Thread: Saving wrapping paper and other holiday memories

My earliest childhood Christmas memory from the late 60's: Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song" and a fat Santa candle on Christmas Eve. Lots of tinsel on the tree (I don't see that much anymore), that fake spray snow in the windows, and waking up to one of those Fisher Price barnyard sets, a little model train, cowboy set with cap pistols, all those old-fashioned toys-good times!

When we got a little older, my younger brother and I developed a new tradition of shooting those cheap fragile glass ornaments off the tree with pellet rifles (that we had gotten for Christmas!). Yes, in the house-Mom was not amused!

As an adult, our favorite tradition has been going way up into the Smoky mountains the day after Thanksgiving (Sandy Mush, NC-where my Papaw was from) to saw down fresh fraser fir Christmas trees with our neighbors and their kids. Then we stop in at Side Street Pizza in Tryon, NC (best pizza anywhere IMO), come home and have beverages around a chiminea fire on the deck. We've been doing this every year for almost 20 years, and our now-grown kids still love it. It's my favorite day of the year every year.

I'm probably one of the most radical guys on this forum, but I'm really old-fashioned when it comes to Christmas. Have a good one, guys!

edit: Oh, and we don't recycle wrapping paper, but do keep the gift bags and boxes to reuse. My other favorite tradition that I still do every year is to play Santa and make a big stocking full of goodies for everyone after they've gone to bed.

Oh, and here's another one I forgot that I've been doing since my boys were little (they're now 20 and 23). I pick up 8 or 10 boxes of $1 a dozen candy canes and decorate the Christmas tree with them. We then steal them off the tree throughout the holidays when we get a sweet tooth. I often take the remaining ones off to distribute to my students on exam day before we get out for Christmas.

When I was young we did the open one gift on Christmas eve thing. Now days we really don't have much in the way of things we do every year besides putting up the tree and lights on the house on Thanksgiving. Or as soon as possible to that when the weather is good.

The wife and I tell each other what to get for each other and then I got to find a couple more things for her. She didn't really have Christmas growing up so I try to make up for the loss.

Bump, for more memories
~Richard