Christmas Tree, 2024

It's smaller than trees I've had in the past. But it's still a six-footer, and I did ask for a skinny one. And it is, of course, a real tree. (Balsam.) So it works. 

I enjoyed putting it up. And in another week or so, I'll enjoy taking it down. (To the right, on my grandmother's little desk, you can see a stack of Christmas CD's which I played while decorating, and which - after a final listen to a few faves which undecorating - will be retired for another year once the tree is down.

This year, I couldn't fit all my ornaments on it. But the ones that mean something are all there. And even though I keep telling myself to stop buying ornaments, there are a few new ones. A ceramic lemon my niece Caroline brought me from Sorrento. A James Joyce I found in a museum in Dublin. A little Vermont Country Store. A Green Line car. (When I first came to Boston for college, I lived on the Green Line.)

I'm not much of a photographer, but - like the tree itself - it works.

Merry Christmas to all! And to Pink Slip, a week off. Back in the new year.