Christmas In The Air

For a nice Jewish boy from the suburbs of New York, I’ve got a lot of Christmas in my life.  Not one, but TWO Christmas trees in my house.  A real one down in my den and an artificial (and thankfully pre-lit) tree in the living room.  And not just small ornamental trees either.  These suckers are the real deal.  Both are so tall they graze the ceiling and the real tree downstairs is wide and fat – the better to fit more ornaments on it.

My wife, who is Catholic, grew up with Christmas.  For me, it came with the marriage and took a little getting used to.  It didn’t take long to discover how much fun Christmas is – especially the way my wife and her family celebrate.  You see, not only is my wife Catholic, she was also born on Christmas eve (hence her nickname “Eve” on this blog).  So Christmas is BIG in our lives when December rolls around.

We’ve got the trees, two wreaths (one real and one artificial and pre-lit – I’m sensing a trend), lots of lights (on our trees in the house as well as the ones out in the yard and garden), snow globes, nutcrackers, poinsettias, more ornaments than can ever possibly fit on both trees, Santa hats, stockings, more than 40 different rolls of Christmas wrap accumulated over the years, and pretty much anything else Christmas-related you can think of.

One of the most tantalizing aspects of Christmas are the smells.  Here are a few of my favorites:

• Pine – It is crazy to me how much one tree in the house can spread its sweet and fresh smell everywhere.  Anytime you walk into the house this is an immediate reminder of the season.
• Peppermint – Must be because of the candy canes but I now associate the smell of peppermint with Christmas.
• Wood-burning fires – All of the years spent camping and making fires while Rudolph was a Boy Scout, I frequently associate the smell of a fire in a fireplace with the holiday season.
• Candles – Like fireplace fires, I guess we tend to burn candles more when the weather is colder.  Hence the association.
• Baked goods – We bake all year ‘round but always tend to step it up when Christmas comes a knocking.

I’m sure there are plenty more smells I can describe but you get the idea.  What are your favorites?

Thanks for reading.  Ho, Ho, Ho!

Frosty