Keeping Warm

The holidays are upon us and I noticed that the weather really changed this week. With a frosty chill in the air and the leaves on the trees beginning to turn orange, it’s obvious that winter is well on its way. We finally fired up our furnace this week that had been off all summer and I was forced to actually break out a jacket for the first time as I headed off to work. It was really cold outside and as I headed down Pacific Coast Highway I spotted a homeless man pushing a cart. It reminded me that I’m really lucky to have a jacket (not to mention a car, a home and a job).

It also reminded me that the holidays are a great time to get involved with a charity. My wife and I like to give back to our community, so we donate our time and money to several different charity events throughout the year. Last week we helped with the “Festival of Trees”. It probably sounds a little crazy but what we do is think of a theme for a Christmas Tree and then go out and buy hundreds of dollars’ worth of ornaments and decorations. The actual trees are provided by the event coordinator, but ordinary citizens and local companies get together to decorate the trees, which are then sold at auction in the lobby of the Fairmont Hotel with the proceeds going to an organization called the South County Outreach.

For this year’s event we decided our theme would be wrapped around inspiration and affirmation. So we purchased beautiful white, silver and gold ornaments as well as lace trimmings. But we also made a dozen small wooden ornaments with handwritten words of affirmation on them, such as “loved, valued, and empowered”. My wife and I, as well as our daughter and a friend, worked on that tree all day long and when we were done we were really happy with the results. There is something about working together as a team to do something good for others that makes you feel really warm inside, kind of like fueling a fun fire from the inside out.

Our Christmas Tree and all the others sold at auction will raise thousands of dollars for charity and that will provide a lot of food and jackets for cold hungry people in desperate need of help. Ironically, since we live in a tiny beach house, we don’t have room for a regular size Christmas Tree. So we usually stick a tall piece of driftwood into the sand on the beach in front of our house and then decorate it with just a few special ornaments. I’m sure that when people see our tree they think it’s a pretty sad little Charlie Brown tree and that we must be really poor (or just lousy at decorating), but the truth is that every time we look at that little driftwood tree it reminds us of the big beautiful tree we helped make for others…which is more than enough to keep us warm…with or without a jacket!

Our Tree at The Fairmont Hotel

Our Tree at Home

Spring, Summer and Fall fill us with hope; 

Winter alone reminds us of the human condition.

~ Mignon McLaughlin