Christmas is coming, and Seth and I and our niece Isabella drove up to the Christmas tree lot last night in Downtown West Palm Beach to get a tree. It’s a lot that reminds me always of the tree lot scene in A Charlie Brown Christmas, the one with the search lights piercing the night. There weren’t many trees left to be found: We got one that was too big for our short-ceilinged old home, and when we got it here, Seth had to saw off part of the trunk and snip off part of the spire of the tree, too, so we could stand it up in the living room, and even now, there is barely a wisp of air between the top of the tree and the old plaster ceiling.
After weeks of belatedness for this month’s Convivio Book of Days calendar, it seemed fitting to design a calendar around a painting of Christmas tree sellers, and so here it is: Your printable Convivio Book of Days Calendar for December, cover star being an undated 19th century painting by a Danish artist called David Jacob Jacobsen.
If there is a new year’s resolution for me to make, it is this: to get these calendars prepared each month well in advance of the First of the Month. I’ve been late before, but never this late. My apologies. I apologize, as well, for now having much time to write these days. Opening the new shop last spring has certainly added a new level of busy-ness to my life. But I miss writing, and I am hopeful that once we enter a new year, there will be less to do at the shop, and that things will begin to take on an air of familiarity and repetition. We shall see what we shall see.
Speaking of the shop, if you’re local, the family and I would love to see you this coming weekend for our inaugural Solstice Market. We’ve turned the shop into a lovely European-style Christmas Market, and I think you’ll really enjoy visiting! There will be festive shopping, plus we’ll be serving homemade Struffoli (a classic Italian sweet for Christmas) and our own Löfbergs Coffee from Sweden. There will be good company and good music and a festive atmosphere. And it’s your last chance to visit the shop before Christmas begins. The Solstice Market at Convivio Bookworks is on Saturday & Sunday, December 21 & 22, from 11 AM to 4 PM each day. Please come!
Image: “Selling Christmas Trees” by David Jacob Jacobsen. Painting, unknown date (circa mid- to late-19th century) [public domain via Wikimedia Commons].