Our decorations for Yule are just this simple: a wreath with four apples and a candle.

Many years ago I bought a small booklet from my good friend Robert Clark at Minerva Books in Palo Alto, California. It described an old English tradition of a Yule wreath hanging from the ceiling with apples hanging down below. The four apples symbolize the four seasonal points.

For years after that I’d buy a wreath and decorate it with apples. I always place mine on a table; I run into things when they hang down and I’m not looking around carefully. Like last year, I cut greens from our own trees: juniper and yew branches. I don’t worry about binding the boughs into a proper wreath; I place them to form a circle and add the apples. A candle goes in the center.

From John and me: our greetings to you and our hope for a wonderful, healthful, prosperous New Year!