Day 303
Deck the halls with boughs of holly …
I’m sure whomever wrote those lyrics didn’t have any kids or animals in their home at the time.
I mean, seriously, who decorates with HOLLY? The leaves are spiny and wicked!
Well, apparently I’m the only one who thinks that as the spininess doesn’t deter the zillion people who use this plant as decoration in their homes during the holiday season.
Unlike the poinsettia (whose leaves are poisonous) the holly is not toxic except for the berries to humans – so don’t eat them! The leaves, however, can be steeped for tea … so, if you run out of tea this holiday season – just go take apart your wreath or dining room centerpiece and steep away!
The holly plant is very old (dating back millions of years almost back to when the dinosaurs were steeping tea). There are roughly 400-600 species of the plant all over the planet, however most live in tropical and subtropical climates. Who knew? I thought holly was strictly a holiday ornamental in northern regions!
In any case … I don’t decorate with holly. It’s too prickly and painful! I had some growing in the front and back yards for years … but never wanted to get near it. If a ball was lost in it – I’d get the rake … no way was I reaching into that bed of wild spininess and risking being scratched to pieces!
If it were up to me, I’d change the fa la la lyrics to …
Deck the halls with bouquets of gardenia, lilies of the valley and stargazer lilies, too!
If that were the case – can you just imagine how fantastically fragrant your home would be? I’d have a constant headache, but you can bet I’d be sniffing those flowers all day long!
And, being all white, the flowers would make gorgeous bouquets and look so pretty nestled in amongst dark green magnolia leaves or other greenery – okay, even holly! However, none of those flowers are long-lasting, so in the long run, using them in holiday decorating probably wouldn’t be the best choice of floral options. But, for a short while they’d smell and look fabulously!
I learned a while ago that white flowers are more fragrant than their colorful counterparts because since they don’t have color to attract birds and insects for pollination they have to use their strong aromas as attractants instead.
Today I was out walking marveling in the fragrant earthiness of the air. The air here is so different than in Colorado. You can actually smell it! And, as I walked along sniffing, I was thinking how fabulous it was to be outside without a coat or sweater on enjoying the 71 degree Spring-like day even though we are (almost) now in the season of winter!
In any case one thought blended into another and there I was walking around humming …
Walking in a winter wonderland …
And it made me smile and think … YES ! This is one fantastically warm and lovely winter wonderland!
And as I passed a yard full of little reindeer I started singing …
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen … Comet and Cupid and Sleepy and Grumpy …
Rats! I get about half way through that song and I start mixing up the reindeer with the seven dwarfs!
In any case … I’m going to go to bed so I can have visions of sugarplums dancing in my head … or at least visions of chocolate cake and soy vanilla lattes.