Heartfelt Happy Christmas Wishes to the WA Family.

I was born in Australia and my Dutch Mother tried to introduce some Christmas traditions from her home into her new country. My grandparents always had a real Christmas tree with real candles. There are special clips which you can put on a branch in which the candle fits. It is a candle specially made to burn slowly and straight down, and like that is relatively safe. Nowadays my aunt in Holland sends me packs of Christmas candles by mail. There is still a factory in Holland which makes them.

In Australia, it is summer and very hot. My Mother tried to find candles for the tree but of course was not successful. She ended up buying birthday cake candles, a lot thinner than the real ones. It was not a success as they fainted (drooped) because of the summer heat. She also bought some tree decorations of which one piece survives up till today, and I hang it in my own Christmas tree every year.

When I was a small girl in Holland these were exciting weeks in December. First, we have Sinterklaas on the 5th and then one starts preparing for the coming Christmas days. I remember one year when the portable transistor radios, big and ugly, became "in". I wanted one but they were expensive, like 75 guilders, in Euros 30. My Mother bought 150 white cards and also envelops and told me to paint the Christmas cards. She would sell them to her friends and like that, I would get my transistor radio. I can tell you that it was fun, I painted Christmas trees, flying angels, snow landscapes, etc. It got less funny by card number 50 and after painting 100 cards my Mother got critical and had me repaint quite a few, I was getting sloppy. It really was an effort but I managed to be ready on time. When we went to buy the radio I was all excited. I chose a bright red one, big and it had a plastic sound. I drove my parents nuts with the loud music of the Beatles, Sir Cliff Richard, Elvis etc.

Waking up on the 24th was very special. That previous night my Mother would have decorated the tree. From the moment my Father and I had chosen it in the Christmas tree nursery and Papa, with a lot of effort, had dug it out with the roots, it had been standing outside in the cold. Now it was presented planted in a big pot with 2 sheets around it draped like snow. That evening we would listen to Christmas music while Mother would light the tree, it was a magical moment. We would sit quietly together contemplating the tree with white and silver decorations and real candles.

One Christmas a saw a big parcel hidden behind the tree, it made me more than curious. It was a big super sled, the type which can be pulled by a dog. That year it was a white Christmas so Papa tied it behind the car and carefully he would drive through the wood with me on the sled till we arrived at a hill where the road sloped down a long way. I would go down on my sled, screaming with delight and Papa would pull me up with the car. This we would do something like an hour having really much fun but there would come the moment it was getting cold. Sitting on the sled, sliding through a snow covered landscape I would go home to warm chocolate.

On the 25th my grandparents would come and we would have our formal Christmas dinner. My Mother was an excellent cook so I was looking forward to it. On the 26th good friends would come. 3 days in a row is a lot and I admire Mama as I now realize how much work it always was. After these days the tree would be planted in the back of the garden which over the years turned into a Christmas tree wood.

I will soon go to my storeroom to find the big box with Christmas decoration. It is not so easy to find a nice tree here in the south of Spain and it probably will not have roots. One year I did buy one with roots, planted it in the garden in the shade and gave it showers on a regular basis. Sadly it died during the month of August, it was too hot. Last year was my first Christmas together with Michael. You see us sitting in the living room with the lit tree. At the back of the tree is a bucket with water and a sponge, it is just a safety measure which luckily is hardly ever needed.

I wish you all a happy Christmas and hope that your 2018 will be filled with love, health, and happiness to not to forget a successful WA year.

Taetske