I’ve always associated Christmas with warm, family time and yes, always somewhat magical.
For me it’s candles that do it. As I’ve mentioned before I had never seen real candles on Christmas trees before I came to Switzerland. Year after year they continued to fascinate and mesmerize me. Yet somewhere during the many years, we’ve changed. It’s still magical, but it’s changed a little. Our tree is no longer real and doesn’t sport candles. We now turn on the electric lights which are much safer. But it wasn’t always that way. Once, when my parents came to visit us on Christmas I saw it in their eyes too. They looked like they had been transported into a different universe. Yes really. Something I could and still can identify with. Candles on Christmas trees are magical to me.
When I first came over to Switzerland our family Christmas group was small. As the years went by the family grew and more and more family was celebrating Christmas in the same small rooms. The number of children grew to a whopping 12. The traditional package opening always started with the youngest, one person at a time while everyone else watched. The idea being the older you were the more patience you had to wait for your turn. We started measuring time in the number of candle-sets we had to put on the tree. Believe me, a 3 candle-set-Christmas left the small room very warm. It will also leave a good amount of time to refill that wine glass more than once. Thinking back, it’s amazing that no one ever got drunk.
The Christmas Tree
Of course, before you can celebrate Christmas you should have a tree. In Berne, you can but don’t have to go to a tree-farm to buy Christmas trees. They can be bought outside any major grocery store and farmers sell them on many designated corners in the city.
The tree itself is a different type here. In America it was always very dense and bushy. We decorated it with popcorn garland, homemade and bought decorations along with different colored electric lights. Let it suffice to say dense and bushy trees won’t get you anywhere in Switzerland. There has to be enough room between the branches so the candles don’t set branches above them on fire. When shopping for a tree you want one with a good shape along with strong, horizontal branches.
Not Just Any Christmas Tree
Magical moments sometimes come when least expected. For me it was someone I didn’t know and only saw for a moment. When I was still living and working in Berne I would always go home for lunch. It happened about a week before Christmas, when I was going back to work after lunch.
I got on the tram as usual, minding my own business. While waiting for it leave the stop I looked out the opened door. There I saw people choosing Christmas trees on the corner. It was all very normal; couples holding a tree up to see the shape. Then giving it a little shake to get rid of the snow resting on its branches. You could imagine the conversations; “This looks good” or “Do you think this one is better?”
The Magical Moment
Then some commotion to the right caught my eye. A little boy was running around his mom, trying to get her attention. Pulling at her to look at a tree he was pointing at. I swear, it wouldn’t have looked much different if he were a puppy; jumping around uncoordinated and wagging his tail. He was excited. I smiled to myself just watching. Then the mom gave in and pulled out the tree the boy pointed to. She stamped it on the ground to get the branches to bush out and shake off the snow. The little boy was beaming and so proud that he had found THE tree.
To me the small scraggly tree looked like the epitome of a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. But the boy was so excited it made me and others in the tram out and out smile. Then the tram closed its doors and took off. I have no idea if they bought the tree or not. But it truly brought the saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder to life. I thank that little boy, who might be a father with children of his own now, for that magical memory.
Speaking of Charlie Brown, he was certainly right when he said:
It is not what is under the tree that matters. It is who is around it.
May your Christmas and holiday season be filled with magical moments to cherish.
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