All I want for Christmas is a tree. I know beggars aren’t choosers but may I add that I want the good old natural tree? I’ve looked everywhere but failed to find one. It’s funny because a few years ago, ferns were a pretty common sight, particularly in my native Uganda and around this time, you’d see people cutting up and lugging such trees to their homes.

These days if you want a tree, you gotta buy one. I have nothing against the "modern” Christmas tree but there’s something about a ‘natural’ tree, an authenticity that the plastic one lacks. I can only compare this to women’s preference for natural flowers as opposed to artificial ones even when the former wither in a matter of days. One other Christmas tradition I really miss is decorating the tree with my siblings.

Over the years, we’ve received many cards from friends and relatives even though I didn’t give out many myself.  We would spread these on the tree and pin others to the wall. Some of the cards had been sent to our parents long before we were even born while others were addressed to Mr & Mrs… and ‘Baby Sophie’ which I found really sweet.

Others invoked sad memories because the senders had passed away. Still, it was an experience we enjoyed as a family. I’m amazed how Christmas card designs and the messages written in them have changed over the years. There was a time people actually took time to read the messages in the cards they sent or received. My mother is one of those and she always urged us to reflect on the message conveyed.

In today’s busy and expensive world, all you get is an sms wishing "u a merry xmas & hapi nu ya” which you almost immediately delete because you are likely to get 20 more just like it and you don’t want your inbox clogged. Even worse is that you’re likely to reply with those very words or as most people tend to do, simply write "same 2 u”.  Makes you wonder what things will be like in three years’ time. Perhaps then we won’t send any holiday greetings at all, which would be very sad.

I had vowed not to spend another Christmas away from home after missing last year’s but it looks like I won’t be able to catch up with long-lost relatives yet again because I’ll be travelling. Not to Uncle Sam’s land (which I would really like) but I’ll be going some place all the same. Let’s just say a friend invited me and a couple of other friends over the Christmas weekend and he’s paying for everything.

Hard to pass up that opportunity, I have to say. I will check on the family on New Year’s. Did I say earlier that all I want is a tree? I just remembered a few other things I need. If there’s a Santa in Rwanda, here’s my very modest list. A Kenwood Blender, an iphone because I’m just never gonna buy one for myself and last but certainly not least, that Hwan Sung furniture I dream about almost every night because it looks so beautiful and I know I just can’t afford it.

Merry Christmas everybody.
To be continued...