Charles Dickens was onto something when he created the spirits of Christmas, as in our memories each one has a personality and a history. Christmas marks the passage of another year. The happiness, sadness, hopes and dreams that surround that day make up the personality of each Christmas spirit.
Christmas, or anyway the secular side of it has changed over time, but it is also caught perpetually in the Victorian era, why else would we wrap the latest electronic device in paper depicting handmade Victorian toys? The tree, though a symbol much older than Victorian times in which it became popular, could be made from anything to plastic to antler sheds, decorated with candles or blinking lights synchronized to music, heirloom glass ornaments, treasured handmades, the variety of things that could be used to decorate a tree are only limited by the imagination. The presents under the tree are a very old idea, but the train, of course, is a pretty new one.
There are as many variations on Christmas, as there are conventionally interpretation. One wonders how many started out as family traditions, or the idea of one person.
"In our haste to bring back the anticipation and wonder or Christmases past, lets us not over look Christmas present for Christmas Presents." Anne Moss
The Christmases we have lived, make up the Christmas we live now, and the future Christmases of those who's lives we touch.
