Dear Reader:

Had an unsolved mystery Saturday … when I thought my roof had gotten hit by a large branch or the sky was falling. Help Henny Penny!

I heard a loud thump ( or thud) and ran outside into the front yard… but nothing? I scurried around the house-checking hedges also…to see if a branch had rolled off the roof … again…nada. What?

I started back in the house still puzzled by that loud thump. After writing the post… I laid down on the sofa, napping, when from off in a distance … softer thumps -sounded. If it were reindeer on the roof/someone had gotten lost… certainly delayed!

I went to pull myself up when my foot hit something hard and squishy at the same time. Mystery solved!

It was the apple tree… It took me a moment to realize what had happened… on my way to climb up the steps to the dining room and check the centerpiece… there was the second ” culprit” apple lodged on one step!!

Another fell just as I looked at the centerpiece… the apple tree had lasted through Christmas but was now ready to say good-bye! ( It is amazing how loud those apples were hitting the wooden floors, rolling down the steps and under my sofa!)

I mercifully put the falling centerpiece out of its misery… the scent of spoiling apples made the den smell like a cider house! Even with my olfactory lack of full smell and taste due to years of chemo injections, infusions, and now daily tablets… the acrid tart smell was pervasive.

It drew my interest to learn more about the original significance of apples to the Christmas holiday. Here is what I learned…” Original Christmas tree ornaments used to be apples-to tell the story of Adam and Eve forced out of Paradise … and to speak about the temptations of the world after the original sin.

Apples were placed on pine trees and later white candles added but because ( before battery operated candles) they sometimes fell and burnt the trees or the heat from the candle light rotted the apples … they began to lose popularity.

They were replaced by handcrafted red glass balls and even today red Christmas ball ornaments are the most popular!

So until tomorrow… We must remember that love grows exponentially… like magic. And even though I was able to only get the last spoonful of ” Hoppin’ John’s’ yesterday at the Piggly Wiggly deli-I have no doubt it will not only bring luck this year to me but spread to others!!!

I replaced the Apple Tree with Lisa’s Hollow Tree nursery wreath that is just as green as the day it arrived! I believe these two centerpieces did so well because of the loving generosity of their benefactors-Honey and Lisa!