The Inside Wreath

“I want a wreath for the house this year,” she said.

“Don’t we always get one?”

“Sure we do, but I want one to put in the house, too. I'm going to hang it on the wall in the dining room so I can look at it without having to go outside to see the one on the door.”

So, that’s the person I married, he thought. She likes the idea of having a wreath on the front door to welcome guests at holiday time, but she also wants the pleasure of seeing one whenever she likes. Actually, I hardly blame her; I like wreaths myself and I especially enjoy coming home and having one hanging on our door, but I never thought of putting another inside. That’s how she thinks: While I’m following an idea in a straight line, she picks it up in the middle and makes a circle. Next thing I know, we’re somewhere entirely new.

“We can do that,” he said, “but we’ll just have to keep an eye on it since it’s going to dry out.”

“I’m way ahead of you: I plan on spraying it lightly with water every day through the Season. Afterward, we can hang it on the patio so the Finches can build nests in it,” she responded.

Just in case you’ve ever wondered, that’s how traditions begin, or at least how this one did. And sure enough, five months later when the Finches made their annual pilgrimage back from wherever they spent the winter, the wreath became a hot prospect in the nesting real estate market. Several potential tenants looked it over before one couple decided humans could be sufficiently trusted to raise a family around.

So it went, year after year, the inside wreath that was the subject of conversation at Holiday parties became the home for one family of Finches after another. I was a guest at one of these casual gatherings and asked what made them think of sharing the spirit of the Season thusly. I was told the idea came from the words of Alfie, the Christmas Tree: “In your Christmas prayers this year, say a prayer for the wind, the water, and the wood, and those who live there, too.”

I thought it was a fine idea, indeed.


(Image by kev747 via Flickr; Alfie the Christmas Tree by John Denver)