Decorating the Village

It’s amazing what a handful of villagers can do when they work together.  This is a tale of bringing the Christmas spirit to Bourdeilles.  In the end we will see that the cast of characters is larger than first appears. But it starts with three industrious women and one gadabout that shows up when she happens to be around.  The supporting cast members are two town maintenance men who handle all the heavy lifting and trapeze work. There will be a lot more help, but no more hands.

Before the village has even thought about the holidays the work starts as nimble fingers tie hundreds of bows and create miles of garlands. Blooming in red, green, sparkly, white, and more red, green, sparkly, white, the shinny papers are twisted and tied into festive decorations to be sprinkled around the village for the holidays.

Then a day arrives when the evergreen boughs have been cut, the small cut trees are set into place and the whimsical decorations can be hung. Six souls bundle up against the chilly December air and set about gilding the grey winter landscape.

Our bandleader gives her “opinion” on the order of things. “What do you think, start with green bows on the bottom and then red, white and sparkly all over, topped with a last bling of green?” We all just nod our heads and say, “that’s a beautiful way to decorate the trees” and get on with it. Too many opinions will just slow down the work.  And, our opinions really don’t carry much sway as our leader considers us more as elves than co-producers.

Six voices chatter and laugh as a rhythm is found in swirling the garlands around the trees and the grey town square starts to brighten with the sparkle of colors.  The whole scene becomes animated as Santa’s sleigh glides into place.

 

The morning warms up quickly and villagers start to run their errands. Not one person can pass by without a comment or suggestion. “Oh how cheerful! Can’t you get some bows on that tippy toppy branch? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a splash of green around the middle of that tree? Oh I just love the big, bushy tree this year! You missed a spot! Those snowmen are awfully cute. Where did all of those bows come from? Why does the reindeer have a red nose?” Some folks are teasing and some are way too serious. We all just nod our heads and keep on with our work.

Cars pass by and drivers give a thumbs up or a happy wave. A few drive by pretending not to see us - every village has a Scrooge or two. Lots of cars stop and whoever knows that driver goes over to chat. It’s not a good morning to be in a hurry in Bourdeilles as some of these conversations go on for quite awhile. You know, things like -how this year’s decorations compare to last year’s, when are the lights going to go up, what’s Aunt Edna going to have for lunch….. Cars start to line up and down the main street and no one dares to honk or holler on this decoration morning.

About midmorning one village family gives a hand by inviting us in for coffee. A warm kitchen, a hot coffee and a chocolate or two are a welcome break from the cold.

By the time the decorations are all hung a lot of villagers have contributed their moment of participation. The banter has been funny and cheerful, the brief visits appreciated. The village had gotten the six of us to the end of the job and now we can all walk about and see that yes,  “that’s a beautiful way to decorate the trees.”