What's On Top of Your Tree?

Top O' the morning to ya,
and the rest o'the day as well.

That Irish greeting put me in mind of what people put on top of their Christmas trees.

My sister Kathleen has a large black top hat on hers. She bought it a few years ago when my niece Jamie had a shop on Main Street in St. Charles. The top hat is unique and stylish, and definitely an attention grabber, but it's not something I would put on top of my tree.

I like angel tree tops and have a collection in different colors and styles. For the past several years I've selected a different one depending on the color of ornaments we use.

This Christmas is different.

While we were decorating, Cari asked why we always have an angel on top She wanted to use a gold star. Deciding it was time for a change, I drove to several stores looking for a gold star but couldn't find one. I was about to give up when I discovered one at Wal-Mart.

So, here's a photo of our tree, which is a work in progress. We add ornaments each day.

Yesterday Michael brought home a grinch ornament he made in art class. It's made out of a lightbult painted bright green with a red and white hat on top.

Notice the gold and white star, which has passed Cari's very critical eye as being "tree top worthy."

So, I'm curious: If you have a Christmas tree, what do you put on top?

A Question of Poetry - "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer

Today's forecast for St. Peters, MO: Chance of thunderstorms, high 75 degrees. Looks like Michael's baseball game this evening might be a washout.

With poetry month about to end, I thought it might be interesting to pose some questions about poetry:

Do you read it? Do you write it? Do you love it? Do you fear it? Do you have a favorite poem?

One of my favorites is a poem I learned in seventh or eighth grade at Most Holy Name of Jesus School in North St. Louis, Missouri. It's a simple poem, but one that touched me back then and one I still remember today. The poem is "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer.

TREES (1913) by Joyce Kilmer

"I think that I shall never see
a poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
a tree that looks at God all day,
and lifts her leafy arms to pray;
a tree that may in Summer wear
a nest of robins in her hair;
upon whose bosom snow has lain;
who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
but only God can make a tree."


(photo from Wikipedia)

Alfred Joyce Kilmer was killed in action in France in W.W.I, but his poetry lives on in the memories of people like me, who like this simple poem with its timeless message.