You might think that I was going to have some profound historical remarks to educate you on the common Christmas icicle. But no, this will be a story of my love affair with icicles for over 50 years.
When I was small, Mom always decorated the Christmas tree by draping icicles over it as the last thing to go on. I loved those shining little strips of silver. I thought they made the tree even more special and beautiful. I have such fond memories of her letting us kids hang the icicles. We were each given a handful and she guided us where to hang them.
Thus my love of icicles began. When I got married and moved out on my own, Christmas rolled around and I went to buy my own Christmas decorations. The first thing I bought was two boxes of icicles for my Christmas tree.
Every year, it is the same thing. As soon as the Christmas decor hits the shelves, I purchase two boxes of icicles. As I have gotten older, they have become harder and harder to find. When I take my tree down each year, I painstakingly pull the icicles off and store them in a plastic bag. Everybody laughs at me, but I live in fear that they will become an item that is no longer manufactured. Then where would I be. I figure if I pull them off each year, and add to them with the new stock. I should have enough to last me till I die if they become obsolete.
Don't get me wrong, they are very annoying little creatures. You walk by the tree and the static of your passing causes them to reach out like little fingers and latch onto your legs, feet, arms, where ever they can find. The 17 years we had K.C. (short for Kitty Cat), she never bothered the trees much except to lay under them. I could always tell when she had been laying behind the tree because she would be walking through the house with 5 or 6 icicles attached to her. I always called her Christmas Kitty when that happened.
When we moved last month, as I was going through closets and packing, a stray icicle would turn up here and there. So, yes they can be aggravating. But I love them and they bring back such fond memories of my childhood and that of my children when they used to like to help hang the icicles on the tree. Now, I let the grandchildren decorate a tree in my home office and they love hanging the icicles. Although I must admit they get as much on them as they do on the tree.
1 comment:
I also love icicles and was beginning to think I was the last one who did. When I was a kid, after Christmas, we would painstakingly lay them out straight between the pages of magazines so they'd be ready for the next year. I've used them for years and never saved them after Christmas as I never thought about them going out of stock. But for the first time this year, I did have trouble finding them! My Christmas tree looked "naked" for a few weeks because of the lack of icicles until I finally found some at a home supply store yesterday. Still, what I found isn't exactly what I like as they are the "holographic" kind and they seem to drape oddly, but I'm getting used to them. Maybe I'll just have to ante up the funds to order them through the internet next year. (I saw that you can do that when I was searching for them, but it seems ridiculous to take something that is so cheap and pay $7 or $8 shipping.)
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