Tag: Christmas decorations

About That Ivy On Your Antique Decorations

Color Photography

You really couldn’t find a better symbol of resilience than English Ivy. Not only is it evergreen it seems to thrive wherever it puts down roots. I had always noticed that in some older Christmas decorations that English Ivy seemed to be present but I really didn’t know why. Here in the Southern United States holly and Mistletoe are staples of Christmas decor. So much so that unless you are an active observer you might mistake the Ivy for stylized holly. But it’s not. As I started to dig a little deeper into Ivy as a Christmas symbol I learned that it’s use peaked somewhere around the year 1200 Anno Domini. Like all Christmas symbols it has roots in paganism but then if people can be converted then why not symbolism? But I digress. The Christian symbolism of Ivy at Christmas is that of the believer. Like the Ivy the believer thrives wherever he/she is planted. Like the Ivy the believer is evergreen in having eternal life. And like the Ivy the believer must have support. English Ivy must have a wall or something to hold it up in order to reach the heavens. And the believer must lean on Christ throughout his/her life.

The next time you are pulling out those antique Christmas decorations look closely at the filigree. For years what I thought was holly turned out to be English Ivy.

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My Last Christmas Wish of 2017

Christmas, Color Photography, digital art

I have one last Christmas image to share this year.  This is a photo of the holly tree in my parent’s yard.  I used an out of the box filter to make it look like a painting.  Evergreen trees are a symbol of immortality.  Over the years I have come to learn that the secret of the evergreen trees is constant renewal.  As we exit the Christmas holiday and head into the New Year my last Christmas wish is that we are renewed in body,  mind and spirit.  

Christmas is forever 

Christmas, Color Photography

Everyone is a child at Christmas.  Every year we all revert back to the days of excitement and wonder. Our journey in childhood is aided by colors and lights and smells of the Christmas season.  I remember when one of the special parts of Christmas was the yearly tradition of handmade decorations.  The process of transformation from everyday home into a winner wonderland had a personal touch.  The tree topper was made from a recycled cereal box that was either painted or simply covered with tinfoil (and later aluminum foil). The ornaments on the tree was sometimes hand carved from thin scraps of wood. Construction paper chains served as garland. One of my childhood friends would go out in the woods and collect acorns in the Fall and paint them for use as ornaments. Whatever the process and materials used it was the bonding of friends and family that made the memory.  Today we have projectors and lasers and inflatable Santas that are produced on an assembly line (probably by robots soon) and then sold in the stores.  Our modern plug and play Christmas provides us with a great deal of splendor but how much spirit?  Time is of great value in our busy lives.  The “Christmas Rush” is on and in a lot of lives the pressures of earning a living shows no mercy.  Time is the most valuable resource we have.  It’s a resource that we can possess but not own.  However,  I have learned that it is in fact entirely possible to freeze time.  Not through some contrivance of technology or secret of the ancient Magi but through the simple act of bonding with friends and family.  This year I encourage you to incorporate some homemade Christmas in with the technological splendor.  The time you spend with your loved ones is the greatest gift you can give.