Lighten Up

Calico took down our holiday tree on Friday. Yesterday, the rest of the Christmas items were packed away for another year. At least we thought so, until she remembered the decorative bells on the mailbox and I found one more Christmas mug hiding behind the everyday ones. Nevertheless, we felt pretty smug. 

A lot of years, Christmas hangs around until the end of January. The year we got the flu in January, we pushed the fully decorated tree into the spare bedroom and shut the blinds, so the neighbors couldn’t see that it was almost March before the stuff got packed away. In the intervening years, we have cut back on decorations and it has simplified both decorating and packing.

I was disappointed this year, when my treasured snowman collection couldn’t be found. I can understand how a small thing, like my favorite paring knife, might disappear during a move. A large box of snowmen is a different story. Calico grabbed a flashlight and checked again, but they seemed to have melted away. 

Yesterday, she came in from the garage proudly carrying a box of snowmen. The light at the back of the garage is fairly dim and Calico had decided to hang our portable work light on the storage shelves. As soon as she turned it on, the snowmen fairly jumped out at her. We checked out a few of our favorites before returning them to the box. While they are too late for this year, I’m happy just to know that I still have them.

Calico proudly announced that only functioning light strings had been packed away for next year. I didn’t want to spoil her moment, so I refrained from mentioning the obvious. Every year at least one previously functioning strand will fail to light for the new season. I just consider it a holiday tradition!