Friday, December 5, 2014

Nature's Tinsel

Tinsel's birth was in Nuremburg, Germany in 1610. That's where all my trouble started. You see, I really like tinsel. I used to love it, but now realize I am resigned to liking. You see, little of this silver makes its way to our tree. Long story... I still can conjure up vivid, painted memories of lying on my back in the Stevens Avenue living room under the Christmas tree trying to make my way visually to the angel riding on the top. It was quite a task. It was a dream world. I imagined myself lost in the blizzard of colored lights, sparkling decorations and of course the silver strips of tinsel. These strands of sparkle would enhance every inch of our tree, and I really thought brought the tree to life. It was always a sad that day, in the week after Christmas, when Mom deemed the holiday structure a safety hazard, and we had to take it down. All the big colorful ornaments we stored away in their boxes, long strings of synthetic garland were folded up and the fun part for me all the silver tinsel was saved for another year. I made it my job to circle the tree repeatedly gathering the shinny silver over my hand. It came off last and signaled for me the official end to the holiday. The dragging the tree out of the house into the backyard was nothing compared to removing the strands.
Tinsel, though, always brought back smiles.
Especially in March or April...
When I'd see our cat streak by me running down the hall, trailing tinsel out of his butt.
Now that's a lasting holiday image!

24 comments:

  1. What a fun image! When I was a kid, tinsel was a must on the tree and we kids loved applying it. No matter how crazy we got, it seemed to always look great.

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  2. Aw....nothing like really goofy Xmas memories! And I almost couldn't see the forest for the tinsel. No, I'm not sure what that means. Have a nice day anyway!

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  3. We used to do something like that, a long time ago...

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  4. Tinsel used to be hung on trees because they were not the trimmed trees we buy today, but trees with huge gaps between the branches. The tinsel would fill in the gaps and make the tree visually appealing.
    Putting tinsel on today's trees .....the tinsel just sits on top of the branches and has no place to hang straight down.
    Those were the days.....

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    1. Good point. There were a lot more 'charlie brown' trees back then.

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    2. I never realized that. Thanks, Elenka.

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  5. Oi, I was really enjoying the image of your imaginings at the base of the tree; then I got to the last two lines :(

    As young kids we used to comb the alleys of our Chicago neighborhood in January and salvage the tinsel from thrown-out Christmas trees. Sometimes there would be a hidden ornament to glean too.

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  6. we used to pull off those silver strands and re-use them year after year.

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  7. ditto what Dina said though those last lines did make me laugh out loud.
    I envy your view of this picturesque scene you've shared with us - it's sublime.

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  8. There are so many magic memories around Christmas times !

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  9. Yep, I continue to find stray tinsel in various places around the house throughout the year. Maybe I could use a cat. :-)

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  10. Oh my goodness. Now I have visions of cats and tinsel dancing through my head!

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  11. What I remember most about tinsel was what a mess it made. Some things in our memories are best left in memories.

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  12. I haven't seen real tinsel for years!

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  13. Oh, those last lines have me laughing!

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  14. Tinsel was what I knew as a toddler. I hardly remember it. Thankfully, there are photos. Nature's tinsel is very pretty. And Nuremberg is simply to die for, especially the Christmas market. That's where I spent last weekend...

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  15. Beautiful photo -- love those soldierly snowy trees. Also love that image of you lying under the tree looking up -- visually making your way to the top . . . wow! Such a great image.

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  16. Thank you for sharing that feline tinsel memory that I shall cherish!


    Love and kindness are the very basis of society. If we lose these feelings, society will face tremendous difficulties. Dalai Lama

    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^=


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  17. Lovely shot! You have just reminded me of why I stopped putting tinsel on my tree when I still had my cat.

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  18. I think I have a similar kitty memory. Ahhh. Tinsel!

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  19. Tinsels and trees are "natural" pairs for holiday trees!

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  20. That last sentence made me laugh out loud Birdman :)

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  21. Lovely images of sweet memories here...well, maybe the cat, not so lovely...but familiar!

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