Month: December 2023

When I was a young child my parents purchased Christmas ornaments to fill out a fairly large sized tree. They were colorful and twinkly as they caught the rays of illumination from the strings of light. I thought they were beautiful and loved lying on the floor gazing up at the glorious sight that signified a wonderful time of the year. As far as I know my mother was still using those same decorations on the last trees of her life which had steadily become smaller and smaller as she grew older. I don’t think that she ever purchased another ornament to add to her collection. She simply used the ones that she and my father had purchased when they were in their twenties. 

When I first married Christmas came quickly, only two months after my wedding. My husband Mike and I scrambled to purchase a small tree and a couple of boxes of colorful glass ornaments to brighten the branches. They were rather nondescript decorations that filled the bill for celebrating the holiday on the very slim budget of our first year together. 

Unlike my mother, I slowly but surely began collecting Christmas ornaments over the years. Every one of the trinkets that decorate my many trees has a story of time and place and people that I have loved. There are the uniques items festooning my travel tree that remind me of places that Mike and I have visited. My mother collected salt and pepper shakers on her trips with my father. I collect Christmas ornaments. They span years of visiting different places and always remind me of the joy I felt on those trips.

At the turn of this century I spent New Year’s day in Austria where I learned of different symbols that supposedly represent good luck. On the eve of two thousand four just before midnight the owners of the restaurant where we were dining presented us with a box of confections portraying four leaf clovers, lady bugs and cute little pigs all of which represent lucky charms. Somehow I got it in my head to begin purchasing little pig ornaments in the years that followed. When I had a sizeable number of them I created a tree dedicated to the precious creatures that I collect whenever I see one that is unique. 

In my dining room I feature a tree filled with beautiful ornaments made from silver and porcelain and carved wood. Most of them were gifts from friends who knew that I enjoy adding to my Christmas ornaments. Many represent milestones in my life like the birth of a grandchild, the purchase of a new home or a wedding anniversary. I even began adding yearly adorable gingerbread men to mark the passage of time. In the middle of all the glory of the delicate creations hangs a plastic angel whose silver paint has faded over time. She may be incongruous to those who see her amongst the other artfully created trinkets but she means more to me than any of them. I managed to take her from a table of castaways after my Grandma Ulrich died. I had seen her on many a Christmas Eve as we celebrated with my aunts and uncles and cousins. She reminded me of those magical evenings with my grandmother padding among her guests in warm slippers offering her milky over sugared coffee with a big smile on her face. That angel is the star of my tree. 

The main tree that stands in my great room is filled with so many memories that it would take a year of blogs to recite all of the stories behind them. Some reminded me of things that I love like Harry Potter or Mickey Mouse. Many were gifts from friends, coworkers and the youngsters that I taught. There are homemade creations like the one that feature a dear friend’s children when they were toddlers. Now they are both in their forties and fifties. My daughter made another one with a photo of our golden retriever Red. There are ornaments from my mother who noticed that I liked to collect such things and gifts from my friend Marita who brought back cute decorations from her travels around the world. There is a handmade set of Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus ornaments that my friend Pat insisted on buying for me on one of our many Christmas adventures and others from my friend Cappy who loves Christmas as much as I do. There is the sweet gift from Jenny and Eric on the occasion of my fiftieth wedding anniversary as well. I get quite emotional setting up this tree because it reminds me of so many good times and good people. Nothing is there that does not evoke special feelings.

There is one more tree that I set up inside my home. I place it on top of a table so that the whole neighborhood sees it through a large window in the second story of my house. It is the tree that holds the ornaments that have become flawed over time. Some have lost their color. Others are missing parts. It is a tree that would make Charlie Brown smile with delight because while it starts out looking rather ordinary and bleak, somehow it is gorgeous when it is finally donned with items that most people might think to throw away. In many ways it is my favorite tree because it is so humble. The only pretense featured on that tree is the joy of knowing that even the least of my ornaments are beautiful to behold. 

