Christmas Potpourri
A little holiday wintery mix of randomness
For the last few years I got hooked on watching old ‘90s episodes of Martha Stewart Living on Roku, and if there’s one thing ‘90s Martha likes, it’s potpourri, but this post isn’t going to be about potpourri, though there might be a little bit of Martha. I couldn’t think of one single holiday-related subject I wanted to write about, but I could think of several, so please look at this post as a sort of tray of mixed hors-d’oeuvres. Or maybe a box of homemade cookies, all of them sugary and a bit kitschy, some of them misshapen, but all of them still edible, hopefully.
Decking the Halls (when you don’t have a yard to forage from)
I have to admit that I’m a little bit jealous of all you Substack gardeners posting your holiday decorations made up of all kinds of holly and spruce and dried flowers and willow foraged from your yards. The little vegetation that’s left in the pots on my apartment terrace is sad-looking and not worth taking inside.
But the front yards and tree wells and parks around Brooklyn are filled with beautiful, tempting things, and I do get tempted. Those Park Slope hydrangeas? They look golden and ready for Christmas, as do all the little red berries that are dotting so many trees right now. A few blocks away there are Sir John Betjeman roses, pinky-red, some of them still in bloom and some of them rosehipped. I’d never forage from someone else’s yard, but I don’t mind picking a few branches from a big apartment complex down the way. Those variegated holly bushes, all overgrown, hanging over the parking lot? No one will notice that I cut off a few stems, and the plants did need a pruning, anyhow.
Decking the Halls (with nostalgia)
I struggle liking new holiday decorations when the old ones are so good. Our holiday decor consists of mostly old stuff—ornaments from childhood or ornaments inherited, ornaments picked up at antique and thrift stores. If there’s a theme it’s probably vintage German Christmas. When I was a kid my dad worked for a German company and always brought home gifts and decorations from his business trips. We had an Erzgebirge pyramid lit up with candles, smokers, wooden ornaments, and always lots of German candy, so that’s what a nostalgic Christmas looks like to me.
I was always a little amazed by my grandma’s Christmas tree, too: artificial and white, very sparkly, with blue lights and shiny spun silk ornaments and the most 1960s mod-looking little angel on top. Remember when that flashy midcentury modern holiday style was really popular a while back? I think I bought a tiny white tree in around 2007 or so, wanting it to look just like my grandma’s had looked.
Nowadays I’m seeing so much holiday decor that looks like it was bought at a craft fair in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and I’m kind of liking it? Bizarre to see, but just the latest wave of nostalgia, I guess. There is a store nearby called The Six Bells, and it’s so very ‘90s Martha Stewart that every time I go there I’m shocked at how young the shoppers are. Gen Z’ers picking up frilly pillows and grandma quilts and country crafty things. Amazing!
A step too far for me, maybe, but I wouldn’t mind decking the halls in a more classic British style. This holiday tour of garden designer Sean Pritchard’s house makes me want to cover every bit of bare wall in paper chains.
Blue Christmas
A family member recently apologized to me for not being more cheerful this month, but I think that the holidays are meant to be sad in a way. They get sadder every year, too, at least for me. I always dwell on the past; I over-romanticize it. This year is especially tough, the first Christmas since my dad died. He loved Christmas. His own dad actually loved it so much that my grandparents’ house (loosely modeled after the inn in White Christmas—not even kidding, and I wish I had photos of it) was decorated in a loose Victorian Christmas style all year round, complete with carousel horses and costumed mannequins and an old sleigh, but that’s another story.
All of that is in the past, too, and it’s easy for my brain to get trapped there. But I do think it’s ok to let yourself be sad at this time of year, and I’m not just saying that because I happen to be an Enneagram 4 who is perfectly happy being sad.
The Christmas music I like best is also sad
Bach’s Christmas Oratorio: the first song isn’t sad at all—it’s full of drums and trumpets and joyfulness. Last Christmas I discovered this version on Youtube, and its early 1970s aesthethic just adds to the gorgeousness of it all.
A Christmas Album, by Barbra Streisand: I love her so much, and her Christmas album is the best one out there in my opinion. It’s silly sometimes and maybe annoying sometimes, too (Drew makes me skip her version of “Jingle Bells:” How!), but the production is so twinkly like tinsel, and I really do think Barbra has the voice of an angel.
“Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” by Judy Garland: This one is so sad, especially with the original Meet Me In St Louis lyrics. I love her, too.
All of the old carols: When I was a kid my favorite Christmas song was “What Child is This,” because because I liked sad things then, too. The old Anglican carols remind me of my Dad, who loved them: the King’s College Choir, all of that. I will say that there’s a version of “O Come O Come Emmanuel” by Belle & Sebastian that’s beautifully melancholy-sounding, too.
Christmas Crafting
We have a friend back on the west coast who decided, along with his siblings, to make by hand all of the presents that they gave each other for Christmas, and it was an idea so nice that my sisters and I decided to steal it. But it didn’t work out in the end—it should have been simple, but I think that most of us ended up overthinking it and not making anything at all. It’s kind of scary to make something for a loved one. I knit, and I make sweaters for my nieces and nephew when they’re little, but only when they’re little. I worry that they might find something handmade corny or even embarrassing to wear.
So not many handmade gifts this year, but I did make gift tags with the flowers I’ve been pressing, and I love to see little bits of the garden tied to our Christmas presents.
Why did I spend so many holiday seasons buying poinsettias when I could have been growing forced bulbs?
Nothing against poinsettias, but growing bulbs inside for the holidays is so much more exciting. My first round of paperwhites are still blooming, and I’ve already bought some more bulbs to replace them with once the blooms go brown and dry. Paperwhites are just so cheerful to look at, and while I don’t love the scent, it’s not so strong that it overrides the prettiness.
I also went ahead and bought one of the waxed amaryllis bulbs at Trader Joe’s. $7.99: really a bargain compared to other stores. I don’t like the look of the colored wax, but it was easy enough to cover up with some burlap and jute string. The bulb didn’t look the healthiest when I bought it, so I’m amazed at all the growth it’s put on in the week since I bought it; it’s shooting up much faster than the ‘Blushing Bride’ amaryllis I’ve been growing in a pot for weeks.
I’m so glad that Drew encouraged me to grow some things indoors this season, because I’ve been missing the garden more than I usually do this time of year. I was doing all right until I watched the last of the Gardeners’ World winter specials, and why did they have to do a whole segment on a beautiful field of dahlias in late summer? Not appropriate at all, and a little mean-spirited so close to Christmas, but I’m holding on, thanks in large part to this wonderful indoor bulb garden.
All in all—considering—I’m holding up surprisingly well this holiday season, and I hope you all are, too, whether you celebrate any of the seasonal holidays or not. It can be a tough time of year, I know. I do want to hope for the best, but at the back of my mind I’m thinking about spring, and after tomorrow’s winter solstice, you know, the days will be getting longer, and spring will be on its way.
Thank you for all your Christmas Spirit and a great article to give us something to think about 🎄🎄🎄