Author Ingrid King Visits

It’s my pleasure to welcome author Ingrid King back to Thoughts in Progress as the special guest blogger today.

Many may know Ingrid as a fellow blogger from her blog, The Conscious Cat. She is also the author of BUCKLEY’S STORY - LESSONS FROM A FELINE MASTER TEACHER, which recently won the 2010 Merial Human-Animal Bond Award at the International Cat Writers Association’s annual awards banquet.

Writers sometimes need a way to give background on a character in order for readers to better understand why they say or act a certain way. At the same time, readers always want background and more information on the writer. Nothing gives background better than Christmas memories. With that in mind and with Christmas less than a month away, Ingrid has agreed to share some of her background with us as she talks about ‘Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree – Memories of Holidays Past.’

I love the holiday season, and my favorite part is always the annual decorating of the Christmas tree. I’ve collected ornaments for the past twenty some years or more, and inevitably, bringing out the ornaments each year leads to a lovely, if  sometimes bittersweet, trip down memory lane.

I grew up in Germany, and traditionally, our Christmas tree was not decorated until Christmas Eve. As a small child, I was not allowed into the living room while the tree was being decked out in its holiday glory. I can still remember the eager and impatient anticipation of the moment when my parents would ring a small brass bell that hung on the tree, and I could finally enter the room. It was pure magic each time. The tree was decorated with multi-colored glass balls, sparkling tinsel, and real candles – something that we can’t even imagine in these safety conscious times we live in. 

When I moved to the United States in my mid-twenties, I was introduced to the tradition of putting the Christmas tree up right after Thanksgiving. I loved this – now I could have the tree up for several weeks, not the mere two weeks I was used to from my childhood! I was also introduced to artificial Christmas trees.

At first I balked at the idea – the intoxicating pine scent of my childhood trees was such an essential part of the holidays, it was odd to think about having to give that up. But, being able to have a tree up for five to six weeks won out over not having the real thing. Not having to deal with cleaning up needles for weeks after the tree was taken down was a nice side benefit. And since having a fake tree has become the environmentally conscious thing to do these days, rather than making apologies for my fake tree, I am now politically correct. 

I’ve accumulated quite a collection of ornaments over the years. Many of them are cat themed, and I can usually remember where I got them or who gave them to me. There are photo ornaments that contain the photos of my cats, past and present. There are ornaments from places I’ve traveled to, like the shell ornament from a beach trip, the fat glass cat from a recent trip to New York City (is there anything better than New York City at Christmas time?), or the handmade wooden ornament my dad made for me the year before he passed away. There’s the white tiger ornament that reminds me of a trip to Las Vegas to see Siegfried and Roy’s amazing performance. There’s the angel tree topper that came from the world famous Christmas market in Nuremberg, Germany. 

And of course, there’s the small brass bell from my childhood Christmases, and it still brings back the memory of that magic moment each and every holiday season.

Ingrid, thanks for sharing these lovely memories. Christmas ornaments can take one down memory lane. Collecting ornaments is a wonderful tradition for the entire family and one that can be passed down from generation to generation.

Now a bit more background on Ingrid. She is a former veterinary hospital manager turned writer. Her online magazine News for You and Your Pet goes out to subscribers around the world. Her blog, The Conscious Cat, has been called “educational cat nip for the cat lover” and is a comprehensive resource for conscious living, health and happiness for cats and their humans. For more information about Ingrid and BUCKLEY’S STORY - LESSONS FROM A FELINE MASTER TEACHER, be sure to visit Buckley’s Story.