Souvenirs As Christmas Tree Ornaments

My parents were avid travelers and explorers, and they always bought Christmas ornaments in countries where they were stationed. Their tree held glass ornaments from Czechoslovakia, wooden turnip-domed churches from Germany and strings of bells from the Far East.

As the years progressed, they started to see Christmas ornaments in the every-day life of places they visited. This colorful icon, for example, is identical to one that hung from the rear-view mirror of their Athens cab driver.

I believe this is a Japanese baby's ball — when it rolls, it rattles. It's also about five inches in diameter, so it was always hung from the bottom of the tree.

 

This is also a toy, made in Vietnam.

This is a lovely Japanese ornament, though it wasn't intended as a Christmas tree decoration.

I followed my parents example and through the years have added items to my tree that were just as much about remembering life experiences as they were about finding a decoration. This is a little angel from Mexico, only about three inches tall. It's clay that was fired black, and I painted it gold.

I found this coral while walking on an airstrip on Wake Island, in 1965. It would look interesting on an end table, but it's always lived on my Christmas tree. And at Christmastime, I remember a particular day in 1965 . . .

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