NOW it's Christmas

My fake tree and other decorations have been up for three weeks, but today -- finally -- it feels like Christmas. The smell of pine is now wafting through my entire house, colorful lights are glowing in my den, and the fun, handmade or heirloom ornaments are now hanging. We got our real tree today!

Growing up, my family always had a live Christmas tree. We'd go to my grandparents' house in Chester, SC, and chop down a cedar tree from the woods that connected their house to my grandmother's old family home, appropriately named Cedarhurst. I don't think I've ever not had a real Christmas tree. Even after I succumbed to the ease of a pre-lit artificial tree, I couldn't go without that smell. So every year, although I'd hem and haw and think, "Maybe I don't want to go to the trouble this year ..." we'd buy one at the last minute. And I was always, always glad.

It's not Christmas until I smell that smell, be it cedar or pine or fir. It's not Christmas until there's a tree with color, rather than plain old boring white. It's not Christmas until I dig out the angel ornament with the bell, that has my name engraved on it ... my favorite as a child. Or the cornhusk mouse I picked out on vacation when I was about 10. Or the glazed dough Smurf made for me by a neighbor when we lived in Virginia because I loved the Smurfs. Or the obligatory "First Christmas" ornament every couple gets when they're married. Or the Maggie-Claus ornament she made in preschool last year, or the Baby Jesus ornament she made this year.

The ornaments, the memories, and, of course, that smell ... these are the things that make my Christmas real.