Taking the tree down!

So another Christmas and New Year's has come and gone, and it's time to pack away all the tinsel and baubles for another year.  The task of taking down the tree is never a happy one.

Putting up the tree is filled with excitement and joy. Sugar coated Norman Rockwellesque childhood memories flood in and I'm filled with love, peace and contentment.

Taking down the tree however is a chore, the barren space left where the tree once stood just serves to remind me that a long, cold bleak winter still lies ahead. Grey and drab, in stark contrast to the twinkling fairy lights, that just a few hours ago warmed my soul.

I'm inherited a few of my grandmother's superstitions regarding Christmas, and I adhere to her "twelve days before and twelve days after" rule. Growing up she had been quite adamant that the Christmas decorations should not go up more than twelve days before Christmas and had to be down before the twelfth night after Christmas, as it was considered unlucky.

In olden days the superstition revolved around the tree-spirits that were believed to live in the evergreen boughs, holly, ivy etc. that people brought into their houses to decorate with. Bringing the tree-spirits indoors would provide them with shelter during the harsh mid-winter days.  Once Christmas was over however, the greenery had to be returned outside to release the tree-spirits into the countryside once again. Even in this artificial era of fake plastic Christmas trees and foil tinsel I still observe the dates.