Christmas Window Shopping
In this storybook I'm the Matchbook Girl, on the outside looking in. I'm the girl who wants that pair of red shoes in the window but doesn't have the money to buy them or the nerve to really wear them. I'm the girl who wants to come in from the cold, sit by the fire and eat Christmas pudding with Tiny Tim. I'm the one that cuts her hair and sells it, then gets bejeweled tortoise shell combs on Christmas morning.
The sounds and scents of merriment are just beyond my reach. But there's always the chance I'll be invited inside where I'll hear the ringing of bells and be convinced that Santa's sleigh is near.
I miss my sled, the one I named Betsy. I miss my brothers and sisters, my nana, the stampede down the stairs to the tree on Christmas morning, the sound of paper ripping and shouts of glee, the pink quilted poodle skirt I got when I was ten, the white furry muff that I wore to church.
At night, the fogged-up windows sparkle like stars from within. Moving mannequins with clothes from another era, make me feel melancholy because I didn't live then and those people are all gone now. I'd like to ice skate on the world of reflection that spreads out before me like a pond. I'd like to catch a snowflake and watch it melt.
Downtown Floyd Christmas Windows: Chic's antiques, Finders Keepers, Farmer's Supply, and Oddfella's Cantina in downtown Floyd.
Comments
Awesome......I love this.
Posted by: Chrys | December 16, 2009 6:50 AM
I am so glad you have such joyful holiday memories. Mine are always filled with a very stressed mother who just wants it all over with. Amazing how we can change the holidays memories for our children.
Posted by: Tabor | December 16, 2009 7:24 AM
It brought me back too. I love you!! xo
Posted by: Sherry | December 16, 2009 7:25 AM
Wonderful writing and wonderful memories, Colleen. I love getting a look into Floyd's windows. :-)
Posted by: Beth | December 16, 2009 8:06 AM
Your windows are wonderful, especially the snowman on the John Deere.
Dans mon blog, c'est nombre cinq. Seulement trois arbes..C'est dommage!!
Posted by: sandy | December 16, 2009 8:28 AM
Wonderful writing and pictures! Isn't that last picture at Cafe del Sol? I love the way the lights inside are like the balls outside.
Posted by: chris | December 16, 2009 8:35 AM
Yes, it is Cafe del Sol. I listed the windows at the bottom of the post. You should recognize them all, Chris.
Posted by: colleen | December 16, 2009 8:55 AM
Confession - my son and I were having an animated discussion at the time I wrote that cing trees number trois You are right . confessing..
Posted by: sandy | December 16, 2009 9:30 AM
Nostalgic yet happy. I remember the windows with moving displays at Christmas, but my childhood also held the feeling that I was outside looking in at the Christmas others could enjoy.
Posted by: Marion | December 16, 2009 10:16 AM
I saw them when I was a very little girl at the Jordan Marsh department store in Boston. They made a big impression. I saw the same show a few years ago. We had taken the train in to see the lights and came upon it set up in a trailer. It was magical to see and relive it.
Posted by: colleen | December 16, 2009 10:59 AM
Reminds me of the opening scene in A Christmas Story - the kids with their noses pressed against the department store's Christmas window display, visions of all the toys dancing in their heads, dreaming of what they want Santa to bring for Christmas - like the Red Rider BB Gun.
Posted by: Bumbles | December 16, 2009 1:43 PM
All of those shops are Soooo Pretty....It's a treat for me to see this Colleen....Very Festive and filled with Nostalgia, too....Times gone by. Holidays Past. Feeling like the outsider. I wonder if everyone feels that way deep down but hides it so no one ever suspects....Probably YES, I think. Christmas can be a lobely time in so very many ways. Sometimes I wish that was acvknowledged more. Then, maybe a lot of people might not feel so alone in their 'feelings', you know?
Posted by: OldOldLady Of The Hills | December 16, 2009 11:10 PM
I love the bottom photo! Good decorations.
Posted by: kenju | December 17, 2009 3:00 PM