American author Washington Irving once wrote “Christmas! ‘Tis the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial fire of charity in the heart.” With that in mind, I decided to do a little kindling myself. My friend Carlyle and I made a trip to Camino Real, where we picked up our supplies. We returned to campus and began putting up some decorations.
Christmas is perhaps the only time in the year when people can obey their natural impulses and express their true sentiments without feeling self-conscious and, perhaps, foolish. Christmas, in short, is about the only chance a man has to be himself. — Francis C. Farley
This rang true as we covered my dormroom door in wrapping paper. Once the door was covered in wrapping paper, we added a two foot-wide red bow. For the door’s final touch we attached a card to it that reads “Happy Chrismahanukwanzakah! To: Everyone. From: Liam & Sean and Carlyle too!“. Our massive door-present was complete. Now Sean and I get to open a present multiple times a day.
After completing the door modification, Car and I decided to move down to the lounge. Earlier, when we were at Home Depot, I bought a tree and upon return, hid it in my room. We planned out what we would decorate it with and then got to work. I carried the tree out of my room and down the stairwell, leaving a telling trail of needles all over the floor. Car brought the Christmas lights and the heavy-duty tree stand and we got to work setting the tree up.
In the traditional spirit of secret santas, we had intended to be secretive about the decorations. As it turned out though, some people were still up and were eager to help (which was actually really needed). Santosh Santatosh helped with standing the tree up and ensuring its stability. Maura spotted our operation and started taking photos (some of which you see here). I had a bunch of colorful blank CDs which we fashioned as ornaments. Ian and I shared the honors of placing the Christmas Sponge on top of the tree (hey, we couldn’t find anything that looked like a star). Everyone began creating paper snowflake type things. Eva and Carlyle consistently created paper art while I started stringing Christmas lights up on the loft and hanging from the main lamp. I wrapped some things up in wrapping paper and placed them under the tree. Eventually, the lounge was decorated nicely and we said our goodnights and headed off to sleep. Back upstairs, we redirected the trail of needles to lead to Ian and Justin’s room which we hoped would throw anyone off the trail (just in case). Then we went to sleep knowing that our efforts had been worthwhile.
Updated on Thursday…
Well, the tree (and the door) have both been well received. The kindling of Christmas spirit has spread like wildfire. On Wednesday evening, the house met in the lounge for a holiday party with food, drinks, and good company. We sang Christmas carols and had a merry time. Today I am glad that my finals are over and that I’m free to go home but at the same time I know I’m going to miss this hall. What a great group of kids!
“The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.” -Bill Vaughan
Yay, Liam!
Thanks for making our hall feel more like the holidays!
You’re a cool kid.
Hey Liam thank you so much for the tree and the lights! It’s all so wonderful!
I like all the quotes you put up…very fitting!
Erin and Maura (and everyone else), you are very welcome. The residents of this hall have treated me very well and I wanted to make a gesture of my appreciation. And I felt we had to have a tree. December is known for being a time of homesickness and hopefully the decorations have made it a little bit easier to bear. Enjoy your break!
How’s Merlin doing??? I laughed so much when I got the ransom note! So me and Ian were having an argument over who would win in a fight: Merlin or Bacchus. Now Bacchus has a lot of energy but Merlin is smaller so more nimble. Personally of course I feel Merlin could easily take Bacchus. Oh well, if you get bored you could test our theories and then just tell us that the one who loses dies of heartbreak from being apart from us… have a great Christmas! xxx
Both Merlin and Bacchus are doing fine. We had them in our living room but because we’ve been using our fireplace I decided to relocate them to the kitchen where they should be more comfortable. We’ve left their bowls close together and I have a suspicion that they leap into their neighbor’s bowl while we are away. They don’t fight however; instead they play cards (“Go Fish”) and drink tea. In fact, both are close friends and when they cannot visit each other on account of our presence, they send coded messages back and forth via bubbles. So have no worries but don’t forget my Flake bar. Merry Christmas, happy New Year, etc. etc. etc.
…and an honor it was, the placing of that sponge.
Thanks again for watching the aquatic duo.
Oh yeah, Merry Christmas and all.