A magical tree filled with fairy lights, and warm memories is a lovely story shared by author Kate Douglas. Welcome Kate!
Christmas ornaments for me are sort of a sad thing, because I don’t bring mine out anymore. We don’t do a Christmas tree indoors because my husband’s allergies have gotten really bad. After the year he almost suffered death by Christmas tree, I figured there had to be a better way than spending hours decorating the tree and then crawling out of bed at three a.m. to take the thing outside when he had such a severe asthma attack he couldn’t breathe.
That means that the box of all those special ornaments—the ones the kids made when they were small, the gifts from friends, (friends who, in many cases have been gone for years) the special ones we bought on trips—all of those memories trapped in glitter and shiny glass, the ones made of felt and tinker toys and some totally unidentifiable substances (Play Dough does well for the first thirty years—after that, it begins to crumble and fade) are now permanently wrapped away and stored, probably not to be exhumed until long after my spouse and I are gone and the kids get tired of tripping over the stuff we’ve left behind.
It was in the mid-1990s when DH’s allergies got the best of Christmas, and since then we’ve adjusted by lighting a gorgeous tree outside our house in the mountains. It was beautiful in winter, with snow all around and the tiny lights twinkling like fairy lights in the forest. I figured it was a pretty satisfactory substitute.
So what did we do? We moved back to town. I’m still adjusting, and not sure just what I’ll do this year. There’s no tree in front to decorate, at least not one that’s even remotely like a Christmas tree. I’m considering lights on the ficus benjamina in the front room, but I dunno. Somehow it doesn’t have the right look, but I know we’ll figure something out. And I hope the new owners of our place on the mountain will plug in an extension cord and light up our tree out in front. We left the lights on it, strand after strand of tiny, twinkling lights.
I’m going to miss it, but it won’t be nearly as painful knowing someone else is giving our tree a chance to shine. Traditions are like that, you know. Some of them stay around forever, while others tend to evolve as life moves forward.
The move to town brought us much closer to the grandkids, and they always have a beautiful tree for the holidays. Husband can handle not breathing for a few hours, which means we’ll get to enjoy the ornaments and the twinkling lights with grandchildren thrown into the mix. The more I think about that, the better I like it. No mess to pull out of the attic, none to pack up by January 1 and store for another year. Works for me, and it definitely beats taking a tree down at three o’clock in the morning!
Now that I think about it, my holiday traditions are evolving just fine, and I hope yours do as well. My best wishes for a healthy, happy, fun-filled holiday, time with family and friends and, if you’re lucky, a bit of quiet with a good book. It really
doesn’t get any better!
And, now that I think of it, we can always decorate Rufus.
Wishing you all good things for the holiday, and the very best in the New Year!
About Kate:
My writing consumes me, which is a good thing because I absolutely love what I do. With almost thirty books and novellas released through Kensington’s new Aphrodisia line as well as their Zebra imprint, two more manuscripts completed and scheduled for release in 2013 and more in the works, I’m spending most of my time at the computer.
My latest release, Dream Unchained, completes the Dream Catchers series for Kensington’s Aphrodisia imprint. The first story in the series, Dream Catcher, appeared in the NightShift anthology. It was followed by Dream Bound, and then the exciting conclusion in a race against time in Dream Unchained. I’m back in the world of my Chanku shapeshifters with my newest series, Spirit Wild. Originally slated as a Kensington imprint, Spirit Wild will now release through Aphrodisia, which means they’ll be every bit as hot as my original Wolf Tales. Lily’s book, Dark Wolf, which is slated for release in May 2013, is an exciting glimpse of the Chanku in a world that knows they exist. The next book, Dark Moon, is Igmutaka and Star’s story.
Coming in May 2013: Spirit Wild Book 1: Dark Wolf 
Chanku Novellas releasing as single title ebooks—1/29/13
Dream Unchained Book 2, out now!
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Kate Douglas
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You can find Kate’s latest release Dream Unchained by clicking here.
