Lurking On Our Christmas Tree

     I'd just poured myself a cup of hot chocolate and was settling down to enjoy our beautiful Christmas decorations (mostly the work of Mrs. Chatterbox) when my attention turned to the beautiful tree ornaments we’ve collected over the years. Mrs. Chatterbox and I try and purchase one each time we go on vacation and these remind us of the wonderful places we’ve visited. In addition to travel reminders, we have handmade ornaments that were given to us as wedding presents thirty-seven years ago. I even have a rubber ball (from a ball and jacks game) painted silver with toothpicks in it. I made this in the first grade. I think it was supposed to be a snowflake but it looks more like Sputnik. While I treasure all of these ornaments, over the years two have remained my favorites.

     The first is a Star of David our son CJ made when he was in the first grade. It was created with Popsicle sticks and glitter, although the glitter is now mostly gone. I have no idea why he made a Star of David since we aren’t Jewish, but this ornament is proudly displayed on our tree every year.

     The other ornament is…well it’s…questionable. Mrs. Chatterbox and I have no idea how we acquired this piece. It’s a little bear sitting on top of a child’s reading block, the type of blocks designed to help youngsters learn the alphabet. This ornament dangled on our tree for years, probably decades, before I got around to noticing the two letters on the block: F and U! Was this a coincidence? These two letters out of twenty-six? Where did this darn thing come from? I doubt I’ll ever find out.

     Now, whenever I see that little bear, I imagine him flipping me off. I should have gotten rid of him a long time ago but now it’s too late. He’s part of our Christmas festivities. Like the Star of David, he’s managed to make a permanent place for himself on our tree.

     Do you have any curious ornaments on your tree? Care to share them with us?

Merry Christmas