I saw this corn husk in an artisan shop on Main Street; I often buy presents for Maria there. She dislikes expensive gifts or wants any for Christmas, so I hunt for more minor, original things.
Bliss, the artist who made the corn husk angels, says she started making them as a child and has made them every Christmas since. Maria loved her angel and hung it over the dining room table.
We are planning a sweet, thoughtful Christmas. We will see the Leonard Bernstein movie Maestro and spend Christmas day on the farm.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, we’re going to Vermont for our annual Christmas getaway at a beautiful inn where we had our honeymoon a decade ago.
We have a favorite room with a small reading area and a bathtub Maria loves. It’s a peaceful and quiet place for us.
This is the perfect present for Maria, a feisty angel in my life. I wish a happy and meaningful weekend for everyone. Other than the angel, we’re buying nothing for Christmas. We are taking food and cookies to a community dinner for people in some need.
To me, that’s what Christmas is about. I don’t tell other people what to do, but shopping online or at a mall on Christmas is a kind of blashpehemy for me. Online bargains have nothing to do with Christmas or its spirit.
But everyone has to make their own decisions. The holiday is not about money or bargains in my mind, and I am not a Christian. My notion of respect tells me to see the day as a time of peace and joy.
I am looking forward to your review of Maestro…we watched a short Youtube video of the real Leonard Bernstein conducting the Vienna Philharmonic playing Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto…I was fortunate to see one of Bernstein’s Young Peoples Concert’s at Carnegie Hall when I was a kid…I really dont remember him per se, but I remember him explaining the music and how beautiful it was ( we were up pretty high)…I think he was the reason I bought my first classical music record. As my husband and I watched Bernstein conduct, what came across so vividly was his transcendent love of the music. He was just so in love with the beauty and majesty of this human creation and wanted all of us to see what a miracle it was. Enjoy your Christmas break!
Nice post Carol, thanks..
The corn husk angel is perfectly lovely. I can see why it would be the right gift for Maria. I
remember when all the gifts were handmade. Imade toys and clothes for my children as
my Mother had done for my sisters and I. Those things were truly cherished. Store gifts now
come with expiration dates–some toys not even lasting out Christmas Day. I have to admit
I have fallen to the trend and purchased the items people asked for. It does not feel the same-
either the giving or the receiving. Merry Christmas anyway.