At first I was a bit unwilling for the season to arrive. It felt like a lot of work wrestling the decorations out of their year-long slumber in the garage. Clouds of dust wafted into my face as I first hefted the boxes into the house and laid them carefully by the tree. The kids had great fun "helping" with the decorating but in reality that translated to breaking fragile glass balls into a million pieces on the rug, hanging all the decorations in a slender band around the bottom of the tree and making a tangled mess of the strands of twinkly lights. Decorating this year took about twice as long as other years but I'll wager that it was also twice the joy.
It took me another whole week to discover that I had energy to hang lights out front. I think I found inspiration by watching the neighbors dutifully adorn their own houses. One guy looked like the Michelin Man in his puffy snow suit but the cold did not deter him. Another neighbor was much more akin to the Brawny guy from the paper towel ads. In the end I got out there on a mild afternoon and made it happen. I wonder if the sight of me slapping my hands on my legs to warm them gave any of my neighbors a smile. No matter what I am glad because I feel warm and happy each time I sit back to bask in their holiday glow.
