6160 A Diary of the Urban Gardener and Cook

Looking back on Christmases of my childhood, I remember my parents went all out on the decorating and in grand 70's style (artifical everything and lights anywhere you could fit a strand). Everything was so riddled with electric glow it's a wonder anyone slept between Black Friday and the day after New Year's (when we traditionally took down our decorations). This obviously impacted how I think about Christmas decorations at 6160. For me, it has to feel very natural, it has to feel very vintage, and it cannot require the entire output of one electric power producing facility.

While throngs of shoppers swarm malls and outlets on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving is fairly subdued at 6160 and is devoted solely to leftovers, Christmas decorating, and old movies on TCM. The only journey from the house entails the coffee house for morning espresso and a stop at the nursery down the street for ropes of cypress, a wreath, and a small fir tree.

Once home from the nursery, the Christmas decorating begins in earnest. Cypress garlands are draped down the banister in the stairwell as well as the doorways in the living room, with remnant pieces layered in the windows. Hollies that bank the front steps are finally trimmed, with trimmings placed meticulously atop cabinets throughout the house and stuffed in old silverplate cups. The wreath always finds itself propped on the floor against the bench by the tree; it's always enveloped with vintage pearl lights. Antique tear drop silver & glass ornaments hang from the small tree and glisten endlessly in reflection of the wreath lights. The old tarnished picture holders atop the bench now display holiday postcards dating to the early 1900s, with extra postcards piled into an old silverplate butler's tray. Vintage crystal garlands drape the bench and help to offset this sea of greenery. Mercury glass dominates the entire scheme, with the antique silver-glassed ornaments filling urns, mounded in farm baskets, and even piled into the old mercantile jars in the living room.

Savory herbs are brought in from the Orchard and are brought down from the sitting room as needed for holiday dinners; this ensures a natural element (versus a "Made in China" affect). Richly scented cypress and vanilla candles are brought out and placed in the room addition, ensuring clean, evergreen aromatics fill the house. On the farm, we kept a big pot of water on the stove throughout the winter; set at a low boil, it was used to humidify the warm dry air that filled the house. At 6160, we use an old french teakettle for the same purpose; however, to this we add a few mulling spices so that the entire first floor is filled with the heady scent of clove and cinnamon.

If the Friday after Thanksgiving is devoted to Christmas decorating, then "Black Saturday" would be the more appropriate term for holiday shopping at 6160. A veritable smorgasborg of gift certificates are secured that morning, with holiday shopping essentially done after one trip to the Italian grocery & specialty stores on The Hill. I'm a huge fan of black and white photography, so the gifts are then placed in beautiful Christmas cards with black & white scenes of serene, snowy bridges or still wintery gardens. Instead of placing the presents under the tree, at 6160 the cards all fit snugly in an old french wire basket sitting on a side chair in the dining room (almost looking like a mailroom "outbox"). A child's silverplate cup from the late 1890s is placed next to it; stuffed with holly trimmings, it never fails that all visitors seem to realize instantly "the gifts are in the basket next to this cup".

In all, Christmas decorating at 6160 takes about two hours, during which time I manage to catch up on an old movie on TCM (with a penchant for Humphrey Bogart films) and down a great deal of mulled cider. The affair ends with warm turkey sandwiches on toasted oatmeal bread and a side of cranberry orange relish.

It's remarkable the impact that flavors and scent can have on special occasions; the scents and flavors of "Christmas Decorating Friday" and "Black Saturday" are memorable indeed...