The "The Tradition Continues" Story

It was an ordinary day.  I just placed the angel on top of the tree. Yep, Carol and I just finished putting up our Christmas tree this year.  Actually, she did all the decorating of the tree with the over 100 ornaments and strings of pearls while I just did my traditional topping of the tree with the angel that we purchased for our first Christmas tree together back in 1967.  Over the years we always had "real" trees which I either nailed to the hardwood floor or fastened to the wall with wire because of my phobia that the tree was going to fall down.  That can be traced to my childhood when our Christmas tree fell on me when we lived on North Queen Street in Lancaster in the late 40s.  And the strange thing about it was that I hadn't even touched it.  Not sure my mom and dad believed that, but I was always such a good little boy that they probably did.  Four years ago Carol and I did the unthinkable thing and bought an lighted 8 foot tall artificial tree.  I know, that's not in the spirit of the holiday tradition which dates back to 1510 when the first tree was cut for use in Estonia, but it was getting harder to lift that big tree onto the car and then off again.  And then there are the lights.  They drive me nuts!  This year we found a small section that was unlit ..... so we turned that section toward the windows so it won't be seen.  Our Christmas tree serves two purposes in LDub's house.  The first purpose is the obvious, to celebrate the Christmas season, but the second purpose is to remind us of all our fantastic vacations that we take to the beach.  Probably a third of our ornaments we purchased or were given as gifts that have a beach or nautical theme.  And, you know what is coming, don't you.  Well, enjoy a peak at our tree and the ornaments that decorate it.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Mermaid ornament

This ornament is over 60 years old.  I made it at Sunday School when I was a very young boy.  Carol thinks it may have asbestos in it!

My favorite Santa ornament.  All glass.

This is from Captiva Island in Florida.

A ornament that I broke the corner off of this year.  We hid the corner so you can't see it.

Jimmy Buffett parrot head ornament.

Pretty neat sandals.

This was purchased somewhere along the Chesapeake.

A metal ornament from Jamaica.

More sandals.

This is from St. Barts in the French West Indies.

Ornament from Fort Myers, Florida.

The dancing girls in their bikinis.

We purchased this ornament in St. Thomas, USVI.

Made from the shell of a crab.

Another ornament from the Chesapeake Bay area.

Really beachey!

Our Angel!

Our friend Just Sue got this for Carol in St. Thomas.

Just a neat guy.

This came from Barbados and is made from sand.

Just purchased this a few months ago in Provo, Turks and Caicos.

A sugar mill ornament from St. Croix.

Traveling suitcase.

Pictured here are a turtle and fish.