Mamacita says:  I don’t like ribbons and bows and huge garlands on Christmas trees; mine are studded with ornaments, thousands of ornaments spread over seven trees – literally, thousands of ornaments. Not ordinary ornaments, either.

A tiny sampling of my main Christmas tree. TINY sampling.

I can look at most of my ornaments and tell you how old my children were when I got them, and how the weather was, and what was going on with us. My ornaments glow with history. And maybe a little geeky whimsy.

Christmas space ships on another tree!

Christmas is the time when all my nerdy tastes and loves and memories and family history take form. I look at my trees and remember things. And, like much of the wall art in my house, many of my ornaments talk and sing and move around. I like triple-cluster lights, too. If the trees are turned on, I can turn off all the house lights and it will still seem like daytime in the house. I love this time of year so much. . . . there are no words. My trees personify this love. I also have a quirky thing wherein the ornaments have a permanent home on each tree and must be hung in that exact spot each year.

Some of our ornaments – the ones we got when the kids were little – have names. The tree-topper, for instance. Ask my daughter Sara what her name is. And why.

To sum up: I love a glowing, magical Christmas.