Dear Reader:

Trying to “one-up” Honey Burrell when it comes to surcie giving…is a lesson in futility. No one will ever do it…for every gift or card you send…it comes back ten-fold. It is just who Honey is…deep down inside the core of her “pineapple life.”

When I found these cards and coaster…I knew I had finally found the right gift to thank Honey for arriving each Christmas…(a few days before the big event)…laden with a pineapple, a bag of apples and all kinds of greenery and berries. In five minutes she has assembled my “Apple” centerpiece for another Christmas. In colonial Williamsburg it was known as “The Apple Tree”…today it is the “Pineapple/Apple” centerpiece.

Here is Honey arriving in 2014, 2015, and last year…2016. It is better (more exciting) than waiting on old “Ho Ho Ho”himself!

…and the end result…is always beautiful and it makes the whole “Happy Room” (den) smell wonderful…like Christmas has arrived.

In one of my earlier blogs I researched the connection and symbolism of the pineapple to generosity….and the tradition of a beaming Honey delivering the most special gift of all…her friendship!

Columbus and his crew “discovered” the pineapple in Guadeloupe in 1493 on their second (less famous) voyage to the New World. They called it the piña, due to its resemblance to a pine cone, and brought the “exotic” fruit back to Spain.

It took awhile but England and a few other European countries figured out how to grow it and soon it became a sign of hospitality. Captains of ships going to and from Central America, upon their return home, would often spike the pineapple and display it on their front porch as a way of letting the town know that the Captain was home.

Soon the hospitality extended to carving the symbol of the pineapple on bedposts to show their guests that they were receiving the nicest room and bed in the home in honor of their stay.

Today there is a town by the name of “Pineapple” in Alabama. It was originally named “Friendship” but another hamlet had beaten them to that name…so it was changed to Pine Apple… (this area was filled with pine and apple trees.) It has eventually evolved into one word.

(Signs of this universal symbol of hospitality are seen painted on the front doors of homes and the town’s welcome sign, carved in fanciful Christmas decorations, atop gate-posts and roof-tops, carved into bedposts and head-boards, and found in a variety of table centerpieces).

***I have come to realize, however, that even if I could manage to stick the apples in the nails correctly (Mike built the platform) and get the pineapple on and the greenery and red berries in place…it wouldn’t be the same without Honey. Christmas doesn’t come until Honey arrives bearing friendship…which is the essence of Christmas.

We’re not having Christmas in August…but I am storing up all the essentials to make it a wonderful one this month. “Miss Organized” is putting the pineapple/apple platform in a special cabinet, along with Honey’s piece of pottery- original snowman – and left-over snowballs from Marcia’s most fun gift last year for the children…and adults.

*The greenery in the vase is natural poinsettias…I leave them in the shade by the side of the house and they are so happy ….as December approaches…the stems will start to look like red and pink veins…by Christmas the most beautiful poinsettias will be on the front porch again!

So until tomorrow…”Live a pineapple life, be sweet on the inside…Stand tall and wear a crown.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*I should have known yesterday would be a good day when I found a breakfast treat on the front porch…Anne’s oatmeal and peanut butter muffins…de-lish! Thank you Anne…what a way to start the day. One down….three more wonderful breakfasts to go!