Christmas Tree Memories
On my first trip to Mexico in 1989 (the one where I met the quirky farm boy from Morganton), I began collecting Christmas ornaments from Latin America. Over the last 30 years, with each trip, my collection has grown into a unique motley assortment, which I treasure, even though they have spent more time in a storage unit than hanging on a tree.
In 2000, when we celebrated our first Christmas in our newly-build home, we decided to conform to the more formal mid-South décor and purchased glittery, glass bobbles and sparkly ornaments from Target. Forrest, Walker, Annika, and I decorated the tree, which looked worthy of its Southern foyer. When we finished trimming the tree, I immediately burst into tears. My sweet kids helped me take all of the decorations off the tree, box them up for donation, and put the Latin American ornaments on the tree. The collection of ornaments represent shared memories and adventures and are a reminder of the artisans who give of themselves to create unique pieces of their culture.
I have dug through dusty market boxes in the middle of summer to find a few special pieces. Each one has a story to tell. Over a decade ago, while visiting prisons in Guadalajara, Mexico, I insisted on a shopping day in the famous market of Tonalá, the one filled with Ken Edwards’ pottery. In a dark corner on the second floor of the market, I found my treasures, burnished pottery globes. Wayne cleaned his suitcase out and left some clothes behind in the hotel in order to make space in the suitcase for the pottery. We spent Christmas 2015 in El Salvador. While there, I not only added La Palma ornaments to my collection, I visited the town of La Palma and met the son of Fernando Llort, who created that style of painting. My Guatemala collection is varied, but what stands out most in my mind are little fabric animals. Years ago, our international Sunday School class in Tennessee participated in a tree decoration display. A number of the Guatemalan fabric animals were reluctantly given to young children who seem equally enthralled with them. Even though I knew that I would not have a Christmas tree in my home in Guatemala, I purchased black pottery ornaments on our trip to Oaxaca, Mexico last year. They were intricately etched and too beautiful to pass up or to take out of a box to be used once a year, so I displayed them in a black pottery bowl in our apartment. They are now on a shipping container somewhere over the Atlantic, soon to join their cuates in storage. Next Christmas, primero dios, together they will all adorn an Ashe County, NC Christmas tree in our new log cabin.
This year, when we purchased tin (hojalata) ornaments from a dear family of artisans who we have known for 20 years, I decided to make Christmas cards with them. The Mexican tin ornaments against kraft paper are beautiful, but I felt that the card needed some embellishment. Rebeca Barerra, the Guatemalan artist who created the artwork for the Livingston puzzle, added her special touch to each card, making it a unique work of art. The packaged Christmas tree ornament card and envelope set are a unique little gift.
These special cards will only be available in Guatemala City at the GIVE Bazaar in Cayalá on December 14!