we are a silver ball family. the tiny tree on our sunroom table flaunts silver balls. the branches we dragged out of the woods and spray painted white a couple years ago are adorned with silver balls. the straight tall tree trunk in the bedroom that is wrapped in lights also is dressed in silver balls. the restoration hardware tree on the dining room table has one silver ball and the one on the open shelving in the kitchen has many. all. year. round. i guess, when it comes down to it, we have a silver-ball-thing.
silver balls – when you purchase sets – usually come in three varieties. there are shiny silver balls, matte finish silver balls and glitter silver balls. my favorite are the shiny silver balls (in case you wanted to know this inane bit of information). matte is dully understated. glittery is very holiday. shiny happily catches the light of day and of candles nearby, but doesn’t seem overly invested in any other kind of screaming-ornament statement. a clear winner. but they all have their place.
in a holiday season that celebrates glitter and shine, this year i made sure not to buy glitter ribbon. though i love to wrap in brown paper and glittery ribbons, our children do not like glitter. they open presents and glitter gets everywhere – even on zoom you can see the annoyance caused by the glitterstorm. so, far be it from me to be annoying – we moms do the best we can – i bought ribbon sans glitter. admittedly, i did not have to clean up the entire dining room after wrapping, so this could be a new trend.
i am guessing that the young woman working at a shop i visited yesterday does not feel as my children feel. she had very long eyelashes – butterflyesque – and glitter deliberately placed all over her lovely face. she is clearly a glitter-person.
everyone has their thing.
ours is silver balls.
*****
read DAVID’S thoughts this D.R. THURSDAY
reverse threading 
December 25, 2021 at 8:53 am
It’s good to have a “thing”! Silver balls? Why not! Ours is the Travel Tree; our blue spruce – purchased in 1985 for the first Christmas in our first house – is adorned with baubles acquired on adventures both abroad and closer to home. The little bear-in-a-sweater from Antwerp; the tiny beer mug from Munich; a handpainted ball from the Cinque Terre; the indigenous wooden raven from Seattle (went to see David in 2009); the little handwoven Navajo rug from the Grand Canyon ; the pigtailed lass from Aachen…the list goes on. There are a few from childhood, from friends, and from a Grandparent’s tree as well. Putting up the tree is a dedicated fest at our house, involving a bottle of champagne, cheese, nuts and crossed fingers that the lights (Kate is a color gal) go on the right the FIRST TIME. It takes a long time ’cause we end up remembering THIS trip and THAT trip as the treasures come out of the box. Oh, and counting the blessings to have been able to make those memories! :O) Joy, joy, and hugs from MN!
December 30, 2021 at 11:34 am
Ohhhhhh this is sensational!! I can practically SEE your tree from here! Love the Travel Tree! Champagne, cheese and nuts are a perfect celebration and I can hear your laughter and rich stories. Joy, joy and hugs from WI back at you, dear ones! xoxox