Life moves ahead and the Tree of Life does too. It is not a static entity. My Tree of Life grew each year, and is still growing this year. The adornments that hung from her branches evolved yearly. At first it was just birds, like the Navaho rug design. Then it moved to the bird house ornaments made by the grand elves. The next year, the bird houses had birds perched at the openings.
The original tree was green, but the ornamental birds didn’t show off very well. The green tree morphed and became white. The original multi-colored lights morphed into clear. This year, a few red bulbs are mixed in to make it pop more. The first flowers were simple red poinsettia placed randomly around her boughs. They looked so good they migrated to become the tree topper. The next year the poinsettia changed to pink with red roses mixed between. The bouquet at the top became a focus, and soon there were lilies, baby’s breath, roses, poinsettia, carnations, iris, and even hydrangea.
Christmas is not Christmas without poinsettia. Every year growers introduce new colors and invent new ways to add sparkle and pizzaz to the flower. The bracts are sprinkled with glitter, dyed, and painted to make them unique and colorful. Every year, I see a new artificial poinsettia that out does the last year’s prize. Usually, I buy a bunch of a new one that catches my eye and add it to the Tree. This year however, Grandma Peggy found something which is outstanding. They are boughs of a simple leafy plant that resembles schefflera covered in red glitter.
One year a friend visited China, and brought me some Panda book marks. Each Panda is made of colored paper that is hand cut and glued to a flat piece of bamboo.The Panda is a life form and has found a home place on the Tree. The same happened with butterflies. We found them while touring shops in Saugatuck, Michigan
The Tree of Life moves forward with new additions and some deletions every year making it a unique representation of our own lives.
My tree took a seven-year nap, and has now come back to remind me that life goes on even if circumstances change drastically.
Related Articles
- Colorful Ways To Decorate For The Holidays (homedesign.marthastewart.com)
- Fun Paper Crafts for Kids: Making a Christmas Poinsettia (brighthub.com)
- Tree of Life As a Sewing/Quilting Motif (sewingneedlework.suite101.com)
- Poinsettias that are blue or other odd colors are dyed: Ask OSU Extension (cleveland.com)
Filed under: Birds, family, Garden, grief, Memories, Tree of Life, Warm and Fuzzy | Tagged: Christmas, Christmas Tree, Euphorbia pulcherrima, God, Jesus' Birthday, Tree of Life |
Beautiful Tree Grumpa. May it be filled with happy memories.