finding the light.

"Sometimes life is scary and dark. That is why we must find the light*"

And I suppose we all find it where we can. For me, this weekend, it meant decorating for Christmas.



I put the Nativity set on the coffee table in front of my (nonfunctional) fireplace this year. I think I like it better here than on the piano; it seems more central. And really, this is what should be central to Christmas, at least for someone like me.

And my tree:





A close up of part of the tree. Ever since I read that there was a fad in the 1910s and 20s to put small toys - often "borrowed" from the household's children for the duration - on as decorations, I've done that. I LIKE that idea. I think it's because I like the idea that Christmas allows at least some part of us to be children again - I mean in the good way of having a sense of joy and wonder about things, and being able to enter into fun ("Secret Santa" exchanges were one of my favorite things we did as a "fellow grad student collegiality" thing when I was in grad school). Not so much being whiny and grabby, though I suppose some people do get like that.



Yes,. I put a few Ponies on the tree - mostly the glittery ones because they reflect the lights. And that's a tiny Lalaloopsy doll of a Snow Princess I bought several Christmases ago specifically to put on the tree.

And I reassembled my "Own Private Ponyville" (as I think of it) on my mantel. This makes me ridiculously happy to have.





This year I put Barber Groomsby (who has a mustache, which when you think of it, is utterly ridiculous for a pony) and Big Wig (a chubbyish mare kind of on the mold of Mrs. Cake), who are my favorite blindbag pony 'shipping,' on my Eiffel Tower clock.

I also bought a very short string of battery-operated LED lights - a total impulse purchase, but whatever - and draped them over the various picture hooks and things that were already up on the wall over my bed.





(Taken with "extreme night view" - a long exposure - and my hands aren't perfectly steady. You may be able to pick out a blurry Applejack, Zecora, and Celestia (Smuglestia!) in that shot. Yes, I have a ridiculous number of stuffed toys on my bed. Ridiculous for an eight year old girl, let alone a woman approaching 50. But then again, it's pretty darn minor as eccentricities go.)

(*A surprisingly non-depressing metaphysical insight from Adventure Time - voiced by Beemo, my favorite character on the show)

It does make me feel happier to have this up.

I also bought a large "shepherd's crook" - a cast iron thing you can implant in the ground (it has an "arm" attached to the main stake for steadiness) and have a birdfeeder hanging on it now. It will take a few days for the birds to find it, though.