Deck the halls with boughs of….

Rosemary.

I love Christmas time. Everything about it. People allow themselves to behave just a little bit differently at this time of the year. I love that people take an entire Saturday to buy, make or find three foot wire reindeer, drape them with a million little lights and put them in their front yard next to a plastic santa who glows from the inside. When else but Christmas time do adults spend a couple hours of their precious time spray painting pine cones in gold and sparkles to put on their mantle? I love that people dress their kids up and have photos made that they send all over the world. I really love that some people still write actual letters about their lives that they share with friends and family far and wide some of whom may not even remember them. I love that people find time and money and energy to do things they intend to do all year long but some how don’t manage the effort. Things like making a plate of cookies for the old couple that lives next door. Or maybe dropping an extra coin in cup of someone who needs it.

I love Nat King Cole singing Oh Holy Night.

I love that people bring trees of all sizes and shapes (and materials) into their living rooms. And spend half a day wrestling with strings of lights (that weren’t properly packed the year before) in an effort to untangle them and search for the one bulb that makes the whole string not work. And then spend the rest of the day hanging little wooden, glass, and plastic objects on every single branch.

In Italy you don’t really go down to the supermarket and pick a tree from the parking lot. Nor do you pack the family and go into the mountains to chop your own. I suppose you could but, in this region anyway, it would more likely be an Olive than a fir or a pine. Fake trees are available but I’m more of a natural type of girl, so I opted for a rosemary tree.

You might think that my perspective on Christmas is shrouded by just a bit of nostalgia, that maybe once upon a time it was that way, but now it’s all needless pressure and out of control consumerism. Maybe. But from where I sit, if people can have even a couple days of the year where they allow themselves to do non-sensical, unproductive, over the top acts just to bring some beauty and joy into their lives and those around them, well that’s just awesome. It might even bring us a bit closer to that whole "peace on earth" thing.