Hah.

The last bills have been paid, there's been some sorting done here and there, we even managed to squeeze in a coffee meet-up with an errand. I'm all caught up with the orders and almost caught up with the to-do list of things to get done before the summer break. 

As usual, there's lights out there, some brighter, some not so bright, same applies to what I'd see as tasteful or not, but overall I still, well, quite like it.

I also like the smells of the season - that of mulled wine, and oranges, and roast chestnuts. It's lovely to sit down in the afternoon to have hot tea with Stollen or Plätzchen. (And, of course, the traditional christmas market Currywurst!) 

There's a lot of things that are more or less traditional in our household around this time of year, some only by the fact that we do it every year because we enjoy it. (Which is, actually, the best of all reasons to have a tradition.) One of the traditions that has been there since I can remember, though, we'll pass on this year: Having a decorated tree at my parent's place.

Usually, there was a (real) tree bought before Christmas, as is quite common in Germay; typically a quite small one so it would fit a specific place and quite often one that was a little crooked. The most important bit, though, was that it had branches that got shorter quickly enough toward the top - because we always had real candles on it. That got a bit more difficult in the last years, as trees these days are grown to be compact and bushy. You don't need spaced-apart branches with nothing above the still-strong-and-stable part where you can put the candle holder if you are using electrical candles, and that has been the norm for, oh, many years now in Germany. Actually, my parents were already rather oddly old-fashioned in this regard, and I was one of very few classmates already in elementary school who'd have a tree with real candles at home.

For me, this is one of the special "Christmas at my parent's house" things. Real candles have their own charm, and bring their own special smells, and I have always loved them. They make a lit tree much more special, too, as you don't just turn the lights on on a whim, or for a few minutes of hanging out in the room. (That is also something that can be considered a downside - usually you only enjoy the lights for a limited time, the hour or so that they burn, and then the tree is dark again.)

Since my dad has declining health, though, we decided to not have a tree this year - mostly not to add the extra work of putting away all the tree decoration and getting rid of the tree on top of my mum's workload. (The putting up and decorating, we'd be there to help, but not for the other part.) As a stand-in, we have a small wooden cutout tree with LED lights that is easy to put up and take down, has no danger of catching fire, and that my mum can carry to wherever they can see it best. So we will see, this year, if that is an agreeable solution for all of us.

A little part of me is a little sad about this decision, but I know it was a good thing to do. And if I miss it too much, or someone else in the family does, we can always change things again next year, and maybe find a solution for the putting away problem, too. Traditions are, after all, there to give us stability and something to look forward to, things we enjoy and wait for - and not extra burdens that are more trouble than fun at some point...