esrosedotblog

BURST

The house is suddenly a holiday wonderland!

One day we are not going to do anything and another it is balls to the wall; so to speak.

There are the traditional bowl of balls in the dining room and the santa hats are on all the little nude statues (all male). The greenery from all the previous years has kept well in the garage storage area and is, once again, tacked to the wall up and down over the fireplace.

There will be a relatively new hand-made wreath on the front gate with little round ball-lights; our only outdoor decor.

The vintage aluminum tree is up with it's silver star like ornaments and icicles. This tree is possibly as old as we are but I think more like post WWII. It is in its original box. It is a fine specimen.

There are other little annual touches too. The best are the jig-saw cut deer that we took off my Dad's gun cabinet. One of the antlers is broken on one deer but it doesn't matter. It is the last little kid thing that I have left out of all the years of holiday paraphernalia.

When we left Boston we filled an entire bedroom with our gear. It all went in the estate sale. We brought very little with us. Some has been added but we have been prudent in our aquisitions. Or at least I have.

I write this as though I am the one who has burst with holiday spirit.

No. It is John.

He is hard at it, as always.

I am the voice of reason, the hand of restraint, the scrooge who says 'no'. A job description I can easily fill.

And yet, I do like it all. It is a gentle reminder of years and years of other holidays. I am not one who regrets the loss of the past but I don't shut the door on it either.

I am alternately a little kid and a dad and a grandad and an older gay gentleman who lives, for the most part, out of the mainstream. It is nice to let a little bit of the stream in the door to enjoy and then let it out again in a couple of weeks.