Twisted Spinster

I woke up to gray skies and evidence of rain, but it’s warm outside. That’s Christmas in Florida for you. Here’s a picture of our family Christmas tree from when I was about five years old:

(Click for larger.) See all the cool toys? Most of which I don’t remember, except for the cowboy boots and hat. Those were mine, baby. There’s probably also a cap gun in all the boxes there. This is our house in Miami, which was built in 1925. See the hardwood floors? I still miss those, even though they had to be tediously cleaned and waxed to keep that shine. Someday I will have real hardwood floors, oh yes. I remember those curtains, but I can’t recall exactly the pattern on them; some midcentury modern abstract design that we’d all call retro now. My father built those bookcases himself, and he carved those tiki masks out of chunks of palm tree trunk. The net and glass balls are from an old fishing boat that he got somewhere.

Update: the British do Christmas right — Flea, in Canada, provides us with the Queen’s Christmas speech as well as a bit on the Queen’s gift of Christmas trees. Warning: singing children alert. Still, the British seem to also do singing children right as well.