I’ll Be Home For Christmas (But Only In My Dreams)
In recent days Bing has really been speaking (or rather singing) to
me. That man has a voice like chocolate or a hug. However, we’ve reached an
impasse. He tells me to “please have snow and mistletoe and presents under the
tree.” Since I’m in the desert, and haven’t seen a cloud in over 40 days, I’m
going to let him down in the snow department. I also have no clue what
mistletoe even looks like, so that leaves the tree.
I have fond memories of going to the Christmas tree farm growing
up. We had a pole that was used only once a year that was the exact height of
our ceiling. After wandering around the farm and finding the perfect tree with
proper density (full), width (very wide), and height (stick height) we’d drink
hot chocolate while we drove home.
That’s not quite how it worked here. The one Christian we
knew here kept promising to take us, yet in true form canceled about 5 or 6
times. So we took matters into our own hands... one night at about 6 pm. Pulling up to the tree nursery on
the outside of the city, it looked a bit as if we were going to an abandoned
haunted house. We saw the tiny trees behind a chain linked fence but couldn’t find the door until
embarrassingly we were shown by a man wondering why the two of us were there at 7 pm at night.
The man seemed hell bent on selling us a small bush instead of a tree.
Maybe he was listening to Bing too, and that plant was mistletoe... but I doubt it. We were hoping for a reasonably sized
tree, but they just don’t grow them like that here. The weirdest part was that
all of the trees only had branches at the top—the rest had been pulled off. As
we watched the worker do this to a tree we tried to explain to him we wanted a
full tree. He told us they would grow back next year. We were about to be just
disappointed when I spotted a tree in the very back. After climbing through the
branches, I found our tree. He told me 700, I gave him 500 and was handed the
tree. We put our earrings on it and bought the dangles women wear on their
fancy dresses. I even found lights (they only work if one plug is in and the
other is half out… but at least I figured that out.)
And so, I present to you- our tree.
I have used my bedtime to make a few more decorations. This is what I made with fabric, a glue
stick, scissors and string.
There's a few more of the ones you see on the upmost left corner, and a "Merry Christmas" behind me.
I lived a rather magical childhood, and some things I’m just
not willing to give up. I still firmly believe in Santa... even though he’ll need a bit
of help this year. (Rajasthani reindeer are in short supply.) My friends here now know about the “magical man who comes on a 'dear ride' into the house via a hole in the roof with gifts he puts in socks by a fire." I used a sewing kit my brilliant sister gave me and
shopping bags to make the stockings. I was told that I “must have been a tailor
in my past life” which I take as an utmost compliment.
I might not be here this Christmas...
But in my own way, I'll still be "home."
