Time for an update on the graffiti-covered Chinese restaurant. After I last blogged it, graffiti continued to accumulate and it was looking pretty scroungy. But I walked by the other day and saw that it has been stripped of all identity, with the signs and even the pink stone facing removed, and the window covered with sheet metal. A few tags remain here and there. I wonder if it's about to gain new life as a different business?
Remember how I said we weren't going to have a Christmas tree in the library this year? We'd all discussed it with the maintenance department and that was the decision. None of us want one -- expensive, messy and wasteful was the consensus.
Well, yesterday, one of the school's maintenance supervisors took it upon themselves to order one -- especially strange considering there are only about ten days of school left. Someone from that department came to let me know, and we leaped into action to belay the order.
I don't know how or why the tree idea got revived, but we compromised by agreeing to put up a small artificial tree that we had in a storage closet, so that has been installed atop one of the bookcases. Hopefully that will satisfy any perceived need for a tree. It is admittedly more modest than usual, but I always wind up having to decorate the big trees and keep them watered, and picking up the ornaments that inevitably get knocked off by carelessly wielded book bags, and the maintenance people have to clean up around them and take them down -- and it's such a hassle.
I am a Christmas minimalist -- as you can tell from our flat, with its single strand of colored lights on a houseplant! I even objected when the librarian came up with an idea to make little tags with the names of books on them to use as ornaments (something we did years ago). We already have boxes of ready-to-use ornaments, so I put some of those on the tree and hopefully that will be the end of it. We have Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa book displays, and some other seasonal decorations like snowflakes and little winter trees. Enough already!
A small tree that you already have.. perfect...and the book displays are the best idea for a library.
ReplyDeleteWatch the space with the restaurant...it is ready for the next step, whatever that may be!
I also think books should take center stage in the library!
DeleteI'm certainly have a minimalist Christmas decoration year, with absolutely nothing.
ReplyDeleteThe shop is an eyesore.
That's about as minimalist as it gets! Nothing wrong with that, though.
Delete"Belay" is a word that I normally associate with rock climbing. Was the chosen tree growing from a crevice in a rockface? Also - with your ungenial attitude towards school Christmas trees - was your father called Ebenezer Scrooge?
ReplyDeleteI was going to use Scrooge in the headline but I'm not really Scroogey. I just don't like excess. I've never heard "belay" used in a rock climbing context (but then I know nothing about rock climbing). I think of it in the sense of "Belay that order!"
DeleteI think that might be 'Relay that order.' Belay means to secure or fasten. In nautical slang it can mean 'enough already!' Which kind of fits your post, doesn't it?
DeleteYou had me looking up "belay" on my laptop dictionary and I decided this definition worked just fine: 2 [usually in imperative] nautical slang stop; enough!: “Belay that, mister. Man your post.”.
DeleteIt's in Hornblower! "No, belay that!" meaning never mind!
DeleteYes, it's in "Star Trek" too -- "Belay that order!"
DeleteWe’re in the no-Christmas fly zone this year. We know where the Christmas boxes are, and that’s enough for us. That is so strange about the maintenance department. Glad you were able to pull back at least a bit. And, if we’re trying to not be wasteful, why create new ornaments when you’ve got a boxful. I’m excited to see what comes of that old restaurant.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can see why you guys might go light on the decorating this year!
DeleteI think of us as minimalists when it comes to Christmas decorations,especially here in the South where many people have trees in every room, and decorate every spot in their homes. It gives me tsouris thinking of putting all that out and then having to put it all away!
ReplyDeleteTsouris! Now that is an EXCELLENT new word I did not know!
DeleteTsouris? off to google....
Deletegoogle has it without the 'o' but now I know what it means at least.
DeleteI'm far from a minimalist in Christmas decor. Even this year, when things are choppy, my minimal will look maximal (is that a word? I don't think so!) to others. But a real tree in a public place seems unwise. Apart from the time and all (which is a big thing, though fun if you are into it), it IS a mess. The small tree seems like a really good solution.
ReplyDeleteI do remember you love your holiday decorations! And more power to you, if you've got the energy!
DeleteAs the years pass, I am becoming a Christmas minimalist myself. When I think of "What goes up, must come down," I decide less is better!
ReplyDeleteExactly! Or maybe "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction."
DeleteI may not even bring in the tiny tree in a pot I have on the porch this year. In fact, it may have died in the freeze.
ReplyDeleteLa-di-dah.
Well, I hope it didn't die, but I am getting that way about more of my tender plants too.
DeleteI have many bins of decorations to put out and will start on that soon. It's just a tradition around my house. Just one small tree but lots of other Christmas crap that brings back memories. To each is own.
