Last Evening

Joe was at a Church meeting last night. It was concerning his project...which I will share with you soon. So, I was here alone for a few hours. I had been to Church in the afternoon and picked up the wreaths that they wanted decorated. I carried the wreaths out to the car and had to ask Andy for help to put the huge bin of decorations in my car.

It was cold in the garage, so into the house I went...with fresh green wreaths dropping needles everywhere. I got the supplies together and decided on a design for each. I wired and twisted and twisted and wired until my poor hands were black,(with sap) sticky, and bleeding. I kept washing them and had bandaids on two fingers. I had forgotten how hard this kind of work is on your hands. I used to make Christmas green decorations with our garden club, years ago. We would all gather at a friend's house in the country and go to the barn and make greens to top concrete pots lining our downtown street together. These weren't already made ...we got piles of different greens and formed them ourselves with chicken wire, greens and big red bows.

We would all have a sack lunch and the hostess provided the coffee and dessert. We decorated the village hall, bank, and several store fronts in town.. with these greens. When finished we would throw them in the truck and drive into town, late in the afternoon and decorate. One year a friend and I decided to make wreaths for each light pole lining the main street. It was something that we never did again...but that year was spectacular. I don't remember my hands hurting at all.. way back then. I have never been able to wear gloves, when working...so today my hands hurt...no knitting today! When Joe came home, the job was done except for the big bows of gold. I still have to make them. He walked into the house and immediately saw the mess. He looked them over and said, "Good job! Balisha." As I was taking them to the garage, I heard the vacuum start up. We cleaned the mess together and I decided that it was worth it. These wreaths will be placed on the doors at our Church for Christmas. They will be the first things that people see, when they come to worship.

Work is love made visible.- Khalil Gibran

Balisha