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Strewn ornaments, two guilty felines greet the season
© St. Petersburg Times The red birds seemed like a good idea at the time. They were on sale for half of their original $3.99 price, gorgeous cardinals with bright red feathers and little wires attached to their feet. Perfect for a Christmas tree limb. Seeing them reminded me of a tree my mother put up 25 years ago. Red birds were the only ornaments, and it was absolutely beautiful. Great, I thought. It will remind us all of the grandmother who is gone. So I carefully picked out the red birds and stashed them for a year, rediscovering them as we took out the ornaments this year. We carefully spread them around the tree. You can guess what happened next. The morning after the Christmas tree went up, my husband comes back to the bedroom after getting the morning paper. "You're not going to like what you see when you get up," he says with a grin. Not my red birds, I protest. Yes. Red birds. Off the tree and scattered all over the house. Lewis and Clark have been busy boys. Red feathers are everywhere. We put the tattered birds back on the tree and the cats pounce again, running off with cardinals between their teeth. "Put them up higher," he suggests. No, I know what would happen if the birds were all up high. The whole tree would fall. Our Siamese felines love Christmas. The tree is one of their favorite parts. Last year one of them -- I suspect Clark -- chewed a string of lights apart. How he avoided electrocuting himself, we don't know. But suddenly one string of lights was dark. Little teeth marks pointed to the culprits. They've always knocked ornaments off the tree and hauled them around the house. But this year these red birds are traveling more miles than they would if they were migrating south for the winter. It's part of what makes Christmas a time to remember. Families are beginning to gather for a week of celebration. With Christmas falling in the middle of the week, most of us have turned our thoughts to trees and lights, packages that need wrapping and food that needs to be cooked. Sometimes in the middle of all the uproar I think longingly of friends who have fled to London or Italy or some other exotic place for the holidays. But they won't have leftover turkey sandwiches to eat or the comfort of being surrounded by family and friends at home. I confess it is my favorite time of year. Christmas music fills the air, and even the political combatants that thrive on war with each other are at peace and sharing a little Christmas cheer. We have the usual disaster area in the room where we wrap packages. It will be that way until Christmas Day, because children and grandchildren will certainly arrive without all of their packages wrapped. Someone will no doubt be up there after midnight, wearily putting a toy together. Our workaholic governor has gone south for Christmas to spend the holiday in Miami. He's going on a cruise the day after Christmas with other family members, including his famous parents. The governor's wife doesn't worry about him getting sick like hundreds of others making cruises out of Florida ports. She worries instead that the absence of e-mail and things to do will leave him so bored he'll be swimming back. The rest of us are glad he's taking a few days away from the Capitol. We might get a few days of rest and relaxation since legislators are also out of town doing whatever they do at home. Peace in the Capitol. What a novel idea. War will come soon enough. Have a warm and happy holiday. See you in the new year.
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Times columns today From the Times State news desk |
