band saw by an especially creative friend, invokes memories of the days when those kids, now grown, were in elementary school. My friend also made colorful, wooden fish for me one year to reflect my interest in the opening of the Virginia Marine Science Museum, which seems years ago now.
Other ornaments, though not handmade, remind me of how thoughtful my friends are too. A tiny bird feeder is actually filled with seed, an exquisitely feathered hummingbird hovers over a seed pod, and a little wooden bird watcher holds a pair of binoculars! Each one conjures up thoughts of its giver and thoughts of birds I have seen and places I have gone.
A wreath - made of tiny, hand-sewn, gathered rounds of patchwork material and strung in a circle on a piece of wire - was made by another friend. I remember she stayed up after midnight several nights to complete the hand-sewn beauties for her friends.
One year long ago, I made Styrofoam ornaments. Some of you will remember the ones made with segments of velvet pinned with straight pins onto Styrofoam balls and decorated with braid, sequins, pearls and other craft items, usually ending with a top knot of pearls where the hanger was inserted.
I still have one of those elaborate creations on the tree. It reminds me of a time when I actually had the extra hours in a day to make velvet ornaments decorated with sequins and such!
In contrast, a little, green dough ornament in the shape of a tree is decorated with its share of sequins, too. It was one of the first ornaments my grandson Jake, now 8, ever made at pre-school and I feel so lucky to be the doting grandparent that every Christmas remembers anew a precious 3-year-old.
P.S. TURN THE PAGES OF HISTORY from 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Francis Land House. Learn about Colonial, African American and native American history, foods from long ago, gardening, adventure and animals through hands-on activities. Experts from local institutions will be on hand and librarians will supply reading lists. The program is free. To find out more, call 431-4000.
MAKE A HOLIDAY POTPOURRI from herbs and plants grown in the Adam Thoroughgood House garden. The program is at 1 p.m. Wednesday. Admission is $5. Call 664-6283 for reservations. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know about
Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter
category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net.
ILLUSTRATION: ABOVE LEFT: Grandson Jake made the Christmas tree ornament,
decorated with sequins, at age 3 when he was in pre-school.
ABOVE RIGHT: The glass seashell was Mother's way of reflecting her
new home at the Beach.
AT RIGHT: A silken ear of corn with tiny jeweled kernels at one end
brings back childhood memories.
by CNB