I take my emotional journey down memory lane once each year. Dear people still bring new ornaments to me. I also find some that I know I must have. I may be nearing the need for one more tree that I might tuck away on a countertop or table as my collection continues to grow. I gaze at my twinkling trees just as I did with the one that my parent’s created when I was a child and I feel so much joy and peace. Those trees speak of a life well lived and the people I have known and loved. They are so beautiful to me.

Geography was a required class for those of us seeking a degree in education. I put off taking the course as long as possible. I had heard that the professor who taught the fundamentals of geography was a tyrant who never gave anyone an A. I finally registered with great dread and attended the first lecture with a negative attitude. Within five minutes I was mesmerized by the depth and breadth of knowledge that the woman had. Soon enough I was looking forward to the three hours each week when I would learn things about our earth and its people that I had never before known. She not only enlightened me but also demonstrated the interconnections of history, sociology, science and mathematics that affect our earth. Suddenly I understood the importance of focusing on our human dependence on this planet. 

Later I would learn how to teach geography if I were ever called upon to do so. The professor of that class would echo the methodologies of the geography teacher who had so enchanted me. He suggested that students needed to understand the human journey from place to place and the how’s and why’s that enticed them to settle in certain areas. He also stressed the importance of water throughout the history of humankind. Water, he said, was more valuable than any other resource on earth. Gold and oil are of little use if water is not available.

I was only tasked to teach geography a few times in my career. I tried to help my students make the connections that my professors had shown me. I wanted them to understand as I had that history has always been beholden to the resources of the earth and that water is the most important above all. I showed them how cities and towns across the globe began along the banks of rivers or next to oceans or lakes. When humans finally decided to settle down they needed water to grow their crops and quench their thirst. 

We have often been guilty of wasting or polluting our precious water sources. Even today the city of New Orleans is grappling with an invasion of sea water into the fresh water of the Mississippi River. Drought combined with over engineering of the great river has created the devastating situation. Pallets of water had to be brought into the city while efforts were made to halt the invasion of the sea. 

In some parts of the United States drought has caused wells to run dry, lakes to become holes in the ground. We have at times found lead in water sources as well as other cancerous materials. There are Native American reservations that still have no running water even in the modern era. 

We humans need water to stay alive. We must drink a certain amount each day to stay healthy. Our crops will not grow without water. We need water to keep our homes sanitary, to clean our clothes. This summer we have seen the need to conserve our most precious resource. Many of us are still subject to water restrictions and yet there are far too many among us who think of what is happening as mere irritations rather than signs from our earth that we need to become more aware of our individual impacts on the availability of water for everyone. 

We indeed must begin to view water as our most important resource. Just as we invest in stocks and bonds and precious metals, we should be investing time and money into saving water. We need to be as conscious of how we use this life giving resource as we are of saving income for the future. We can no longer afford to simply take water for granted. Already there are places in the world fighting over sources of water. Water has even been used as weapon of war. 

I spent much of the summer researching the history of the dust bowl in the southern great plains. It was human desecration of the native plants along with a years long dearth of rain that left people gasping for life. When dust storms raged, drifts of dirt blocked the doors of homes and seeped through the cracks in windows. The people suffered from dust pneumonia. The carcuses of their livestock were filled with soil that had blown off of the land. The people’s daily prayer was for rain that would fill their streams, ponds, lakes and wells that were as dry as bones. Many died and many had to leave in search of greener pastures kissed by showers from heaven. 

I now find myself taking great care with the water that comes into my home. I reuse dish water in my garden. I take tips from my daughter who catches water from her shower in containers whose precious content might then be used for other chores. My husband is studying how to harness water from our gutters when it rains. We can no longer afford to simply waste what we have. It would be to the benefit of everyone if we kept water restrictions in place to make certain that we do not wantonly throw away this precious resource. 

Conservation should become a habit, one that we do without complaint. It is an exercise for the future that will lead to better health for the planet. It’s well past time to protect our water. All of our money and possessions will be meaningless if there is no water. It’s up to us to keep it flowing and keep it clean.