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INNER PEACE Christmas decorations: A struggle, but worth it Comment By Dorothy Vogel DailyTidings.com By Dorothy Vogel Posted Dec. 5, 2014 at 5:41 PM By Dorothy Vogel Posted Dec. 5, 2014 at 5:41 PM » RELATED CONTENT Share your Inner Peace --> The Ashland Daily Tidings invites residents of the Rogue Valley to submit articles on all aspects of inner peace, including intuition, inner guidance, mind t... » Read more X Share your Inner Peace The Ashland Daily Tidings invites residents of the Rogue Valley to submit articles on all aspects of inner peace, including intuition, inner guidance, mind training, courage, fearlessness, forgiveness of self or others, honesty, gentleness, humor, open mindedness, friendship, tolerance, trust, faith, kindness, gratitude, overcoming and/or accepting life’s challenges of addictions, loss, grief, pain, awareness of presence and more. Send 600- to 700-word articles to Sally McKirgan, [email protected] . • Going back to the beginning of 'Inner Peace' • Community Blog: Positively Peaceful • Community Blog: A Thankful Thought • Case dismissed: There goes the judge • Community Blog: Being at peace with your Inner Process • The best gift for Christmas » Social News Last year my friend Karen pulled a dead tree branch from her side yard, decorated it with Christmas tree lights and set it up in her living room in lieu of a Christmas tree. She's an artist and her branch looked like a piece of modern art. I loved it and decided to copy the idea. So this year I went looking for a branch, found it, and dragged it home and tested it out. It was so big it scraped the ceiling. I dragged it back to the garage and got out my little saw. Cut the bottom off. Then I was faced with how to get it to stand up. Karen's had been behind her couch and I didn't see what it had been planted in. I had a bucket in the garage and filled it with rocks. Stuck the branch in. It fell over. OK, that won't work. I had a big plant I was saving for an ex-girlfriend of my grandson, a plant I'd adopted out of pity when she had to move. I had adopted it on a temporary basis, which now looks not to be temporary anymore, and I can't figure out how to get rid of it. I got the idea of slicing off a few big leaves and planting my branch in the dirt. Well, the branch stuck in the dirt, and now I had to roll the pot into the living room, which required moving the dining room table. In this effort, the branch was dislodged and dirt spilled over the floor. On top of that, the twigs looked too fragile to hold lights. So I gave up and dragged my art-form branch out to the front yard. I realized I was going to have to drag it back to where I found it and go get a boring tree. I found a nice little tree, but when I got home this tree didn't have a hole in the bottom to plop into the tree holder, and I'd thrown out my other tree holder (that gripper thing with screws to hold the tree), because its legs were bent. I drove to WalMart for a new tree holder, wondering why I go through all this trouble for a Christmas decoration. Well, the new tree holder is a plastic pot with screws in the side. It is nothing at all like the old ones I'm used to. The screws were so difficult to screw I just about broke my wrist struggling to get them in place. Then my son luckily came over and lay on the floor while I held the tree upright and he tried to get the tree screwed in. When he said "OK" I let go and the tree toppled to the floor as if drunk. I cursed WalMart and its plastic crap that doesn't work. I cursed myself for getting involved in this totally unnecessary procedure. But, having got so far into it and with my totally innocent tree patiently waiting in the garage to be dressed, I had to keep going. I succeeded another hour later. Sort of. It's not entirely upright. If one breathes too hard upon it, it may tip over. But it's there. It's dressed. And last night I lay on my couch, meditated on my tree and the fire in the fireplace, and realized why I had done it all. These days of approaching the winter solstice are my favorite days of the year. I love the early dark, the long nights, the brisk cold outdoors, the warmth of my hearth. I snuggle into this time and my cheerful little tree with its sparkly lights is a symbol, a reminder of friends gone, of silly gifts my daughter will bring with her delighted laughter, a promise that whatever ills, griefs, or loses life brings to me, there is hope in the middle of it, light in the darkness, beauty to be cherished. Dorothy Vogel lives in Talent. The former AT&T technical writer, writer for the National Council of Churches in Manhattan and New Jersey news reporter is the author of "The Timber Mill Action," a new mystery set in southern Oregon and available on Amazon.com . Send inner peace articles to [email protected]. By Dorothy Vogel DailyTidings.com By Dorothy Vogel Posted Dec. 5, 2014 at 5:41 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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