This is a CHRISTMAS ornament


I bought this glass witch ornament long before Halloween trees became an unfortunate “thing.” It was sold as a Christmas ornament, and I use it as a Christmas ornament, not because I can’t bear to let go of the “spooky season,” but because it’s a novel subject for Christmastime, and I like an eclectic tree, one that rewards inspection the way themed trees seldom do. I also have a Chiquita Banana ornament, among many, many others. It’s about surprise and delight.

I don’t find Halloween trees delightful, and they surprise me only in their sudden, baffling popularity. There are limitless ways to decorate for Halloween without plundering and polluting Yuletide rituals. Haven’t fall and winter become enough of a blur, thanks to retail interference? Can’t we at least pretend to cherish the distinct traditions that once made each holiday special? A Christmas tree, even an artificial one, means something. The promise of life in the dark of winter. You remember: boughs of holly and all that. What does a bedizened black spruce mean? Really. Somebody tell me, because I don’t get it.

Even Jack Skellington learned you can’t have it both ways.

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