ReplyDeleteYeah, and I can see how it's fun to reawaken those memories.
DeleteI don't do trees, except for a tiny one in the small box of items that comes out and just about fills the mantelpiece. That's enough for me. Having cats in the past worked against decorating.
ReplyDeleteHa! Cats and decorations do not go together, that's true. Come to think of it, maybe that's why I no longer decorate -- I was a cat owner for many years!
Deleteas a child, and by that I mean before the teenage years, I loved christmas and all the decorations my mother put out that we kids helped with, plus shopping for the tree, real trees, not those farmed and shaped ones into a perfect cone, and my father putting up the outdoor lights. as an adult, I put the whole kibosh on that by rejecting christianity and really all religion. nary a decoration here even though if I celebrated anything it would be the winter equinox, the original true celebration of the return of the light that was appropriated by the early christians.
ReplyDeleteI don't think decorations necessarily have to signify any religious beliefs or attachments. But I do think they're mostly for kids, and since we have no kids, the pressure is off!
DeleteChristmas decorations at school are debatable but kids like the decorations.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they are a big deal for the kids -- although in the past they mostly just knock them off our tree with their book bags, as I said in my post.
DeleteWoah, that shop front is looking very bare. I hope you are right and something new will show up. I'm with you on the Christmas minimalist style. I used to love decorating for the holidays but for the past 5 years it's just seemed like too much.
ReplyDeleteAs we get older I think it makes less and less sense!
DeleteSounds like you have the perfect solution for the library.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite small live Christmas tree is a Norfolk Island pine tree. They are sold in many grocery stores and garden centers. They do not survive the cold Winter, but they do very well on the patio in the Summer.
I've purchased a 10 ft. tall live tree, and it looks glorious fully decorated with an angel atop. I love Christmas.
I love Norfolk Island Pines, even though they're not true pines. In Florida they can grow outdoors and get pretty big!
Deletefabulous texture! I would keep it that way and have a shop in there of oddities, sure to succeed!
ReplyDeleteI will have a tree, something that fills the house with forest aroma, straw decorations from Norway and Sweden and lights. Dennis is grumping about that -I am hard of hearing....After it is up and gorgeous, he will appreciate it. I think he is just concerned about the five dollars required to have the boy scouts collect the old trees.
Well, I'm glad you're taking the plunge, since those of us without the enthusiasm don't have to. :)
DeleteI finally put up our tree, the skinniest tree ever because I was living in a small apartment when I bought it.
ReplyDeleteI read your last post about Hunter Biden. Good on Joe Biden. I have to laugh at the hypocrisy of the republicans, when trump has done the same and promises to do more. Makes me sick.
Yeah, the whole thing is a tempest in a teapot. To me it makes perfect sense and it doesn't seem at all inappropriate or disproportional.
DeleteWe're still not sure about putting up our tree. I was thinking I would do it this Saturday but I might go see Wicked again instead. Ha!
ReplyDeleteThe choice is clear! LOL!
DeleteI haven't put up a full sized tree in years. I do very little decorating - just enough so the kids/grandkids don't think of me as Scrooge. I would think a "Happy Holidays" banner on the front of the checkout desk in the library would suffice.
ReplyDeleteWell, you'd be surprised how attached some people are to trees -- especially if there usually is one but suddenly, this year, there's not.
DeleteBeing a snow bird, with a small house for the winter, pretty much puts the kibosh on a bunch of decorating. We have a 2 or 3 foot flocked fake tree with ornaments and lights, and that will be it. It's cheerful.
ReplyDeleteThat's all you need!
DeleteI think of myself as a minimalist with a small tree and some special decorations and towels that I put out. The grandsons will be here for Christmas Eve, so tried to choose stuff that they would enjoy. Already they have fallen in love with my broken down Santa and the 4 year old stared at my musical lantern (with swirly glitter snow) for a LONG time. So, I chose wisely!
ReplyDeleteWith small children coming around, I can understand why there would be a greater imperative to decorate. When it's just me and Dave it seems silly!
DeleteWe put a few ornaments on our potted lemon "tree" (three feet tall). But more power to those of you who love the holiday and do it proud - we love seeing your displays (well, maybe not the giant inflatables). We celebrate the solstice here.
ReplyDeleteChris from Boise
Yeah, that's how I feel. I love it when people do it up -- as long as I'm not involved in the labor.
DeleteThe little artificial tree and the book displays are plenty in my opinion. Let them have all the fuss and bother of real decorating in their own homes. I like your single string of lights. For myself I have gone with a single string of tinsel which you will see on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteAlso a good decorating option! :)
DeleteI'm pretty sure I posted something riveting which may be in spam now.
ReplyDeleteI found it! :)
Delete