Decorating

As a kid, I loved decorating the house for Christmas. It was one of those things that seemed the beginning of a special season. For me, my favorite part was laying out the manger scene... I loved unwrapping each piece, each carefully stored from the year before, and arranging everyone of them in the way they should be within and around the little building built of thin wood.

The final two pieces I placed were always the baby Jesus and the angel. Baby Jesus had to be just right -- in the middle of it all, and then came the angel. She hung on a tiny little nail at the apex of the roof, then the light went into the hole at the back of the manger. When it was done, it always felt like Christmas could then start.

When I got home from Granite Falls on Thursday, the first thing I did was hang my wreath. My mom always makes me one, and a pretty bow to go with it. For me, it has become my new manger since I am not that interested in doing much decorating. This year, however, Mary Kathryn talked me into doing a bit more, so we have a little tree, and the lights above the door now have some tinsel...

It is feeling a little like Christmas here...